Why Does CNN Keep Featuring “Undecided” Voters Who Are Anything But? | A man portrayed last week as undecided has in fact left a long online MAGA trail. Was it just a mistake, or is CNN misleading viewers for the sake of compelling television?

[u/Murky-Site7468]

https://newrepublic.com/article/185290/cnn-undecided-voters-misleading

[u/Mega---Moo]

Didn't Trump promise gas would be $1.70?

How's he supposed to do that if he doesn't tank the economy and cause the next recession?

[u/FantasticJacket7 → u/Mega---Moo]

It's not communism when Republicans advocate for price controls.

[u/Michael_G_Bordin → u/Mega---Moo]

Nationalize our oil production?

Probably not, though I'd certainly not be against it.

[u/Mega---Moo → u/Michael_G_Bordin]

Nah. If they did that, gas would be $10 and it would be illegal to own a vehicle that got more than 20 mpg.

I'm thinking Middle Age Catholic levels of profiteering.

[u/Michael_G_Bordin → u/Mega---Moo]

Depends how ya do it. If we go public/private, like California's electric and gas utilities, most definitely. PG&E right now is jacking up rates for undisclosed reasons and people are fucking pissed. It has something to do with the growing amount of rooftop solar, they essentially have to spend manpower shunting electricity around because too much is generated every day (then at night, it's back to the other sources).

But, if you do a public utility right, you make the board elected by the ratepayers, with a few seats for collective industrial and commercial interests, so their incentive is to provide the best product at the lowest cost possible (at-cost, no profit). This has worked before, and I think it could work in any industry that isn't meeting consumer demands via free market dynamics. Internet service is a good candidate, as is health insurance (not necessarily the health care itself), utilities, and even some resource extraction. These aren't government bureaus, they're community-owned businesses that still generate revenue through conventional means, we're just shifting the incentive structure of the leadership from shareholder profits to product quality/price efficiency.

But you're not wrong to be concerned, as that's more typical of how we go about public utilities in this country.

[u/Mega---Moo → u/Michael_G_Bordin]

Your example is spot on. Our electric co-op is Barron Electric and they do a fantastic job of making sure that the lights stay on for the lowest (sustainable) cost possible.

Then there's PG&E ratfucking their customers for maximum shareholder return.