It turns out that The Costco Connection (Costco's magazine) has a better grasp of the nation's political center than CNN does.

One can recognize the political leanings of a media institution from the poll questions it asks. For instance, a couple of recent poll questions from the CNN.com homepage read:

"Has Congress Done Enough to Stimulate the Economy?"

The possible answers were "Yes" or "No." Another one a few weeks later read along the lines of "Has the Government Done Enough to Help the Economy?" Again, the possible answers were "Yes" or "No."

Notice how the choices are not whether or not the government should do anything about the economy, but whether it has "done enough." Well, what do I do if I don't think that the government should do anything at all with the economy? After all, it is a fact that congressional action tends to hurt the economy.

To CNN, it is already a given that the government should do "something." That question is not subject to debate. The only issue they are willing to debate is the degree of government intervention - not whether the government should intervene at all.

Now this doesn't seem to be a situation where CNN is being purposely biased. It appears that its staffers are genuinely intellectually limited to the assumption that it is the government's role to "stimulate" the economy. Knowing that this inherent bias is built into their articles and their reporting is a truly scary thought.

Now, take The Costco Connection. In every issue, the magazine has a page dedicated to a debate on a particular issue. December's debate is about whether the drinking age should be lowered. Now that is an issue that addresses the degree of a type of government intervention that is legitimate: the reasonable protection of minors and of other people from minors. Now the definition of a minor and the degree of intervention are of course up for debate, but it's a true political debate.

The magazine's November debate was whether identification should be required for voting. Again, the administration of elections is clearly within the government's purview. The same goes for the October question about whether there should be a speed limit - almost all Americans agree that building transportation infrastructure is a basic and necessary government function.

Costco has done a good job of identifying the center of debates. On the other hand, CNN's debates on whether the government has "done enough to stimulate the economy" is like asking up to what month abortion should be legal. What happened to the question of whether it should be legal at all?

Interestingly, as I write this, CNN has the following poll question up:

Will you hit the stores for post-Thanksgiving sales?

1. Yes, I'll spend as much as last year
2. Yes, but I'm cutting back
3. No, I'm in "spending lockdown"

Apparently, it is a foregone conclusion that no one has done well over the past year, and that no one will be spending more than last year. If you are in fact spending more this year, ask yourself whether you really exist - because according to CNN, you don't.