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12 Numbers Which Prove That Americans Are Sick And Tired Of Politics As Usual
Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,
The American people are increasingly waking up to the fact that nothing ever seems to change in Washington D.C. no matter which political party is in power. In fact, as you will see later on in this article, an all-time high 53 percent of all Americans believe that neither party "represents the American people". Over the past several decades, we have sent a Bush, a Clinton, another Bush and an Obama to the White House, but the policies coming out of Washington have remained pretty much the same the entire time. The mainstream media would have us believe that the Republicans and the Democrats are constantly fighting like cats and dogs, but the truth is that the Republicans want to take us to the same place that the Democrats want to take us - just a little more slowly perhaps. And behind the scenes, Republicans and Democrats have a good time with one another and they are ultimately controlled by the same set of oligarchs. The Americans people are really starting to recognize what a sham our system has become, and the numbers show that they are quite fed up with it.
I truly wish that things were different. When I was much younger, I was actively involved in politics and I enthusiastically campaigned for certain candidates. But then when they got to Washington D.C., they never did most of the things that they promised to do during their campaigns.
I was quite bewildered by this. At the time, I concluded that we just needed to send even more "good politicians" to D.C. and then things would finally turn around.
But things never did turn around. No matter which party had the upper hand, the same garbage continued to spew forth from Washington.
Ultimately, like millions of other Americans, I have come to see that there is not really much of a difference between Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi on one side, and John Boehner, John McCain, Mitch McConnell and Jeb Bush on the other side.
Sure, if you listen to their campaign speeches you might be tempted to think that they were polar opposites, but when you watch what they actually do there is not that much that really separates them.
Fortunately, large numbers of Americans are starting to see through this disgusting charade. Most of our politicians are con men that tell us what we want to hear during their campaigns, and then after they are elected they forget all about us. Dissatisfaction with these politicians has risen to unprecedented levels in recent years, and that could be a good thing. The following are 12 numbers which prove that Americans are sick and tired of politics as usual...
#1 A national Rasmussen Reports survey has found that an all-time high 53 percent of all Americans believe that neither major political party "represents the American people".
#2 According to a Real Clear Politics average of national polls, only 29 percent of Americans believe that the country is heading in the right direction.
#3 According to a Real Clear Politics average of national polls, Americans disapprove of the job that Barack Obama is doing by a 52.2 to 43.7 percent margin.
#4 According to a Real Clear Politics average of national polls, Americans disapprove of the job that Congress is doing by a 77.6 percent to 14.2 percent margin.
#5 52 percent of Americans "do not think the economy is fair to those willing to work hard".
#6 65 percent of Americans are dissatisfied "with the U.S. system of government and its effectiveness". That is the highest level of dissatisfaction that Gallup has ever recorded.
#7 Only 4 percent of Americans believe that it would "change Congress for the worse" if every member was voted out during the next election.
#8 An all-time low 31 percent of Americans identify themselves as Democrats.
#9 An all-time low 25 percent of Americans identify themselves as Republicans.
#10 An all-time high 42 percent of Americans identify themselves as Independents.
#11 60 percent of Americans report feeling "angry or irritable". Two years ago that number was at 50 percent.
#12 70 percent of Americans do not have confidence that the federal government will "make progress on the important problems and issues facing the country in 2014".
Of course at the heart of much of this dissatisfaction is the continuing problems in our economy. For example, check out the Gallup daily employment tracking survey that you can find right here. As you can see, the payroll to population number (those Americans working 30 hours a week or more) has been flatlining in the low forties for more than four years now. The truth is that there never has been an employment recovery in this nation since the last recession. For much more on all this, please see my previous article entitled "This Is What Employment In America Really Looks Like…"
The last wave of the economic crisis really devastated the middle class, and as a result record numbers of Americans have become dependent on the government. As I mentioned in one recent article, ten years ago the number of women working outnumbered the number of women on food stamps by more than a 2 to 1 margin. But now the number of women on food stamps actually exceeds the number of women that have jobs.
No wonder so many Americans are so angry. Things are not nearly as good as they used to be.
Unfortunately, even though so many people are angry and frustrated, there is very little consensus on the solutions to our problems.
