Are the People Wrong?

In the movie "Duck Soup," Chico Marx poses the politician's most important question: "Who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?"

In 2010, voters looked at the President's plan to overhaul health care and rein in Medicare spending and decided, by and large, they did not like it. Newspapers and broadcasts were filled with details of the plan. Yes there was lots of misinformation, but there was lots of information out there too.

Voters decided with their own eyes on "Obamacare." And yet, many Democrats still argue, if only the law was better understood, it would be more popular. In other words, Democrats asked many voters, "Who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?"

Now it is the Republican's turn. Prompted by concerns about the Ryan budget's cuts in Medicare, voters in a safe Republican district in New York elected a Democrat. For perspective, this is the fourth time in 150 years New York's 26th has sent a Democrat to Washington.

How are many GOP lawmakers reacting? They argue their plan is misunderstood. Voters are subject to a campaign of demagoguery. Sure, the messages on Medicare in the campaign were subject to hyperbole. But, there was lots of coverage about the Ryan plan. Rep. Ryan had many opportunities to explain why Medicare is in trouble. Voters who wanted to know what's going on had ample opportunity to study the Ryan plan and learn about it.

And, when voters in New York's 26th did that, many decided they did not like what they were seeing. Now it's the Republicans who are asking voters, "Who are you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?"

Source: http://www.pbs.org/nbr/blog/2011/05/are_the_people_wrong.html

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