In a shocking finding released today (April 1, 2009) by Public Opinion Strategies, the vast majority of Americans (72%) say they believe the credit crisis is better described as a “bunch of baloney” rather than “real facts.” This shocking data cuts across every major demographic group and is evident in every region of the country, with Republicans leading the way at 84%.
The stunning lack of belief in one of the major financial news events of our lifetime appears to be based on daily, personal experience. Voters seemingly believe that with so many credit card offers arriving daily in the mail, there=s no way the country is facing a “credit crunch.”
In the same survey, voters told us that their mail consists more of “bills and credit card offers” (87%) than “letters and anything personally meaningful” (11%). In fact, voters reported receiving an average of 7.4 credit card offers a month, down only slightly from the 10.7 credit card offers they reported receiving a year ago and prior to the financial crisis.
In an open ended question about the issue, voters expressed a range of emotions from mild irritation to anger, but many of them drew a direct parallel between their credit card offers and the country’s continuing fiscal woes:
“My five year old received a credit card solicitation the other day”, vented one Mountain States woman. “I’ve got a good mind to send it to (Treasury Secretary) Geithner and show him the geniuses he’s giving billions of taxpayer dollars to… people who would give kindergarteners credit cards.”
“Credit crisis my foot”, complained a Northeastern man. “My shredder is stuffed with these offers – some from banks which apparently don’t know I am already a customer of theirs.”
The survey findings are drawn from interviews conducted APRIL FOOL’S DAY and are entirely FICTITIOUS.