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Tax funding for study on how congressmen can approve their ratings
By: David Freddoso
Online Opinion Editor
10/29/09 4:55 PM EDT
The polls are unanimous: Americans are fed up with Congress.
Fortunately, members and staff on Capitol Hill who want to know why you're upset, and how they can make you like them more, will receive a presentation tomorrow afternoon of a study by the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF). Their headline:
New CMF Study Finds That Internet Town Hall Meetings Increase Constituent Trust, Perception of Lawmakers
Approval Ratings Jump by 18% Average
One other thing: You are paying for this presentation. You paid for the study being presented.Are you upset now?
The National Science Foundation gave a grant of $161,522 for CMF to produce the study, which examined congressional Internet Town Halls by 12 House members, with 15-25 constituents participating in each, and one town hall with 200 participants. CMF came to the following conclusions:
- Internet town halls are easy and cheap to hold.
- They increase political participation.
- They produce serious discussion of issues.
- They make participants more likely to agree with, approve of, and vote for their congressman.
If a political campaign had paid for this study, it would be considered a rip-off. That's probably why you paid for it instead.
This is one of many "political science" studies that NSF funds, to the tune of $91 million over the last ten years. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., has been pushing to eliminate political science studies on the grounds that they tend to advance political agendas and displace proper "science" studies that would otherwise receive money.
By the way, only members of Congress and staff can attend tomorrow's presentation. An official from CMF politely un-invited me today after I submitted my RSVP.
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