CA: C'mon, we can't be all that dumb (PPIC poll.. 'a thick, hard layer of huh?')

Sac Bee ^ | 6/2/07 | Steve Weigand

[NormsRevenge]

It is tempting to assert that adult Californians are, generally speaking, morons.

Granted, that assertion, if it were to be made in this space, would come from an adult Californian who clearly has more than a casual relationship with moronity.

But geez, people, you're not even trying. At least it looks that way from ... the latest survey by the folks over at the Public Policy Institute of California.

The survey probed into Californians' knowledge of, and feelings about, state fiscal and governmental/political issues. What it found was a thick, hard layer of huh?:

• Only three in 10 could name the largest single area of state government spending, or the largest source of revenues.

• Only one in 100 could correctly identify the maximum number of years a legislator can stay in office under current term limits.

• And only one in three knows at least something about how state bonds are repaid, which didn't keep two in three from favoring another $43.3 billion bond package for next year's ballot.

--snip--

As troubling as the lack of knowledge exhibited by the survey results was Californians' schizophrenia:

• Majorities thought more spending on K-12 education, colleges and universities, health and welfare programs and infrastructure is a peachy-keen idea. But they also think a strict limit on the amount of money state government can spend each year is a swell proposal.

• Half want more services even if it means higher taxes, and the other half want either lower taxes and fewer services or don't know what they want.

• About half think the state is generally going in the right direction and the other half think it's going in the wrong direction.

• A majority thinks current term limits are fine -- and a majority would vote to change them.

[M203M4]

“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”
— Winston Churchill

[CaliGirlGodHelpMe]

“I played and managed to reduce the budget deficit from a projected $1.9 billion to $200 million, while increasing spending for education at all levels and providing more for Medi-Cal and environmental protection.”

Gee...how did I know that Weigand was going to try to get credit for being intelligent, concerned, caring, compassionate, etc., all the while insulting everybody else? I wonder if he’s a liberal? /sarc

[WilliamofCarmichael]

In years past a hefty percentage (mostly Bee subscribers?) took “selling state bonds” to raise billions to mean selling goods that the state owned. A swell idea, they agreed.

[43north]

This is another indictment of the fine quality of government skools and the lack of common sense education they provide. We cannot be good citizens if we have no education in civics and the liberals plan to keep it that way.

[Max in Utah]

When our republic was begun, citizens had to have some qualifications in order to vote, namely property ownership. It was a fair guarantee that the voter had was educated and/or was of above-average intelligence.

Nowadays, a fair percentage of voters make their choice based on factors as shallow as a candidate's personal appearance or which bands played at his political rallies.

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

An uninformed electorate gets the government they deserve and California’s electorate could not be less informed.

[goldstategop]

Californians want liberalism and conservatism at the same time. That's the definition of a California moderate.

Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus