Innumeracy
One can only hope for that fine future day when we have a generation where No Child has been Left Behind, so that politicians realize that they can't possibly use campaign claims that depend on the inability of the listener to do simple math, or examine any statement that has a number in it.
In that future day, people will hear a claim that the average American income has gone up, and ask, "OK, but what about the median?" And so they would realize that, because huge tax cuts have given lots of money to very rich people, the average has gone up while the median - the point at which there are half the people above and half below - has gone down. More people are worse off than before.
And in that day when people aren't afraid of math, we won't hear such absurd claims about votes to raise taxes. When the President says "He's voted to raise taxes 98 times. That is a vote for a tax increase about five times every year," they'll say, "Hmm, wouldn't I have noticed tax legislation 5 times a year for 20 YEARS? I mean, sure my taxes have gone up, but not THAT often. And now that I think about it, I barely remember the last time Congress had a proposal to RAISE taxes, not cut them, which would mean dozens of votes in the other years. That just can't be right..."
Or when George Nethercutt, Republican candidate for Senate in Washington State, says that Patty Murray, second term US Senator, voted to raise taxes 282 times, they'll think "282 times in only 12 years? How is that even possible? Congress doesn't vote on taxes, or anything, that frequently. 282 times in 12 years sounds even more absurd than 98 times in 20 years." (Perhaps the slower or more gullible ones, who might previously have gotten Left Behind, will think to themselves, "Well, I guess then Kerry isn't that bad, if he didn't vote for taxes 184 times. He's more often against taxes than for them.")
But until that day, the arrogant, mendacious men who have hijacked the Republican Party will continue to dress their ridiculous attacks in the cloak of numerical authority. Because they want power more than honor, and have contempt for the people they aspire to rule, they will just lie, and trust that their listeners are too ignorant to notice.
In that future day, people will hear a claim that the average American income has gone up, and ask, "OK, but what about the median?" And so they would realize that, because huge tax cuts have given lots of money to very rich people, the average has gone up while the median - the point at which there are half the people above and half below - has gone down. More people are worse off than before.
And in that day when people aren't afraid of math, we won't hear such absurd claims about votes to raise taxes. When the President says "He's voted to raise taxes 98 times. That is a vote for a tax increase about five times every year," they'll say, "Hmm, wouldn't I have noticed tax legislation 5 times a year for 20 YEARS? I mean, sure my taxes have gone up, but not THAT often. And now that I think about it, I barely remember the last time Congress had a proposal to RAISE taxes, not cut them, which would mean dozens of votes in the other years. That just can't be right..."
Or when George Nethercutt, Republican candidate for Senate in Washington State, says that Patty Murray, second term US Senator, voted to raise taxes 282 times, they'll think "282 times in only 12 years? How is that even possible? Congress doesn't vote on taxes, or anything, that frequently. 282 times in 12 years sounds even more absurd than 98 times in 20 years." (Perhaps the slower or more gullible ones, who might previously have gotten Left Behind, will think to themselves, "Well, I guess then Kerry isn't that bad, if he didn't vote for taxes 184 times. He's more often against taxes than for them.")
But until that day, the arrogant, mendacious men who have hijacked the Republican Party will continue to dress their ridiculous attacks in the cloak of numerical authority. Because they want power more than honor, and have contempt for the people they aspire to rule, they will just lie, and trust that their listeners are too ignorant to notice.
posted by Paul at 9:50 AM |
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