KMT legislator Weng Hsiao-ling has provoked a strong backlash over her cuts to the culture and Presidential Office budgets. Her online profile has surged, but almost entirely in the form of negative comment — bad news for the KMT's image.

• She proposed cutting the Ministry of Culture's media publicity budget and described the culture budget as "feed money for the bluebirds," igniting public anger.
• She separately proposed freezing and cutting the Presidential Office's state affairs fund, which abruptly interrupted the office's plan to purchase Mid-Autumn Festival gift boxes from sheltered workshops for distribution to disadvantaged groups.
• Internal DPP opinion analysis shows she drew close to 410,000 mentions in a single week, approaching Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an and far surpassing Legislative Yuan Speaker Han Kuo-yu.
• But nearly 90% of the discussion about her is questioning or critical, with positive mentions accounting for just over 3% — a far lower favourability rating than Chiang Wan-an, Han Kuo-yu or Cheng Li-wun.

Outlook: With the budget controversy continuing to spread, Weng Hsiao-ling is unlikely to shake off the negative coverage in the short term, and the KMT may be forced to step in to douse the flames.