The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Adults shows that only 19% would be willing to pay higher taxes to avoid layoffs of state employees. Sixty-nine percent (69%) say they would not be willing to pay more in taxes for this reason. Another 11% are undecided.
Adults feel similarly when it comes to funding entitlement programs. Twenty-two percent (22%) would pay higher taxes to prevent cuts in entitlement programs for low-income Americans. Sixty-three percent (63%) say they would not pay more to keep these programs afloat. Another 15% are undecided.
Americans are slightly less opposed to paying higher taxes for education. Thirty-four percent (34%) say they are willing to pay higher taxes to provide funding for public education, but 54% say they are not. Another 12% aren’t sure.
Of course, it’s already too late, since a large part of Porkulus went to exactly this, and at some point, we’ll have to pay for it (not to mention the interest on it). What I find the most interesting about this poll is that (unlike most Rasmussen polls) it’s of adults. I wonder what likely voters think?
This will be a potent campaign issue (among many) against Democrats this fall.
Keynes versus Hayek. Of course, it’s never an argument about how best to revive an economy — it’s an argument about how to either maximize government power, or to liberate the people from an overspending, overtaxing tyrant.
This theme of “economic control becomes political control” is crucial to making sense of the corporatist nature of political activity, and why regulation is so pernicious for individual well-being and liberty.
Hayek is, if not one of the first to make this connection, certainly the most prominent early proponent.
It makes California look frugal and responsible. So naturally, we took the people responsible for it and put them in charge in Washington. Not for much longer, I hope.
The dirty little secret of politics is that most politicians are of barely above average intelligence and possess very narrow educations. They’re mostly people with IQs of around 120 and a law degree. So, they know literally nothing about economics and lack the capacity to see that what the experts are telling them doesn’t add up. Given those circumstances, it should come as no surprise that they so readily embrace the economic theory that tells them exactly what they want to hear. “Go, thou, and spend, and thus shalt the economy be saved. And lo, thou shalt be the savior of thy people!” That’s a lot more palatable than being told that the nation is in dire straits and their careers are in jeopardy due to the actions of their predecessors, and that there’s not much they can do about it. So, they listen to the self-interested parties and blindly go about making the situation worse.
I think that he overestimates the intelligence of the narrowly educated lawyer/politicians. Particularly the one in the White House.
I’m sure that the president will get right on it, just as soon as he finishes his latest round of golf.
You know, I’ll bet that Bobby Jindal hasn’t hit the links once in the past couple months.
One of the most insane things is the EPA not allowing the ships to clean the water, because they only remove ninety-plus percent of the oil. This is bureaucracy run amok. The president could fix it with the stroke of a pen. I wonder why he doesn’t?
Even thought it’s from Cracked, this is a good look at the counterproductivity of well-intentioned laws. With regard to the underground sex offenders, Obama favored a law on gun stores that would have made it similarly impossible to find a location for them. I don’t think that consequence was unintended, though.
The Virginia Congressman, just having beamed in from some other planet, says “the economy has recovered“:
In fact, in the last six months more jobs were created than Bush was able to generate in eight years, Chris. People don’t understand that, the economy has recovered.
Guess he picked a bad week to keep huffing glue.
Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth, Rick Santelli goes off on another righteous rant, and says to “stop spending.”
Here’s to that. Hope it stirs the folks up again, though he should have waited until closer to November. Of course, I suspect there’s plenty more where that came from.