“Every penny you spend on housing subsidy is money you can’t spend on building houses.”
David Cameron at Prime Minister’s Questions, 10 February
Sound bites can be a useful way to convey a simple, memorable point.
Used well, they can conjure powerful, evocative messages that people remember. Politicians love them and use them to distill grand and complex plans into a key point.
Problem is they often miss the fundamental, complex realities that are an essential part of the story. When that happens, people are more likely to misunderstand the issue at hand.