Omig-Azi

In today's Politicker Azi previews tomorrow's Q-Poll on congestion pricing with the following observation: "When people were asked about congestion pricing without being given a description of its projected benefits, the plan was not overwhelmingly popular...When people were told about the benefits of congestion pricing it suddenly sounded to New Yorkers like a more reasonable price to pay." What's Azi been drinking?

First of all, when any non-partisan poll was done on congestion pricing, it was thoroughly rejected-with wide landslide-like margins in the outer boroughs. The only time this didn't happen was when the mayor's own pet pollsters spun some tale about all of the "projected" benefits of a congestion tax (perhaps the cure for ED was in there as well).

This is all invidious rubbish! In fact, Azi, the Penn poll-unlike any other-actually showed wide support for the mayor's tax scheme even before all of the "myriad" benefits were outlined. So why the juxtaposition of reputable polls an obvious push poll? The reality here is that there is so much confusion-some of it deliberate-surrounding the mayor's (Kathy Wylde's?) scheme that it is hard to judge what people may actually be responding to when questioned by a pollster.

Most folks in the boroughs, however, are pretty good at understanding when a tax is a tax-and are rightly skeptical when Manhattan elites talk about the "myriad benefits" devolving from the picking of their pockets. We'll see tomorrow how well the folks resist the mayor's lavish efforts at disinformation.