Sometimes it is alot like putting back together a Powerglide, though. A new study released by the University of Maryland shows American voters to be vastly misinformed. Even worse, the same study points to the media as the cause of much of this misinformation. The study involved a poll of 616 self-reported voters in the week after the 2010 midterm election. Voters were asked where they get their news from, and then asked about a number of verifiable facts. For instance, voters were asked whether the TARP program, otherwise known as the bailout, was started under President Bush or President Obama. Over 40% of respondents said President Obama started TARP even though TARP was signed into law by President Bush on October 3rd of 2008. This sort of misinformation within the American electorate shows up again, and again, and again in crucial areas of public policy.
Below are the highlights of the Maryland study on the most important issues of the 2010 election:
- 53% of Americans believe that President Obama was the only President responsible for the bailout of Chrysler and GM. In December of 2008 the Bush administration distributed $17.4 billion ot the auto industry as part of the TARP program.
- 68% of Americans said the stimulus package saved or created only a few jobs. 20% said that the stimulus caused a loss of jobs. Only 8% said the stimulus saved or created millions of jobs. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the stimulus saved or created anywhere between 2.0 to 5.2 million jobs. A survey of economist from The Wall Street Journal found that the stimulus had a "net positive effect" on growth.
- 53% of Americans believe the health care reform law will increase the deficit. According to the CBO the Affordable Care Act will reduce the deficit by $124 billion through 2019.
- 55% of voters believe that the economy is getting worse. The U.S. Bureau of Economist had the American GDP growing by 2.5% over the last quarter. The average Americans income grew by 0.5% over the month of October.
- 54% of voters said the stimulus created no tax cuts. In fact, approximately one-third of stimulus was made up of tax cuts including the Making Work Pay Credit worth $400, an Earned Income Credit, a First Time Homebuyer Credit worth $8,000.
- Only 10% of voters believe their taxes have gone down under President Obama. In fact, over 97% of Americans paid less in taxes in the Obama administration then they did under the Bush ad.... 38% of voters believed their taxes went up under the Obama administration.
- 20% of voters believe that the troop levels in Afghanistan have gone down under President Obama. Another 23% believe troop levels have stayed the same. In 2008 there were approximately 33,000 troops in Afghanistan. In November of 2010 there were 90,000 troops in Afghanistan.
The most controversial part of the study comes at the end. MSNBC and NPR audiences were found to be least misinformed on the basic questions of fact. The study points to Fox News as the chief misinformer among the three major cable news outlets. The following is a list of instances in which Fox News viewers were more likely to be misinformed on a given issue:
- most economists estimate the stimulus caused job losses (12 points more likely)
- most economists have estimated the health care law will worsen the deficit (31 points)
- the economy is getting worse (26 points)
- most scientists do not agree that climate change is occurring (30 points)
- the stimulus legislation did not include any tax cuts (14 points)
- their own income taxes have gone up (14 points)
- the auto bailout only occurred under Obama (13 points)
- when TARP came up for a vote most Republicans opposed it (12 points)
- and that it is not clear that Obama was born in the United States (31 points)
Even more revealing, people who watched Fox News multiple times a day or everyday were found to be more misinformed than those who just watched Fox News occasionally. Among those who watched Fox News almost every day:
- 72% believe the economy is getting worse.
- 49% believe their taxes have gone up under President Obama.
- 63% believe the stimulus did not create any tax cuts.
- 47% believe that TARP was passed into law and signed by President Obama.
Some critics of the study might argue that the researchers were bias in determining what responses were "true" or "false." In their defense, the researchers stated they used objective sources, such as The Wall Street Journal survey of economists, in order to determine the veracity of various claims. The Wall Street Journal is actually considered a more conservative newspaper.
