L.A. Time Releases Another Phony Poll
In what is undoubtedly one of the most classic examples of modern day yellow journalism, the Los Angeles Times struck a blow for the liberally slanted media on Wednesday, June 13, 2007 by publishing the false and misleading results of an outrageously flawed opinion poll in a transparent attempt to breath new life into the rotting carcass of the ill-advised senate amnesty bill that amounts to little more than a $3 trillion dollar advertising campaign by the U.S. government to encourage further illegal immigration.
The Los Angeles Time/Bloomberg poll purports to show that a strong majority of the American people and nearly two-thirds of the Republican Party favor amnesty for illegal aliens who are required to pay fines, learn English, pay their back income taxes and other requirements. Of course, what the Los Angeles Times article did not report is that they struggled for months designing this poll so that no other result was possible. The Times can hang the “Bloomberg” label on the poll because they paid the polling company to conduct the very misleading survey. While adding the label “Bloomberg” to their absurd poll the L.A. Times is trying to lend credibility to it when, truthfully speaking, the results are as bogus as the poll itself and the entire thing is just another media attempt to manipulate public opinion by publishing and distributing purposely untruthful information.
At a point in time where the vast majority of American citizens have realized that reading the daily newspaper is not the best way to keep up with important developments in American politics or international news stories, you might believe that a major metropolitan newspaper like the Los Angeles Times would attempt to maintain their relevance by being more honest with their readers. Unfortunately, that is not the case and the internet has established itself as the premier source of accurate news information in this country. It’s free, it is 100% recyclable, the stories aren’t obsolete by the time you read them, the classified ads are much better (see Craigslist) and it is a simple matter to compare articles for accuracy across the net. You may not want your dog peeing on the computer but the internet news doesn’t build up on the floor of your living room when you are too lazy to take it out to the trash can.
As for the dishonest L.A. Times/Bloomberg poll, while it does prove, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the Los Angeles Times can lie to its readers as well as any other paper, it is useless for anyone who is really interested in how the general voting public views the current Senate bill on immigration and, if you are looking for that specific information, the LA Times has obviously become the least credible choice of the year. If you are looking for a good collection of polling information about immigration there is a page on Numbers USA that is dedicated to polling results, however, I will tell you up front, Numbers USA is maintained by an organization whose goal is to reduce immigration to the United States. That being said, the poll results they give are from a wide number of sources and they include links to those sources if you are the suspicious type that likes to verify things (like I am). Another simple way to find out what people are thinking about immigration, amnesty and illegal aliens is to use Google and run a search for immigration polls. When you get right down to it the National Enquirer may have more honest and up to the minute news than the Los Angeles Times and, you would be better off with no news than you would depending on either of them.
Contrary to what you read in the L.A. Times, their own polls and the polls listed below from the Numbers USA collection, clearly indicate that the Southern California newspaper speaks out of both sides of their mouth and, despite which side is operating, the information may not be true.
Fifty-nine percent of Americans polled believe the more effective way to deal with the potential treat to national security posed by millions of illegal immigrants living within the United States is to crack down on illegal immigration by toughening the enforcement of existing laws, deporting illegal immigrants and prosecuting the employers who illegally employ workers. UPI/Zogby Poll; April 13-16, 2007
Fifty-four percent of Americans polled believe illegal aliens harm the nation’s economy.
Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll; April 5-9, 2007
By eight-to-one, Americans think it is unfair to grant rights to illegal immigrants while thousands of people wait each year to come to the United States legally. Fully eighty-six percent of Republicans think it is unfair, as do seventy-seven percent of Democrats. Opinion Dynamics Poll for FOX News, April 4-5, 2006
Eighty-two percent of likely American voters favor requiring voters to show valid photo identification when they vote on Election Day in order to stop voter fraud and illegal immigrants from voting. McLaughlin & Associates poll; April 12-15, 2007
Seventy-seven percent of Americans polled believe employers should be punished for hiring illegal aliens.
Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll; April 5-9, 2007
Sixty-eight percent of Americans say gaining control of the border is more important than legalizing undocumented workers. Rasmussen Reports; November 28-29, 2006
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