Wow, Paul That’s a lot of questions you’ve got there. Stirring it up, eh? Yeah, everyone’s angry. That’s what happens when things aren’t going so well. Honestly, I think you posed your topic in a way that represents part of the problem. (sorry) And of course, I understand you are in the business of tracking generalities.

Public perception and reality are not necessarily the same thing, though … except that perception does create reality. Or is it the tail wagging the dog? That’s what we all have to figure out for ourselves. Everyone is different, despite the group-think the respective Parties and talk show hosts try to gather. I found I could think a lot more clearly once I turned off my TV.

I know it’s convenient to blame the Bush administration for all our mess … especially since the Rep majority and the administration certainly did squander our trust, not to mention our money. Personally, I trace the beginning of the problems further back to our reckless excesses of the 90’s. But they don’t talk about that on TV. I don’t see that option in any polls. And corporate “fat cats” certainly are getting “fatter” under the current administration as well. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of time for Dems to become disillusioned by the current “regime” just like Reps became with the previous one.

Since you brought up religion, I believe that’s the surest path for the Republican party to put the final nail in their own coffin. The majority of registered voters are Dems first of all, and the vast majority of voters do NOT vote based on religion. I mean, honestly, I can’t figure out how the Republican party can be so dense – can anyone think of a single thing more divisive than religious differences? (It’s personal, not political!) I loved Huck’s blue-collar common sense in the early primaries, until he started talking about abortion. (He even did the “wink, wink”) Lost my vote right there. To be really honest with you, I briefly considered voting for Obama “the outsider” at that point. (A True, breddah!) Until I learned about Obama’s intentions with health care. I predict Huck will get less than 30% of the popular vote if he wins the next nomination. I don’t care what someone’s personal religion is … as long as they don’t try to impose it on me. Our politicians would do well to learn the difference.

Speaking as a Republican who met a couple hundred completely random fellow Reps at the GOP convention last year (and since I brought up abortion ), I’ll share this interesting tidbit with you: Not a single person I met at the convention was completely pro-life. In fact, all but a small handful actually claimed to be pro-choice. Tru dat! Why is it that the “only” public voice for the party seems to be the CC right and self-absorbed weirdos like Rush? I’d seriously like to see more diversity of “conservative” opinion options on your surveys.

Even Karl Rove said the party needed to get with the times! There’s a huge schism in the party right now. Those who disagree with me are just as convinced that I’m the problem. Whoever is right … it’s irrelevant unless Republican candidates can figure out a way to win. I don’t see that happening on their current trajectory.

And I’m just going to say it again, Paul – the finger-pointing-divisive way you posed your questions is part of the problem, IMO. Who’s NOT going to be upset at $160M in bonuses for AIG? Duh! If the best We The People can do is swing violently from backlash to backlash, these will be the least of our troubles. I’m sure you’ll get a lot of comments, though, if that’s your goal.

The only solution to the present banking problem is to withdraw public funding of bank equity and allow them to go into bankruptcy. As it stand now the taxpayer is providing income for the stockholders of companies that are dead. The companies failed in their fudicary responsibility and their owners must take the consequences.

The hand wringing about the bonuses could be placated because the contractual obligation to pay bonuses would go away.

Once they are declared official dead then the toxic organs (worthless assets) can more easily be removed. In time they can be resold back to the public as healthy organisms but under stricter rules as we used to have for commercial banks.

It’s a difficult political bullet to bite but bite we must.

>Back in a September, 2008, a Zogby Interactive poll , 83% believed that “those who participated in the unsound lending and investment practices that led to the current financial crisis should be held criminally responsible for their actions.”

What about the people who participated in unsound buying practices – the 3000 square foot house in the country and the 12 MPG Belchfire Eight with which to make the commute?

We just had another peaceful revolution. Against whom should we protest? The leaders we just voted in? Besides, Americans are happiest when complaining.

Yes, the economy and the banking crises developed during the Bush Administration, enabled by policies put inplace in the Clinton administration in addition to it’s own. However, the deomcratic controlled congress was also in place during the last two years of the Bush administration and the last time I checked, it’s the congress that spends money and makes laws. There’s plenty of blame to go around.

The president needs to take ownership of the situation and then set about fixing it. Enough of the “I inherited this mess” belly aching. We all own it, and much of the deficit is the responsibility of the democratic controlled congress that just couldn’t stop spending money during the Bush administration and apparently can’t stop now either.

@billwald
It’s unsound buying only if you can’t pay for it. It might be unwise in either case.

Not all situations demand partisan politics and this economic downturn is one such example. It galls me to see politicians more concerned with placing blame and responsibility on the other side than working to keep this down cycle as short as possible.
And it appears to me that the one shouting the loudest are the very same ones whose bad ideas and lies got us here in the first place. I wish we could recall them all.

A contract is a contract…Except for auto workers and teachers who are always forced into renegotiations to give up gains and benefits well before contracts are up. Why not banks whats good for the goose….

