Americans are a rather strange bunch. I’m not sure if they’re are merely confused, terminally ignorant, or just plain stupid. But it’s very obvious that something is going on here. Because while more and more Americans seem to be content with, or merely resigned to the fact that it’s inevitable, we do have far more people today than ever before who are, in one form or another, dependent on the government. But, and for the third year in a row, the nation's ‘economic recovery’ has hit a springtime soft spot. Reflecting that weakness, only 1 in 4 Americans now expects his or her own financial situation to improve over the next year, so says a new Associated Press-GfK poll. I wonder how many of these folks voted for Barry, and what were they really expecting when doing so?
And it’s this sour mood, of sorts, that is undermining support for what, more and more, Americans are now beginning to view as Barry "Almighty's" poor economic stewardship and for government in general. What the poll shows is that just 46 percent of Americans approve of Barry's grotesque mishandling of the economy while 52 percent disapprove. That's a negative turn from an even split last September, shortly before his re-election, when 49 percent approved and 48 percent disapproved. Just 7 percent of Americans said they trust the government in Washington to do what is right "just about always," the AP-GfK poll found. Fourteen percent trust it "most" of the time and two-thirds trust the federal government just "some of the time"; 11 percent say they never do. Personally speaking, I’m with the 11 percent!
The downbeat public attitudes registered in the survey coincide with several dour economic reports showing recent slowdowns in gains in hiring, consumer retail spending, manufacturing activity and economic growth. I find it unsettling how it is that we have anyone in this country who can, today, bring themselves to actually trust our government or give Barry marks that are anywhere near being positive for his disastrous handling of our economy. Especially with there being so much proof right before their very eyes that socialistic economic policies don’t work, and history makes clear have never worked. And yet, there remains in this country a very significant portion of our population who seems to be quite convinced that socialist-style domestic policies are what we need. But you can’t have it both ways.
In the new poll, few say they saw much improvement in the economy in the last month. Well I’m certainly in that crowd. Just 21 percent say things have gotten better, 17 percent say they've gotten worse and 60 percent thought the economy "stayed about the same." But amazingly, the public seems to be split on whether things will get better anytime soon, with 31 percent saying the national economy will improve in the next year, 33 percent saying it will hold steady and 33 percent saying it will get worse. Further, about 4 in 10 expect the nation's unemployment rate to climb in the next year. If anything those results make it very clear that at least one third of our population consists of those who have their heads buried very firmly in the sand. Either that or they are very devout in their choosing to watch MSNBC on a regular basis.
And the public's outlook for its own financial future is at its worst point in three years. Just 26 percent think their household economic well-being will improve over the next year, 50 percent think it will stay the same and 22 percent expect it to worsen. About 27 percent of those with incomes under $50,000 are the most likely to expect things for them personally to get worse in the next year compared with fewer than 2 in 10 among those with higher incomes. Democrats, who typically rate the economy better under the present Democratic president than do Republicans, have become less optimistic about their financial prospects since January. Then, 41 percent of Democrats thought their finances would improve in the next year while only 30 percent feel that way now.
Jeremy Hammond, 33, of Queensbury, N.Y., a Web programmer, says Congress should focus on "the incredible debt and lack of spending control." For instance, he said, it's absurd for Congress to try to force the Postal Service to continue Saturday mail delivery — an effort that has so far failed — when the agency says, "We can't afford it.' This guy, Hammond, says he considers himself a political independent, which just another way to say Democrat who hasn’t the guts to admit it. He says he voted for Barry in 2008 but not in 2012. Probably doesn’t want to admit that either. Barry's overall job approval in the poll is at its lowest point since his re-election, at 50 percent, with 47 percent disapproving. His approval among Republicans is just 10 percent; among independents, 49 percent disapprove.
So I guess what I’m trying to point our here is that we American people seem to be in favor of socialism when it comes to any number of Barry’s domestic policies, they seem to be somewhat conflicted about how well his socialist approach to the economy might be working. And I can’t help but wonder how many of those willing to say that he’s doing quite well with the economy aren’t doing so out of some misplaced loyalty to the man behind the governments’ making it increasingly simple, actually encouraging, to be on the receiving end of any myriad of ‘entitlement’ programs. Today we have more people dependent on the government, to some degree, than ever before in our history. But at some point things are going to have to change. We can’t go on spending the way we are. And at this point there is going to be no easy fix.
No comments:
Post a Comment