Dazed and Confused?

I found this an insightful article on how little we, as Americans, understand about what the problems are in this country and how to solve them.

Slate wrote:Along with the polled American's personal finances, taxes loom large in his mind. He has, somewhat uncharacteristically, followed the tax fight in Washington closely. He has no idea the Obama administration gave him a huge tax break in 2009. Still, he is firm in his conviction that he does not want his income taxes to go up this year, deficit be damned, and would not mind it at all if Congress hiked them for billionaires. So what is he making of the recent tax compromise, or third stimulus? (He tends to forget about the first one.) It's the $64,000 question, in Washington at least. And early signs are that he likes it, on balance. He supports the two-year tax-cut extension, if not the compromise for the fat cats, and supports the other measures contained within it, like the unemployment benefits.
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But the polled American is not sure whether the government should be doing so much to aid the economy in the first place. And, for her, all bets are off if the tax compromise becomes known as Stimulus 3.0 (or 2.0). She barely liked the 2009 stimulus when Congress passed it, and she certainly does not like it now. (The financial regulatory reform bill? She's made her peace with that.) Yet, in an enduring example of the polled American's propensity for containing multitudes, she likes virtually all of the elements of stimulus, such as the tax breaks, unemployment insurance, infrastructure investment, and bolstered food stamps—a case of the parts besting the sum, apparently. And she thinks the country needs more of those provisions. She also supports an increase in the minimum wage.

The full article has a lot more of the conflicting and confusing results of polls and has links to poll results throughout it. After reading it, it's no wonder that our politicians can't get anything accomplished when the results are so contradictory. Not that it is an excuse - my feeling is that if you are elected, you should lead and not wait for polling to determine your position. It seems as though polls, as a predictor of public opinion, have stopped being useful. We are so split on so many issues, often because of not understanding the problem or the proposed solution, that the results tell a politician that he is screwed no matter which way he votes on something as 50% will hate the decision, even if they don't quite understand what they hate. 🤦

http://www.slate.com/id/2277303/

Yes... But here is the thing. It's like anything else.

When a professional football team gets into a slump, they have good players but can't get the bounces. What does a good coach do? Go back to the fundamentals.

We need to move back to the fundamentals. Just like when your personal check book starts looking ugly. You tighten your belt. You don't buy a new vehicle, because you know it needs insurance, gas.... etc. It's time congress starts getting real. No more earmarks, no more spending without the income to cover it.

Congress cut taxes, and in the same effort extended benefits to unemployed. This is stupidity. Choose one or the other. It's time to pay for our purchases. At one of the debates in the last pres election only one candidate said that. Ron Paul was the only one who said we need to pay for our expenses. He said, you want a war in Iraq, OK, but how are we going to pay for it. Want more benefits, how are you going to pay for it. I am sick of this bullshit where we buy everything we want with no clue how to pay for it. Want a tax cut, fine, determine what other thing specifically you are going to cut to free up the money needed. Want a war... pay for it.

Step 1? Get rid of earmarks!

I'll be honest, I'm confused. I'm rather overwhelmed by our government at the moment. Everywhere I look, our personal freedoms are being trampled all over. The constitution is being ignored. We're spending more money than we can afford. Corporations are running the government for their own benefits. The Government has become too big for it's own good and us little guys are being squashed.

I hate where we are right now and feel like there is nothing I can do. Even if I vote, I can't seem to make dent into the real problem.

I would never do anything stupid, like hurting someone, but I really want to move somewhere else and see what it's like. But, my wife won't go for that, so I'm stuck here.