WSJ Op-Ed: Why Obama's Ratings Are Sinking :: Political News and commentaries

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August 17, 2009

WSJ Op-Ed: Why Obama's Ratings Are Sinking

As Arthur C. Brooks explains it, Americans will put up with a lot, but not with someone who imperils their future. Americans have a problem with government spending, and it is not just that we think it is wasteful and ineffective (although most recognize this to be true). Americans actually think the government makes it harder for people to get ahead in life.

And now, dissatisfaction with Obama is spreading into open protest:

[... ] Most Americans see their best future in the free enterprise system when (as a March 2009 Pew Research Center poll found) 70% of respondents agree that, "people are better off in a free market economy, even though there may be severe ups and downs from time to time." There is no evidence that more than a minority of Americans accept the idea that a $17 trillion national debt, greater reliance on government for jobs and health, and hyper-progressive taxation offer the hope they deserve for themselves and their children.

The administration and Congress can deny these truths with charges of un-Americanism and implausible conspiracy theories about the current citizen demonstrations. But opinion polls deliver an honest expression of unhappiness over the direction our nation is taking. Woe betide the leaders who ignore this fact.

Read it all.

Related: (Thomas Sowell) Whose medical decisions?

Posted by Richard at August 17, 2009 8:14 PM

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