Can Americans Trust MSM Polls?

Polling has become the weapon of choice. Polls are used by many organizations in ways that are inherently dishonest and are designed to create news stories, support a certain point or as a wrecking ball, like push-polling. If recently publicized polls are to be believed Americans think that the Tea Party caused the S&P rating downgrade to AA+, that Republicans were reluctant to compromise and that the Democrats weren't. This would be okay if it were true, but in fact it demonstrates exactly how the MSM uses polls to shape public opinion and makes lies facts and facts lies. For example, The S&P downgrade was caused by the Tea Party; The Tea Party is a minority of Republican members of the house. The compromise bill that went to the Senate did not have their support but was passed. So in fact, the Tea Party had very little to do with the downgrade. However, their support for Cut, Cap and Balance would have prevented it. Another example is that Republicans were unwilling to compromise. In fact the Paul Ryan Budget Plan and Cut, Cap and Balance would have both prevented the S&P downgrade, but both plans were rejected outright by the President and the Democrats in the House and Senate. So in fact it was Democrats that were unwilling to compromise. The deals that lead to the S&P downgrade were Democratic deals crafted by Harry Reid in the Senate and reluctantly agreed to by the Republicans. The bill offered only minor cuts in the upcoming budget year and guaranteed more spending to the end of the President's first term. Despite all this the latest CNN poll shows that Democrats have a 13-point edge over Republicans in being re-elected in 2012. If you have any doubt which political party most CNN staffers favor, everything I have said will be meaningless to you. However, if you take note of how CNN uses polling to create a false impression, you may recognize it when it’s done by The New York Times, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and most of the major outlets. The one thing I take from this poll is that Speaker Boehner and the Republicans would have been better off if they offered Cut, Cap and Balance as their final offer and let the chips fall.