We Want to Eat Our Cake, and Have It Too!

Members of Congress seem to understand polls, well some of the time. A recent poll evidently indicates that the vast majority of Americans support perpetuating the Obama Social Security payroll tax-cut. Wow! Isn’t it fortunate for these political heavy-weights to be able to find out that the nation’s wage earners are in favor of keeping more of their salaries? Obviously comprehending this fact is not something that anyone in Congress could have determined without a poll sample of the public.

It thus comes as no surprise that Congress is getting near to passing an end-of-year government funding bill that will include extending the payroll tax-cuts. I think that this really means that our Congressional representatives must have some staffers who were able to understand the poll and then (here was probably the hard part) explain it in terms clear (simple) enough for the Congress-men/women to be able to get it.

But here is the confusing part! A significant portion of these politicians are not able to make a similar connection between public opinion on the issue of increasing the tax-rate of millionaires. The new media seems to indicate that there are both Republicans and Democrats who oppose this view. The Democrats in opposition are significantly fewer than the Republicans who do. Perhaps their staffers have not bothered to explain this to these masters of the legislature.

It may not matter as long as the voters don’t translate their views of what is a fair, balanced, prudent and reasonable approach to help the country deal with the nation’s deficit. If the majority of American’s really believed that the tax system and Congress are treating the 1% more equally then the 99%, and the 0.1% even more equally then the 99.9%, and even more equally the 0.01% then the 99.99% isn’t there an clear and present option for this majority? Yes, but it is becoming clear that the same pool of intellectual competency that produces our politicians is the pool populated with the voting public. We don’t elect folks who are on the smart side of the scale.

If everyone who thinks the 1% should contribute a ‘more fair’ share were to make it absolutely clear that they will not vote for anyone who doesn’t understand that then the problem to Congressional obstruction is resolved. Come the election where will the resistance come from? Of course I will still be worried about the intelligence of the folks elected into Congress regardless of this issue. I don’t put much faith into the inept idiots who run for Congress for either party or on any issue. None of them has shown a aptitude for solving problems with Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Defense spending, Homeland Security, the tax code, federal budget planning, …