Charting Blame

Aug 22nd, 2012

Calling the aughts the "lost decade of the middle class," PEW has released the results of some recent polling. Their sample was asked to assess "blame" for the general collapse of American upward mobility. The numbers are probably providing Team Obama with some confidence as the public lays responsibility for what ails us at the feet of congress over the President by nearly a two to one margin.

Obama's Deficit?

Sept 1st, 2011

Not by a long shot.

A Note To McConnell...

July 14th, 2011

Today, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) made a remarkable pronouncement regarding public perception of the President's culpability should our nation fail to raise the debt ceiling. From HuffPo:

"If the President wants to threaten seniors or veterans or rattle the world economy by pretending he can’t pay our bills, let him," McConnell said. “But he’s not going to implicate Republicans in these efforts

With all due respect, Mitch, the facts on the ground via the most recent Quinnipac poll show that the public already knows who to blame:

"Obama outscores congressional Republicans on several points in the deficit reduction battle:

Voters will blame Republicans over Obama 48 - 34 percent if the debt limit is not raised

Voters say 67 - 25 percent that an agreement to raise the debt ceiling should include tax hikes for the wealthy and corporations, not just spending cuts"

This is now... before the resultant explosion of inflation and interest rates that would follow a failure to treat the raising of the debt limit as, in the words of former George W. Bush budget director and current Republican governor of Indiana Mitch Daniels, "the housekeeping matter it is."

Enjoy your place in the history books, Sen. McConnell. 

Another Chart

May 19th, 2011

As I grow increasingly tired of writing in detail about American monetary policy in my attempts to counter the "it's all Obama's fault" idiots, I must occasionally resort to simple charts. Hey, idiots, this one even has pictures. Suck it up.