What People Believe Regarding America's Future

Click on graph to enlarge.

 

Although several parts of the latest (July 30 to August 3) WSJ/NBC News Poll seem paradoxical the information in the above graph can not be mistaken – people sense the future is not going to be bright if we continue to follow our current path – The Road To Serfdom.

 

In addition to the above results another major finding of the poll is that 71% believe America is on the wrong track & only 22% think we are headed in the right direction.  While this too seems matter of fact the problem is that you have to read between the lines of the other poll results to determine why those polled think this is happening or who they blame.

 

BO has an overall approval rating of 40% accordingly to the above poll (41% according to Gallup on August 6 & 42% according to Fox News on August 13 so BO's approval is rising again) – extremely high for the president of a country in the declining condition of America by historical traditional standards – but many people no longer express their opinion based on such standards having thrown them to the wind in favor of obtaining the perceived security of government dependence. 

 

Congressional Republicans were viewed favorably by 19% of those polled & congressional Democrats by 31% – not a good sign for the midterm elections especially since Republicans continue to fall further behind with women.  They also are falling further behind with me.

 

BO's approval ratings, that never seem to fall below 40%, are very reminiscent of the 47% that Mitt Romney famously described in 2012 as the people who will vote for BO (in Mitt's case) no matter what...these people are dependent on government, believe they are victims entitled to government handouts, & pay no income tax.  Unless opponents of Democrats can make a case to this 47% every presidential election in our lifetimes will be lost.

 

Now people in the above poll majorities believe the future is not going to be bright in the long run but many are hoping the run is long enough for them to live out their days continuing their participation in one or more of the 126 anti-poverty federal government programs whose benefits & existence has been documented by the Cato Institute.  Such people can easily see that their children's generation will not be able to make a living to support their own American dreams or in turn will not be able to take part for decades to come in programs like their parents welfare programs.  In brief, the older generation think they can support BO & his current handouts but they also realize their children are stuck one way or another – hence parents & grandparents don't feel confident that life for the next generation will be better than it has been for them. 

 

This is a mixed bag & certainly does not mean that BO will be reined in his final two years in office.  In fact the poll was an even split between those who want their vote to be a referendum in BO's favor & those who want to put a check on him meaning there are plenty of people who support BO – it is still hard for many of us to understand the lure that government benefits have over work.  After five & a half years of BO being in office those 40% to 42%% still in favor of him have to be the people who prefer income redistribution over wealth creation.  That is a significant percentage compared to what it would have been even 30 years ago.

 

Economists tell us that this last recession ended in June 2009 yet two in five of those polled said someone in their household had lost a job since then & one in three said someone in their household was forced to take a job for significantly lower pay.  Over five years after the recession officially ended 49% of those polled still believe the recession has not ended. 

 

I believe the most complete measure of unemployment/underemployment is to add those employed full time who make a fraction of their former pay to the U-6 unemployment figure & calculate a U-7 unemployment rate accordingly.  Both U6 & U7 give very complete pictures of those relying on their wealth spend down to live on, which is an excellent measure of the unhealthiness & misery of today's job market.

 

The results of polls like the ones above clearly show it is not the same America most readers of RTE grew up in – we are no longer all on the same team pulling in the same direction.  In fact national political leaders who want to continue policies promoting the prevailing government-dependent mindset that led cities like Detroit to ruin are on the exact opposite team from the rest of the unsuspecting citizenry who are being led to the same fate experienced by the people of Detroit.

 

But to fight America's enemies – both foreign & domestic - we have to understand who the two teams are.  The first team is the citizenry who are trying to enjoy America & all its liberties that are mostly taken for granted today – that is, we are the saps sitting there waiting for the taking.  The second team is comprised of our elected politicians, the cooperative hostile anti-American media, the teachers unions, the legal system, & Hollywood who respectively & purposely try to mislead, misreport, poorly teach, improperly adjudicate, & biasedly entertain.  The second team does this in such a way that the unsuspecting citizenry succumbs after being brainwashed on issues like the fairness & necessity of increases in the minimum wage, equal pay protections for women, a widening income inequality, & the greed & unpatriotic nature of corporations who look to not pay their fair share of corporate income taxes by moving over seas – all topics that are insulting to people's intellect & only serve & actually are intended to degrade America.  It is almost impossible to imagine that the presentation of such topics by obviously self serving politicians could be believed even by the most ignorant & appallingly confused, let alone that they could influence & control the thinking & actions of people who have seen & participated in all the wonders of this magnificent country.