Memo to New York Times: Data Shows That 'We' Are Not Responsible for D.C. Deadlock

[Derechos]

After this summer's exhausting budget and debt ceiling follies, everyone who can turn on a TV knows that Congress is sharply polarized along party lines. But most pundits are way off on what causes it. As I've pointed out repeatedly, too many of them miss political money's pivotal role in creating disastrous deadlock. The evidence for this isn't conjectural. It's in the data for any who care to look.

Virtually all polls, including those of organizations like CBS that poll with the New York Times, acknowledge that public support for cutting Social Security and Medicare is minuscule and that the "no new taxes" posture assumed by Republicans and some Democrats is repudiated even by most members of the Tea Party (for more polls, see here, here, and here). The public is not sharply divided on these issues. Quite the contrary.

But on Sunday, a Times analyst once again tried to lay the blame for D.C. gridlock on the public. Brushing aside the importance of political money, Sheryl Stolberg instead recycled familiar arguments from various analysts who argue that you and I are responsible: "If Americans want to know why their elected officials can't compromise... perhaps they ought to look in the mirror."

Analysts and reporters need to stop looking in mirrors and start scrutinizing data. There is little evidence that Congressional polarization is rooted in sharp differences in public sentiment.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-ferguson/memo-to-new-york-times-da_b_927338.html?ir=Media

[BirminghamExaminer]

1. I'm surprised she didn't blame it on

us liberals who are disgusted with Obama and other Democrats.

[indurancevile]

2. knr

[fasttense]

3. It's all "We" the people's fault because we just wont agree with the idiot politicians. n/t

[Bandit]

6. It is after all "We the People" that put them there.

A good portion of the American electorate are just not educated on the issues or the candidates. They vote consistantly against their best interests. It is basically a cult following..

[Major Hogwash]

4. Polls taken before Congress adjourned last month supported the Dems' positions

But to hear the talking heads discuss it, the gridlock went both ways because the people couldn't decide what they wanted.

One poll said that 86% of those polled favored higher taxes on the rich.
But the Republicans never ever heard of that poll!

[ashling]

5. I scream every time I ear the meme that Americans want

and vote for divided government.