Many Americans even want to throw out the principles that this country was founded upon entirely. For example, one recent survey discovered that 59 percent of all Americans believe that the U.S. Constitution is "outdated".
That is a very chilling number. We live at a time when Americans are becoming increasingly ignorant about who we are, where we came from and how we get here.
And a lot of our fellow citizens do not even know how our system of government works. One survey actually found that only 25 percent of all Americans knew how long U.S. Senators are elected for (6 years), and only 20 percent of all Americans knew how many U.S. senators there are (100).
In the final analysis, it is hard to be optimistic about a political solution to any of our major problems in the near future. Most of our politicians are deeply corrupt, the American people are incredibly angry and are deeply divided, and the vast majority of campaigns for federal office are won by the candidate that raises the most money.
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It is time to take control back from Washington DC. Unfortunately, people are too dependent on Washington DC and nothing will change.
The caption on that picture...
Boehner: I swear, if you release those surrepticious pictures of me fucking that goat, I'm gonna cry!
Obozo: You're so pawned, Boner! Just continue doing my bidding.
The left and right disagree only on how to implement total control, as reflected by the cultural basis of their ideologies.
Hunter-gatherer descendant liberals or townsfolk descendant conservatives. Each believes their way is the correct way for survival.
Not certain who gave you the ding down but that is the truest statement I've seen in a long time.
Obozo acolytes are here on ZH in droves. I wear their down-arrows as a badge of courage. You would think the Tylers would weed them out...
I am having trouble typing this because I find myself agreeing with Anus.
Fast forward from his anaology about modern liberals and socalled conservatives and you'll find the only difference is in how they propose to spend your money.
Never is the discussion about Liberty and limited government, ever.
Each will use all sorts of buzz words and cliche', but never get too close to the truth of their mission.
Deciding how the booty is spent is the real nexus of the argument.
DaddyO
Yes, the ignorant masses are still distracted by the swinging pocket watch of "politics".
"You can vote and change things that are wrong....repeat after me..."
Dumb fucking monkeys.
Both divisions of the ruling party reside on the left, with the elephant sock puppets on the far left and jackass sock puppets on the extreme left.
The political spectrum is from 100% or totalitarian gubbermint (left) to 0% gubbermint or anarchy (right). None of the 'murkin sock puppets are on the right and virtually none are even near the center (government limited to protecting men's rights, under the rule of law in a republic).
Huge FeRNs from the global power elite make sure "nothing changes," at least not for the better, by re-re-re-"electing" (appointing) the most corrupt incuntbents. Of course, "voting" is now nothing more than a hapless charade for the masses, since computers controlled by the elephant/jackass sock puppets decide the winner by "counting the votes" in secret.
Your comment implies that Boner has different views from Bath House...
No, they're both scum...
With differing methods of screwing American citizens.
But Obozo has a proven track record of using his rabid goons for digging up (and using!) dirt on others.
Caption (cont):
Boner: Tonite,I'll slip u a high hard one.
Fudgepacker in chief: Wheeee! Can i bring the wookie to watch?
Who could down vote that wee? I was thinking boner was like " hey O tumbo,this is my pinky finger in your butt, and if you stupid illegal halfbro fuk don't stop making like you know what the fuk the definition of what means, than go ahead say it again!
#13) 51% intend to vote for their incumbent.
It's the American way to give a second chance...and a third...and a fourth...
It'll be different next time...
Clown Psychopaths to the left of me, Joker Psychopaths to the right, here I am, Stuck in the middle of tyranny with you.
If you don't like your Incumbant..
you can keep your Incumbant, (because you are terrified by the non-Incumbant).
14) 100% of voters believe there is a difference between the two parties.
"100% of voters believe there is a difference between the two parties."
100% of voters, may be (there's always a skeptic few).
But at best, 50% believe there is a difference between...
the two sides are different, no? You can't add them together.
Sorry, reading today's articles give me a bad day.
;-p
What about TMZ polling? How about Entertainment Weekly polling? I am sure everything is just great for their audiences after all they must consider themselves well informed and on the cutting edge of breaking "news" events.
Rand Paul could be the dark horse to take it in 2016.
Why? Because that rotten sellout proved himself a vocal Mitt Romney 'supporter'? PUHLEEZE.
There's not much else to say.
