Congress, Society

Almost 90 Percent of People Believe the Government Is Broken

We have yet another poll showing virtually unanimous dissatisfaction with our political system. A CNN poll shows an impressive 86 percent who say that the government is broken. What is fascinating is how the two parties are now moving to join the chorus — to control the debate and prevent serious reforms.

The problem remains directing this anger in a productive direction toward real political reform. Instead, the two parties are moving to convert the mess that they created into a campaign for more power. Sarah Palin is telling tea party members that they must pick between the two parties, here. People like Joe Biden are objecting to the political failure (here despite their role in creating and maintaining the system. Both parties are trying to show that the solution is to give them more power over the other party.

It is a testament to the duopoly that the two parties can use their own failure to their advantage. The theory is that, if you object to the current status, you (and your party) cannot be part of the problem. Evan Bayh even blames it on “testosterone poisoning” while appearing with other politicians who have helped maintain the system, here. You will notice that none of these Republicans or Democrats are speaking of changing the structure of the political system — only the characters and “environment.”

Can you think of one issue that almost 90 percent of Americans agree on in terms of reform? Yet, it is likely that no real change will occur due to the monopoly of power by the two parties.

For the CNN poll result, click here.

56 thoughts on “Almost 90 Percent of People Believe the Government Is Broken”

  1. Pingback: Almost 90 Percent of People Believe the Government Is Broken…. | PETERSON MERANT' an untold story

  2. I had been thinking about UofC’s commentary on our little salon (and JT’s reply, of course) while reading Clarence Darrow’s brief but insightful biography of Voltaire, a kindred spirit he both loved and envied. This little passage kept popping up and forcing me to pay it more attention than its due. I suppose it knew that it fit, quite properly, in this thread:

    “The ordinary mind cannot understand that a serious purpose and a sense of humor can go together. It is only the sense of humor that can keep a man alive for the serious purpose. The world has never been able to distinguish between stupidity and seriousness. If the stupidly serious really had any humor, they would die from laughing at themselves.”

    ~Clarence Darrow

  6. Just a lite snack,this morning:

    “Evan Bayh Gets Rough Treatment on ‘The View'”

    “Politicians frequently appear on national talk shows when they’re running for office, but Sen. Evan Bayh, the retiring Democratic senator from Indiana, appeared on “The View” Monday to explain why he’s not running for office later this year.

    “I reached the conclusion that I could get more done for my country and for my state in the private sector,” he told Barbara Walters. “Congress is so gridlocked these days. It’s regrettable that with brain-dead ideology and strident partisanship, months go by and we don’t get anything done.”

    If Bayh expected a softball interview after that, he was in for a shock.

    “I hate to say it, but you sound like Sarah Palin right now,” Joy Behar said, accusing the senator of quitting his job before his work was done.”

    http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/02/22/evan-bayh-gets-rough-treatment-on-the-view/

  7. “Just stumbled on this blog and initially was thrilled, thinking I had finally found a group of intelligent, thoughtful posters.”

    Well, look at you. You’re going to look for intelligence on blogs. Seems to me someone hasn’t really thought things through. But you’re certainly acting like a bigger douche then John Mayer… good luck with that attitude.

  8. anon nurse, Your link resonates with this article I saw yesterday. (link below) A similar situation wherein the whistle-blowers and voices of sanity, this time in the military, are the ones punished and harassed for their positions. The people giving good advice that contradicts a political position (or a position by a superior is just incorrect) that is unwise or unlawful are made the fall guys for a policy that does prove incorrect.

    This used to drive me nuts about the Bush administration; stories like these were regular and reoccurring. To say that this kind of thing sends the wrong signal and casts in concrete the mindset that allegiance to the boss is preferable to allegiance to the mission is an understatement. It’s downright dangerous to ones career to give good, objective advice based on facts. I had hoped there would be less of that these days. Thanks for the link.

    http://attackerman.firedoglake.com/2010/02/21/mcchrystals-right-call/

    “Jon Landay has a very good piece about Gen. McChrystal overruling his officers’ judgment in eastern Afghanistan about closing two remote military outposts that “were worthless and too costly to defend.” An official investigation into a deadly insurgent attack on one of them last fall ignored McChrystal’s role in the decision and appears to hang out to dry the colonel and the lieutenant colonel who wanted the bases shuttered. …”

  9. Since I’m commenting, let me rewind a bit and agree with Gyges and Byron that State appointed senators would clearly not totally alleviate corruption in that body. No one is more convinced of government’s inherent corruption than I.

    That said, there’s plenty of corruption going on with our directly elected officials today. It would be useful if US senators did not have to be photogenic, media savvy millionaires (or billionaires), as is the case in 2010. It would also quickly thwart the shift of power to Washington DC that has gone parabolic in the last decade.

  12. anon nurse,

    I will try to embed your video, here:

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=378byjpZoiU&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

  15. Although the … my referral to the D.C. Bar (the same Bar to which Yoo and Bybee would have been referred) is still pending after almost seven years. (Politically-motivated treatment by the D.C. Bar, and allowing itself to be used as a tool of revenge by the Bush Justice Department, is a diary for a different day.)

    This is BS. Read the article and also call…..

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