Poll’s tilt predicts answer

Like many polls, you can get the desired answer by the question you ask. Do you like ice cream? Want to pay for it? Want to pay for others that won’t work or are here illegally? Adding a missing fragment to the question gives a different answer.

Gary Crooks, in his “Smart Bombs” column of Sept. 30, deduces from a New York Times poll resulting in 65 percent of the public in favor of health care that the public is ignored. New York Times polls, news and editorials are generally written with omission or commission, slanted to a socialist view. There is also the question of the people and geographical makeup in the survey. A Zogby poll from July 17 said, “By 52 percent to 40 percent, voters say they are against the health care bill introduced July 14.” Different result!

Is a Congress that doesn’t have time to read a stimulus bill, capable of running health care? A better approach to this Frankenstein plan would be tort reform, access to all insurance health plans in every state and patient responsibility for lesser medical expenses. Later, when it isn’t pushed by politics, get the same health care plan that Congress has for all Americans.

James Allen

Spokane