Perhaps you have some better in mind?
No, I don't. But I can tell you for sure that the solution to the corrupt system will not come from within it.
I was speaking to Chistophe but if we're going to keep electing fucking SENATORS to run the executive branch of government (a CEO position, a completely different set of skill sets as opposed to a "legislator") I'll throw in with Rand.
Who felt so strongly about having Brennan at CIA and "imperial" drone strikes (an act of war) that he left the comfort of his chair? He could have voted nay like any other milquetoast rep and called it a day...but he didn't.
////////
Yeah and thats my red, so there are no misunderstandings.
I don't think that is proof of any real conviction on the part of Rand Paul. I would love to believe that he could be elected and would perform as you expect, but I can't believe that.
And I only downvote trolls and statists, not people with whom I disagree.
Well, I think Crisco2 (lol) had other motives for his comment.
So what other convictions might Rand have, that you need proof of or might agree with?
Could we say he is also for a smaller, less intrusive centralized federal government? Could we say, he doesn't believe in regulating & taxing our society into oblivion, like an Obama or Hillary or Bush or Warren, as in, say...a statist who you would junk?
And as an aside, I give far more greens than reds, so consider yourself, special ;-)
It's not so much what Rand Paul says or does while in the Senate where he is only 1/100 because he pretty much has no influence on outcomes. I'm certain if he ran for President and became the Republican nominee that the bankers would get to him and he'd be owned like the rest. Whether they got to him a long time ago and he's just currently deep cover or they get to him later is unknown...but they will get to him if he threatens them, one way or another. I remember in 2000 Bush pretty much ran on isolationism, in 2004 Kerry was anti-war, and in 2008 Obama was anti-rich. I just don't think we're going to be able to vote our way out of this.
My mother always told me I was special too. =)
So your solution is to:
1) vote for Hillary
2) not vote - like that really shows them (I don't like the game. I'm taking my marbles and going home).
We are so doomed.
I prefer option:
3) Guillotines
They obviously don't fear voting but everyone fears being drug through the street by an angry mob.
My first dup, you are special...lol.
I am surprised you don't consider nmewn a troll. He seems to be pretty obviously plugging a number of statist/system lies, like how we should limit our thinking to ONLY the pukes who make it onto TV, or even that the only way to solve political problems is to delegate everything to some professional blowhard who promises he'll do it all for us. More Hope & Change, different bunch of actors, different demographic.
As far as his earlier question of who to suggest, any truther would be better than the Pauls or any of the other 9/11 cover-artists that so like to pretend they care about people on TV. Real people don't exist as candidates, apparently, so they always want for us to only ever pine for the lesser evil, since he is so much 'better'...
But I know better than to believe the sociopaths in charge would accept any vote result that strips them of power and impunity... Like you said, the solution is not in voting or using what the system offers us as 'solutions', but in looking far beyond that.
IMO, self-improvement is one immediate alternative: by searching for and developping sane solutions that exist outside of the corporate/mainstream (food, health, etc.), one will not only be better off financially and in health/happiness/etc., but one will simultaneously be starving the beast that normally feeds off of so much of our economic activity... Normally, at that point one also starts having a clearer head and more free time (NO TV!), which can lead to the next step in figuring out how best to make a smart difference as a group as well. :)
Could you possibly get anymore catch phraseolgy into a single comment?
I think you forgot HAARP, chemtrails, manmade global warming, income inequality, Gaia and vegan saints ;-)
We need a sea change. Isolationism works until you look up and learn you've been conscripted to kill other poor bastards or to die for reasons that you will never be privy to, or you find yourself standing on a public sidewalk uniformed sociopaths claim they alone dictate the right to occupy unmolested.
We should examine the hive mentality closer. There is no morality there, no right or wrong. There just is. It's been incredibly successful and it's based on a parthenogenicism not requiring fertilization from outside influences. I like your idea of learning and growing from your knowledge until you can identify and join up with like-minded individuals and form cohorts; establishing leaderless power bases which work in silence for the common good.
Thx Bro! I totally agree about the enormous impact of the group on the mind, and how we all need to do a LOT of work to become much more self-aware and free of manipulation.
