Polls Apart...

Dear Congressman,

From a recently poll performed by the Public Opinion Strategies and Lake Research Partners, the following information was gleaned:

95 percent of voters say owning the home is the best long-term investment they can make
73 percent of voters who do not own a home aspire to become a homeowner in the future
95 percent of homeowners say they are happy with their decision to own a home
73 percent of voters believe it is appropriate and reasonable for the federal government to provide tax incentives to encourage homeownership

The poll queried 2,000 people and claims an error rate of + or - 3.5%.

Here's the issues I have with this particular poll:

1. Duh! 1/3 of the population of this planet wake up in the morning in quarters that have no electricity or running water. Suffice it to say the rest of us that do have running water and electricity and have endured the stigma of crappy landlords would rather be a homeowner than a tenant. Would you rather own your dog/cat or rent one from the pet store that could repossess it at any moment in time for any whim? It is still... after all... the American Dream.

2. The poll was paid for by the National Association of Home Builders. Needless to say, if this survey had demonstrated that only 17% of people though owning a home as a good idea, this poll would have been buried somewhere under Jimmy Hoffa's final resting place quicker than you can say "Fargo" three times. I have a sneaking suspicion that the NAHB's Christmas wish-list includes every person in the United States, regardless of race, sex, religion or age, would march to the bank, get a loan lined up, and put a dormant homebuilder to work building new homes for new homeowners. And everyone would smile and wave from behind the white picket fence in front of their brand new home!!!!

3. I am always a little leery of polls that have a small sample size. Since the US population is about 307,006,550 (google data) and they polled 2,000 of them, then our sample size to represent the feelings of the average US citizen was 0.000065% of the population at large, or 1 in every 153,503 American's were asked their opinion. Seems a pretty thin slice to me.