The two major political parties have both shown most Americans that they are capable only of governing AT the citizenry. They either have no intention of serving in the public interest, or thay have become completely incompetent to the task. There really is no practical difference between the two gangs other than one being blue and the other red. While they claim to support various differences in philosophy, it makes little difference when the government actually serves the interests of gigantic financial, military, and other corporations, to the exclusion of the people that elected them.

The anger that your surveys are detecting is very real. Many, very many, of the folks I’ve talked with here in Metro Detroit over the past 5-6 months are plainly pissed-off and livid, whether they are autoworkers, management, or in non-auto businesses; employed, retired, or unemployed.

Those that had high hopes (or faith in a messiah) of a significant directional change away from the past 8 years of a paranoid right-wing Executive Branch and a largely-impotent Congress, find themselves staring into an ever-deepening financial abyss being “fixed” by Keystone Kops bearing trainloads of money that nobody really has, and nobody will assume any responsibility for.

It matters little that this all began during both the Clinton & Bush administrations (don’t forget NAFTA, CAFTA, …). They’re “Mad as Hell”, some are readying for a massive march on Washington, and some are discussing the possibility of an outright revolution. We’re not talking “tea party” here.

This is not going to “blow over” anytime soon, even if the economy perks-up later this year – which is highly-unlikely.

A Ross Perot or Ron Paul walking down the street would instantly attract a crowd around here; probably anywhere in the country, since the nation is just learning what we’ve known here for the past 5 years.

We’re watching a slow-motion trainwreck that will continue until the Washington lawyer-politicians realize that the correct prescription for AIG, the ginormous banks, the hedge funds, and the mortgage companies, is to immediately take back the taxpayer’s money, break them into smaller pieces, and allow these gambling houses to fail hard – the most-effective way that a capitalist economy regulates itself.

The citizenry is not about to play CYA to those who are *supposed to* take their losses!

voters are mad and getting madder!

When people are scared and anxious over the economy and uncertain about the future, anger comes naturally. The party in power better beware!

Congress takes their pay raise in January, spends unfathomable amounts of money (benefiting themselves indirectly of course), and then act so self righteously indignant about AIG bonuses. It’s not just AIG whose actions have been egregious. Congress pass the bills without reading them or worse yet knowing what’s in them. When does the Congress ever take personal responsibility? After all the grandious promises the Administration is no better.

If we thought we were getting anything more than lies, arrogance, and incompetence from our leadership maybe we would offer a little respect and trust.

Next year may look different, but it looks like the Dems will alienate more and more through talking centrist positions and governing extreme left or else they will fragment into gridlock. Come to think about it, that might be an improvement.

Legitimately blaming former President Bush is over. He was blamed for 8 full years, some of it legitimately, now it’s time to lay the blame on President Obama.

Honestly I think most of the comments are signifying the problems with the politics in the US. I agree that the time to point fingers is over. All members of Congress should have one thing in mind and that is passing legislation that will get the economy back on track. However to do this each party has to give up on their dogmatic agendas to enable us to move forward. This means the GOP can not vote against every bill that does not have a big tax cut and the Dems have to go after some of their constituancy and give them the bad news that the 50s and 60s are over and the reality of 2009 has arived.

Howver, contrary to some, the US Treasury is the bank of last hope regarding this economy at this point in time. I don’t see any of the major world banks advertising business loans. So the choice is either sit here and complain and hope the tooth fairy sends us some money or the government has to be the one who starts the engine. This is not a long term involvement but a short term (2 to 3 years) of engagement in micro economic policy to shore up sectors of the economy and those businesses that have good fundamentals, not prop up those that in normal times would face bankruptcy.

As we are at it we might as well tackle all of those issues that administrations and congresses have talked about but done nothing for the last 25 to 30 years which would be medical and social secuirty reform, education funding and requirements, amending the 47 year old international tax regulations into a coherent policy and then the corporate tax code by lowering the rate to compare to other countries but amending the deductions of certain items.

Folks its not going to be easy or pretty, but the time of complaining and ideology has come to an end and the time for action has arrived just like the 1930s.

Whoa Allan!

You’ll have to pardon me for speculating on your position, but it sounds almost identical to what the current administration is doing – spending loads of money everywhere, while trying to solve every problem they’ve perceived over the last 2 or 3 decades – all on the back of the next two generations. Hopefully, you are not part of the financial gangs that have money-jacked the government to the tune of 1 1/2 to 2 Trillion dollars that China will be fronting us (if they are that gullible).

Sorry, but the US Treasury is not even a bank – it’s my taxes that they haven’t yet taken, your taxes that they haven’t yet taken, everybody’s taxes that they haven’t yet taken (mostly our kids & their kids); there hasn’t been a dime of real money in the US Treasury for several decades.

I don’t see any significant difference between the democrats & republicans regarding this stuff. It’s as much greed, gambling, government BS, & criminality as it is political. The taxpayer is the ATM for the government; and the employee/retiree is the ATM for Wall Street, the banks, and other financial firms.

The lawyer/politicians have zero interest in helping your wallet get fat – unless you are willing to fatten their slushfunds first …