The elites know very well how to use all that against us normally, but once their techniques become known (eg: http://cryptome.org/2012/07/gent-forum-spies.htm), they become ineffective. Sharing that kind of stuff really makes a difference!
Also, what I like about the personal improvement approach is that it can break societal mind control: people don't want to know about 9/11 because they can't do anything about it and because they feel they will be made to suffer (ridicule and much worse) if they accept the truth - hence they refuse all that stuff. But when offered info that can directly help them, then they can be tempted, and once they start to benefit from doubting the system, then there will be no stopping their progress...
And even better: even if, in the worst case, no one else follows along, then at least the individual still benefits from his personal self-improvement - there is no down side! But how sweet would it be to find lots of symbiotic and smart people like that and to team up with them...
Just because you liked old man Ron, you shouldn't just support his toupee wearing wacko son. Would you want Tom Hank's retarded looking brother to star in a blockbuster movie? How about drafting Michael Jordan's asshole kid number 1 in the draft.
Dr. Brn Carson for President 2016
runbenrun.org
and that will change nothing, Rand Paul would be Bush 4.0 since Obingo is Bush 3.0.
I propose a national referendum to impeach, expel, fire all of the members of the executive, legislative and judical branches, and end the Fed and start from scratch.
No more fucking lawyers, bankers or people who talk through their asses.
Oh, stupid me this isn't a democracy.
Word! Nothing will change until every career politician is thrown out of office and replaced by honest, non-idiological types who are truly out to make the american people their politics, and nothing else. We take care of OUR OWN now, first, and until further notice. Other countries have a right to their own sovereignty, so our foreign policy is LIVE AND LET LIVE. And abolish the fed res, as you outlined, or at least default on all debt they refuse to provide accounting for. Cease unilateral support for israel to get the muslims off our backs. Then, monitor israel closely for false flag terrorist attacks on the u.s. Oh yes, they would pull that crap.
You'll get your wish if in the Constitutional Convention in 1916 we can restore the ORIGINAL 13th Amendment, which WAS RATIFIED in1819 but got "Misplaced" by ('m sure) attorneys as it would mean a loss of citizenship if they maintained their pledge to the BAR. Private Corperation. I have read it in its entirety in an older law book that was used in a court. The 14th was also scammed during the Reconstruction period just after the Civil War. Milestones
The "Good OLe Days" weren't so damn good either.
2016 not 1916. Kinda jumped a century. Oops. Milestones
Blah blah blah. Another list that everyone knows and no one can or will do anything about until it is too late.
Rape, crying, divorce, cheating, gay marriage, smoking choom laws, lack of any morals, society breakdown, country divide, the poor EBT negro’s, open the flood gates on increasing unemployment thru Amnesty. We already did the test run in UK. Check how successful that turned out to be. Umm, you might just repeat history again. Cough..
May your face be forever covered in santorum!
Divide and conquer. The practice has been absorbed and is part of the system. It's a corruption equilibrium.
Congressional approval is just over 20%. The author should be the first in the " Iron Horse". IMHO
Just under 20% (sp;congressional approval 14%)
Everyone fucking hates Jamie Dimon.
I used to work at JPM but Jamie must be put out to pasture. Nothing cool or cleaver here. Just part of the establishment.
"Jamie must be put out to pasture."
Too peaceful of an end for a criminal. Life imprisonment at the very least, hung for treason at the most.
I'd pay to watch him hang.
7 billion people hate the Rothschilds and the Rockefellers and Janet Yellen in particular.
What the fuck are you talking about? I bet there aren't even 7 million people on this planet who know who those people are.
The problem is that Americans just aren't very sophisticated.
Discriminating tastebuds know that Rothschilds makes wicked candy and Rockefellers prepare delicious oysters.
More complicated than people have time to turn pages on many levels of ideas.
https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofzi009976mbp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4rU-vRvyAg
7 million... Try 700k!?!
I credit ZH for shining light on nearly all of this. I know it has become my go to site for information.
Emigratration is sounding better and better. I think I will head to South America. They stayed out of both world wars.
George Washington ws a hero to their revolurionaries too. At least they listened to his farewell address.
I'm thinking along those lines as well. I can't stand paying taxes towards evil (so how can I continue to work?) and all the signs abound of a coming brutal crackdown (as the propaganda slowly stops being effective, what else can they do?).
