”With all the smirking on the left about their electoral
victories, it’s important to remember that Democrats haven’t won the hearts and
minds of the American people.”—Ann Coulter
62% of Americans support a pathway to Citizenship—Newsmaxx Poll
90% of Americans support gun background checks in almost all
cases—Washington Post
76% of Americans support raising the minimum wage—Gallup
79% of Americans support targeted Tax Cuts to spur Job Growth.
75% favor additional infrastructure spending to create jobs.—Gallup
59% of Americans oppose the Affordable Care Act—Fox News—However,
in January 1.1 million people signed up. CBO now estimates six million will
have signed up by March. Initial estimates were for 7 million. Current monthly enrollments
are now meeting or exceeding initial estimates. Almost all of the shortfall is
a result of problems in the first 60 days.
70% of Americans support providing all low- and
moderate-income four year olds with access to high quality preschool-- Public
Opinion Strategies and Hart Research
67% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way income and
wealth are currently distributed in the U.S. This includes three-fourths of
Democrats and 54% of Republicans—Gallup
50% of Americans would support banning all contributions by
individuals and instead have campaigns entirely funded by the government—Gallup
However, 75 percent of Americans feel there is “too much
money in politics,” and only 25 percent felt that there should not be limits on
the amounts spent in elections. 75 percent also feel that the amount of money
in elections has given rich people more influence than other Americans.—Reuters
Ipsos
In a March 2013 poll 79% of Americans support targeted Tax
Cuts to spur Job Growth. 75% favor additional infrastructure spending to create
jobs.—Gallup
However, more targeted polls regarding tax policy, corporate
tax reform deficit spending and even defense spending present a mixed bag of sentiment.
When one looks at a broad range of polls one gets the impression of an American
electorate that wants to have its cake and eat it too. The Tea Party protester with the signboard
which says, “Government keep your hands off my Medicare!” comes to mind. People
are confused. $7 billion in spending in the 2012 Election cycle (Federal Election
Commission, as reported Sunlight Foundation) will do that for you.
When polled positions expressed by Americans on issue after
issue are in extreme opposition to those favored by the Republican Party. Congress is perceived to be highly dysfunctional
mostly because they are passing almost no legislation, but more importantly because
there is a complete lack of action on issues where there is a clear and broad consensus.
When public opinion leans strongly in one direction and the actions of Congress
do not rise to meet those needs, we can be sure that there is a substantial amount
of money tilting the table on which the legislation rests.
Finally this, 63% of Americans believe climate change is
occurring, but a rising number, 23 percent, believe it is a hoax. (Newsmaxx). A
new Poll by the Yale Project on Climate
Change Communication indicated that 83 percent say the U.S. should make an
effort to reduce global warming, even if those efforts have economic costs.
While the numbers of those willing to seek action on climate change –even as
they leave home and discover winter is happening outside-- is not surprising, far
more impressive is the number of climate
change deniers. 23 percent is an increase of 7 percent from just a year ago. There
may be some overlap with the nearly 46% of Americans who believe in Creationism
and a “literal interpretation of Genesis (this includes those who think
creation took place over six actual days and those who allow for a longer time
period but believe humans were created in their present form)” up from 40
percent in 2010. --Gallup 2012
Ann Colter is right about one thing. “Democrats have not won
the hearts and minds of the American people.” It’s clearly not a policy issue,
so what other reason could there be?
Uninformed, fearful, awash with cash from highly motivated,
deeply entrenched financial interests, Americans will go the polls in just 9 months
or so. There will be those on both left and right who will analyze the results in
the realm of political dialogue and policy decisions. No matter whether they
vote Democrat or Republican the interests of all Americans will at best be represented in a
watered down stew of corrupt money. How much longer do we need to pretend it’s
real?
