Poll Shows Support for Public Sector Workers

At New York Times, "Majority in Poll Back Employees In Public Unions." (Via Mememorandum.)

I checked the raw data and the sampling methodology. There's something fishy about this poll, and I wasn't quite sure. Yet, Allahpundit does a thorough fisking, and seems to think the survey's not an outlier after all: "CBS poll: 60% oppose stripping any collective bargaining rights from public workers." Basically, when push comes to shove the public stands firm on support for education, and by implication the larger public sector work force. More particularly, folks recoil at the idea of making real cuts that have real impact on people's lives. Let's face it, it's scary as hell to contemplate a lifestyle downsize, to say nothing of jettisoning old-age retirement security for the ups and downs of stock market pension accounts. But we'll know more in time. The Democrats may well have erred big time in their methods of obstruction, despite sympathetic trends in public opinion. And if the mainstream press were to widely feature pictures like this on a day-to-day basis, then the public would at least get more of the real-world information needed to make accurate and holistic decisions about public policy. Seriously. Look what's happened on ObamaCare. Opponents were right all along, and now the administration's letting go of its legislation piece by piece. As we move forward through 2011 we'll be hearing from states with way deeper fiscal sinkholes than Wisconsin, and the public will get to see new rounds of progressive tantrums over public benefits systems that are inherently unsustainable. In any case, the unions are hoping to keep the protest spirit going, and they've had the corrupted police union giving them the green light for further disruptions in Madison. They're finally clearing the place out now, so check Althouse for more on that, and then back here later today: