Tea Party Observations

[VirginiaCougar]

What does the CBSNews/NYTimes poll say about the Tea Party Movement?

1) The majority of them are middle class with an income of more than 50K. Most have not been harmed by the recession in any meaningful way. Only 8% of them list unemployment as a problem in America. They seem to have little context to the challenges many Americans face in this recession. Most in this income category have seen increases in their income through this difficult period.

2) They are largely Republican or independents to the right of Republicans. Only 5% claim to be Democrats. That is almost within the margin of error itself.

3) 89% of them are White, only 1% African American. A majority of them believe that "too much has been made of the problems facing black people."

4) 30% are Birthers who believe "president Obama was born in another country." Another 20% said they "didn't know."

5) A majority of them are in an income category that have actually seen their federal taxes DECREASE over the last few years.

As a recent study on taxes noted: "A family of four in the exact middle of the income spectrum will pay only 4.6 percent of its income in federal income taxes this year, according to a new analysis by the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center. This is the second-lowest percentage in the past 50 years."



http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa...51&emailView=1

6) Sixty-four percent believe that the president has increased taxes for most Americans, despite the fact that the vast majority of Americans got a tax cut with the Obama Administration. Thirty-four percent of the general public says the president has raised taxes on most Americans.

7) A quarter of tea party supporters said people are, "sometimes justified to take violent action against the government."

8) Among "tea party supporters" only about 2% have donated and only 13% have participated in any sort of activity. The active population is very small.

9) Sadly, 63% get their political news from Fox News. Not surprisingly, a majority like both Beck and Palin.



What is really weird is that most Tea Party Supporters think their taxes are fair! Makes me wonder what is really driving this movement?



Poll Data:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_1...4.html?tag=pop

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/po...are_041410.pdf

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/po...rty_041410.pdf

[All-American]

What does the CBSNews/NYTimes poll say about the Tea Party Movement?

1) The majority of them are middle class with an income of more than 50K. Most have not been harmed by the recession in any meaningful way. Only 8% of them list unemployment as a problem in America. They seem to have little context to the challenges many Americans face in this recession. Most in this income category have seen increases in their income through this difficult period.

2) They are largely Republican or independents to the right of Republicans. Only 5% claim to be Democrats. That is almost within the margin of error itself.

3) 89% of them are White, only 1% African American. A majority of them believe that "too much has been made of the problems facing black people."

4) 30% are Birthers who believe "president Obama was born in another country." Another 20% said they "didn't know."

5) A majority of them are in an income category that have actually seen their federal taxes DECREASE over the last few years.

As a recent study on taxes noted: "A family of four in the exact middle of the income spectrum will pay only 4.6 percent of its income in federal income taxes this year, according to a new analysis by the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center. This is the second-lowest percentage in the past 50 years."



http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa...51&emailView=1

6) Sixty-four percent believe that the president has increased taxes for most Americans, despite the fact that the vast majority of Americans got a tax cut with the Obama Administration. Thirty-four percent of the general public says the president has raised taxes on most Americans.

7) A quarter of tea party supporters said people are, "sometimes justified to take violent action against the government."

8) Among "tea party supporters" only about 2% have donated and only 13% have participated in any sort of activity. The active population is very small.

9) Sadly, 63% get their political news from Fox News. Not surprisingly, a majority like both Beck and Palin.



What is really weird is that most Tea Party Supporters think their taxes are fair! Makes me wonder what is really driving this movement?



Poll Data:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_1...4.html?tag=pop

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/po...are_041410.pdf

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/po...rty_041410.pdf

You know what else is weird? The fact that neither of those pie graph segments that say it's over 50 percent are more than half of the pie.

I think you're a liar.

[SoonerCoug]

Welcome to CUF, VirginiaCougar. We hope you enjoy it here. I hope you'll notice that there is no censorship here, and people are very rarely if ever suspended. We tend to collect the cream of the crop, and also a little bit of refuse. Please introduce yourself in Ellis Island!

[VirginiaCougar]

Thoughtful analysis and response AlAm. . . . yeah.

I guess the devil is in the graphical details.

[il Padrino Ute]

You left out a vital piece of information: the Tea Party folks are more upset about the out of control spending by DC than anything else.

[All-American]

Thoughtful analysis and response AlAm. . . . yeah.

I guess the devil is in the graphical details.

I also don't know how much information you can really glean from the graph on the left. Do they mean first teamers only, or does that include second team and honorable mention? And how many of them are going to be paying income tax anyway, seeing as how most of them should be students? Maybe USC's people could answer differently, sure, but . . .

[BoylenOver]

Why do the age and religion percents add up to more than 100%?

It's interesting to see the demographics of those who identify as part of the Tea Party movement. The 41% as independent is surprising. I'm speculating, but would that number include those who identify as Libertarian? I suppose I've always considered independents/moderates as truly neutral, and if you care enough to identify with a movement, you're probably aligned with the prevailing ideology of that movement.

As an aside: Virginia, I speak for the board when I say we welcome you here, and we hope you recognize the tone and style of how topics are discussed.

[falafel]

My Congresswoman, a democrat, was on our local NPR show the other day. She was asked about upcoming challenges and she mentioned how the "tea-baggers" are coming on strong.

[Katy Lied]

Welcome to CUF, VirginiaCougar. We hope you enjoy it here. I hope you'll notice that there is no censorship here, and people are very rarely if ever suspended.

That people are very rarely suspended is not an indication that there is no censorship. CUF definately has its rules--they're just not formalized.

I could write a post that would get me suspended in a NY minute.

[Surfah]

That people are very rarely suspended is not an indication that there is no censorship. CUF definately has its rules--they're just not formalized.

I could write a post that would get me suspended in a NY minute.

I double dog dare you.

[Katy Lied]

I double dog dare you.

Would not do it; there is no appeals process. And I like CUF too much to commit board suicide.

[byu71]

20%-30% are birthers. I totally don't agree with them and even if you want to label them odd for thinking that, since when does any group not have 20%-30% in their group that other think might be odd.

Why does the fact that tea party goers are higher income earners bother you? Think it through and as an intelligent thoughtful person, I am sure you will figure it out why that would be the case.

By the way, it will be nice to have you on board and you will find more acceptance of your view on things over here than you did on CB.

[Moliere]

What does the CBSNews/NYTimes poll say about the Tea Party Movement?

First off, welcome to CUF VC (glad we are the cougars and not the ducks).

I don't consider myself a tea partier, but I am a conservative. My issue with this government is not with the entitlement programs. I'm fine helping the less fortunate and it's better that everyone chip in rather than just those who want to be chartiable.

My issue is with the large deficit. We're just kicking a can down the road at this point. Give out all the entitlement programs that you want, but lets pay for them now, not later. If the true cost of these programs was borne by us now, we would be more prudent and less wasteful than we currently are and it would help us pick and choose the programs that really are beneficial.

[Surfah]

Would not do it; there is no appeals process. And I like CUF too much to commit board suicide.

I was humming "hit me with your best shot, fire away" while looking at your avatar and hitting F5 every minute.

[SoonerCoug]

That people are very rarely suspended is not an indication that there is no censorship. CUF definately has its rules--they're just not formalized.

I could write a post that would get me suspended in a NY minute.

Well I have never been in trouble here, and I get in trouble on Cougarboard for almost every post.