I hope you're not white or can carry a nice tan, I'm not sure that Americans are exactly welcome in S.A.
and be on team vaticanos.
13. 100% would cheer if they all got blown up at the state of the union.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KNJcOZXmMU
Where do I sign the petition that sanctions this!
Both sides plutocrats at home, imperialists abroad, culture wars for distracting the proles. Jeb/Hillary 2016, here we come. We are the oligarchs' bitches now. I still think things could change if more people unplugged, but most will spend the rest of their lives letting facebook control them through their mobile telescreens.
I agree with the sentiment but we still have to do what we can to wake our people. As hard as it is to shake people out of their programming, if we can get even a tiny 1% success rate then it can make a difference These changes start out as impossible then snow ball into inevitable.
E pluribus unum> bitchezGeorge Galloway - I fucking hate Cspan but I can watch this all day; One of the (VERY RARE)10000 occasions that some semblance of integrity existed in this greatest hall of bullshit
It is very possible we could have a Bush vs. Billary race in 2016.
Let that sink into your head just how fucking pathetic that would be. After nearly two decades of Bushes and Clintons, TPTB could easily give the public the option between MOAR Bushes and Clintons.
It's like a retarded version of War of the Roses. Instead of the House of Lancaster vs. the House of York, we have the House of Bush vs. the House of Clinton. But this time both houses are secretly on the same side.
Long roses.
lol...I believe if a poll were conducted on REGISTERED, LIKELY voters they would agree.
Could be a pig vs. an ostrich in "Theater 2016" and nothing will change.
The banksters pick 'em and run 'em.
"The irony is that to cut the puppet strings one must string up the banksters."
The fact that either of those low life families are not cowering in disgrace and poverty is an indication of how far we have to go to turn this thing around.
Again, all together now:
Dr Ben Carson for President 2016
www.runbenrun.org
" Bush vs. Billary"....sounds more like the movie War of the Roses....we'd have Bush pissing in Billary's soup tureen....
Sick of politics?! I don't think so.
The American people are sick of the criminals of the DC US, at all levels, local to DC, and their bankster masters robbing, cheating, stealing and killing everything they can get their hands on.
They must go. Politics will change when they are gone.
The Four Rs
Rejection: Quit paying, quit obeying , quit playing
Revolution: It is inevitable, so prepare, as they are.
Retribution: Is there really any place for these sociopaths and criminals in a restored civil and Constitutional society?!
Restoration: Restore the Constitutional republic.
The best govt. Money can buy.
I was politically jaded in my teens.
All subversive, self-serving, bloviating bullshitters. Lie to get in, lie to stay in, lay waste to your opponents, a chicken in every pot...ad nauseum.
Ain't that the truth. Kudos for noticing early on.
JUST show the g d f___ing TRUTH!
... visibility to these massive deceptions by omission that are done to the people!
The Public Be Suckered
http://patrick.net/forum/?p=1230886
MISPRICINGS CAUSED THE FINANCIAL CRISIS. Look and See.*
http://patrick.net/forum/?p=1241650
But then when they got to Washington D.C., they never did most of the things that they promised to do during their campaigns.
This is also true in Canada. Harper controls all, yet there is no one to replace him........So Sad.
The only hope for the American people is a military coup in which every member of Congress and the entire cabinet along with the president and vice president is executed for treason. This day would go down in history as a national day of liberation. KILL THEM ALL!
A grim chapter from The Turner Diaries; http://www.skrewdriver.net/turner23.html
"Unfortunately, even though so many people are angry and frustrated, there is very little consensus on the solutions to our problems."
Well, some solutions have been proposed in the comments.
But what my parents told me about voting is just the sickest joke. So action of another sort must be taken. The problem is in taking any action, given the police state that the USA has become. To be successful, any action would require that a large number of the population get very involved. Like the Vietnam protests. It is unlikely that that could occur without some coordination. (I really don't know a thing about the twitter, social media, capabilities.) However, Big Brother (who really is here), won't allow coordination. So someone clue me in as to how the people can do anything about this.
90% of congressmen and presidents don't give a shit about America or the people.
We, the People have (imho) have a last chance to save the Republic this November.
