I spent a fair amount of time talking/writing about the debt debate -- mostly in negative terms. The fact Congress nearly sent us into default -- and was a leading cause (if not the leading cause) of the recent drop in economic activity -- shows just how incredibly stupid Congress actually is.
Now we have new research from Poling Opinion Strategies indicating the debate was a game changer. To get a small idea of the research, I've included a word cloud of the description given by various focus group participants to the debate. The entire research piece (given in power point) is a must read. In short, Congress really dropped the ball.
Now we have new research from Poling Opinion Strategies indicating the debate was a game changer. To get a small idea of the research, I've included a word cloud of the description given by various focus group participants to the debate. The entire research piece (given in power point) is a must read. In short, Congress really dropped the ball.
1 comment:
Anger is common, but unique to this situation is despair. I personally speculate that this despair comes from an inability to change the status quo. No matter how much power they have, the GOP won't shrink government because of corporatism. No matter how much power they have, the Dems won't regulate because of corporatism.
The incumbent power structure is more a systemic issue than a partisan one. The relationship between the branches of power and outside players (media, lobbyists, etc.). . . forgot what I was gonna say there, but anyway, these beneficiaries of the status quo are very, VERY entrenched. I'm wondering if anything short of armed revolution can shake things up. And with that thought comes despair. For all the talk about revolution or secession, actual revolution SUCKS, and even the dumbest people in the country know that on an intuitive level.
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