From the dry, dead shell of the old establishment GOP there is emerging a group of Liberty Republicans who actully believe in the Constitution as guide for gov't. Added to that group a good dose of Libertarianism-again, imho the Founders were true Libertarians: minimum goverment, maximum personal freedom tempered by personal RESPONSIBLITY.
We need to vote out the establishment of BOTH parites and bring in new blood. There are numerous new candidates nation wide. Check out senateconservatives.com and freedomworks.org
Don't give up on America just yet.
with technology, people can now see their politicians in 'real time' action. it's a lot like watching a person torture animals on TV. it really fucking sucks because you feel helpless to stop it or change it. they want you to feel that way. powerless. don't give in.
what we need to do is focus on bringing 'politics' back to the local and state level. there is no need for "DC" to exist anymore except as a boys and girls club for pyschopaths who must huddle together in the privacy of their un-monitored quarters so they can plot and scheme how to steal from the people they are meant to serve. really, if we can work from home so can they. there is no need for the state legislators to be in DC except in a time of war. DC should only serve to protect our country, not tell us how to run our lives. the states can do that just fine (except California but fuck it, leave if you don't like it. i did).
for us to have any real effect we must now pull back the power to the local level - so that if someone is incongruent (lies) and says one thing and does another you are there to call him and her out on the mat. we need to forget the professional politicians and get some people with common sense and real world experience in at the local levels. forget about the guys who have never worked a real job in their life.
honestly, federal politics is about as easy of a job as it gets. any psycopath can do it.
Someone needs to conduct a poll of the special interest groups who are really running the D.C. circus:
1). Do you always get your way even when it is diametrically opposite that of the U.S. citizen?
2). What % do you budget for D.C. lobbying efforts and what is your return on that "investment"?
3). How could government be improved so it is more responsive to your wishes?
"Only 4 percent of Americans believe that it would "change Congress for the worse" if every member was voted out during the next election."
Yet they won't vote for the non incumbant, to drive home the poiint.
According to Tullett Prebon Group Limited:
http://www.tullettprebon.com/Documents/strategyinsights/TPSI_009_Perfect_Storm_009.pdf
perfect storm
energy, finance and the end of growth
Summary
The economy as we know it is facing a lethal confluence of four critical factors – the fall-out from the biggest debt bubble in history; a disastrous experiment with globalisation; the massaging of data to the point where economic trends are obscured; and, most important of all, the approach of an energy-returns cliff-edge.
Through technology, through culture and through economic and political change, society is more short-term in nature now than at any time in recorded history. Financial market participants can carry out transactions in milliseconds. With 24-hour news coverage, the media focus has shifted inexorably from the analytical to the immediate. The basis of politicians’ calculations has shortened to the point where it can seem that all that matters is the next sound-bite, the next headline and the next snapshot of public opinion. The corporate focus has moved all too often from strategic planning to immediate profitability as represented by the next quarter’s earnings.
This report explains that this acceleration towards ever-greater immediacy has blinded society to a series of fundamental economic trends which, if not anticipated and tackled well in advance, could have devastating effects. The relentless shortening of media, social and political horizons has resulted in the establishment of self-destructive economic patterns which now threaten to undermine economic viability.
We date the acceleration in short-termism to the early 1980s. Since then, there has been a relentless shift to immediate consumption as part of something that has been called a “cult of self-worship”. The pursuit of instant gratification has resulted in the accumulation of debt on an unprecedented scale. The financial crisis, which began in 2008 and has since segued into the deepest and most protracted economic slump for at least eighty years, did not result entirely from a short period of malfeasance by a tiny minority, comforting though this illusion may be. Rather, what began in 2008 was the denouement of a broadly-based process which had lasted for thirty years, and is described here as “the great credit super-cycle”.
The credit super-cycle process is exemplified by the relationship between GDP and aggregate credit market debt in the United States (see fig. 1.1). In 1945, and despite the huge costs involved in winning the Second World War, the aggregate indebtedness of American businesses, individuals and government equated to 159% of GDP. More than three decades later, in 1981, this ratio was little changed, at 168%. In real terms, total debt had increased by 214% since 1945, but the economy had grown by 197%, keeping the debt ratio remarkably static over an extended period which, incidentally, was far from shock-free (since it included two major oil crises).