After an seemingly endless…and as usual totally fruitless…colloquy between myself and centerfielddj in the comments section of Booman’s apparent Arthur Gilroy callout Rand Paul is Just Like the Others (The first sentence of which was “I’m just paging Arthur Gilroy here. Any response?”), ol’ centerfield admitted intellectual defeat by posting yet another in a long line of name-calling.
Arthur, your impenetrable cynicism makes you appear as an increasingly sad man. Nothing means anything to you.
My answer follows. There as well as here.
Centerfielddj, my “impenetrable cynicism” regarding U.S. politics is simply the truth of the matter as I…and millions of other Americans…see it. (The following is from the supposedly left-centrist Atlantic, by the way. Yeah, I know. It sounds more like The Washington Times except the prose is better. That’s where we’re headed, bubbelehs. Deal wid it. Rand Paul is way out front on this trend. In point of fact, his efforts…and those of his father’s before him…are one of the things that are driving this anti-PermaGov movement. Is he just another cynical, vote-grabbing pol? Maybe, maybe not. We shall soon see, won’t we. We were all surprised by the depth of Obama’s commitment to the PermaGov, were we not? Our capacity at surprise regarding the perfidy upon which this system is presently based should be wearing thin by now.)
Have Americans Officially Given Up on Washington?
Poll results reveal an overwhelming preference for stronger local leadership, and less federal input.
Michael Hansen, age 45, is not alone in thinking that national politics has become “almost like a slow-motion car wreck.” Every week brings another seeming crisis from Washington, D.C.–the congressional showdown over the continuation of funding for the Department of Homeland Security was just the latest. It’s enough to turn off ordinary Americans from the down-to-the-wire negotiations and theatrics.
“After 10 years of paying attention to politics, I just prefer state and local government,” says Hansen, an independent voter who works in food sales and lives in Idaho, just outside of Sun Valley. “I think local and state politicians actually listen more. They have to live within the same rules that they create.”
The most recent results of the 22nd Heartland Monitor poll, sponsored by Alllstate and National Journal, bear out Hansen’s assessment of who is best suited to lead the U.S. Years of federal gridlock and dysfunction have left the public favoring state and local institutions over the federal government as the places best equipped to offer solutions to the country’s ongoing economic and social challenges.
—snip—
The preference for governance that is closer to home carries across people of various ages and genders. Sixty-seven percent of men favored state and local institutions over national ones, compared to the breakdown among women of 61 percent for local and state level versus 27 percent for national. Poll participants who identified as Republicans expressed some of the least regard for leadership at the national level. Just 14 percent of Republicans said the national level was marching ahead toward its goals; Republicans, who have long advocated for a smaller footprint for the federal government, overwhelmingly favored the activity of state and local institutions.
—snip—
The polling did not just show the lack of faith in national institutions and leadership; it also shows that people increasingly feel that the best solutions for the country’s problems will come from local communities, state governments, and institutions. Sixty-nine percent of respondents said that state and local institutions–from governments to businesses to community groups and volunteers–offer the best new ideas because they were closer to the problems, more adaptable, and had a greater stake in finding solutions. Just 22 percent of respondents thought the federal government and big business were better equipped to solve the country’s challenges.
To varying degrees, that attitude remained constant across gender lines, age, race, and party affiliation–reflecting respondents’ strong preference for state and local institutions and solutions. “The federal government is too big and too slow. I think it needs to be cut down,” says Luke Roberts, a 30-year-old Republican from Littleton, Colorado, “I just think that less is more right now with the federal government.”
Overwhelmingly, poll respondents said that state and local governments, nonprofits, and institutions were best equipped to handle the majority of problems that the country faced: everything from making neighborhoods more attractive places to live to improving education, helping poor people, and developing new products and services to create jobs. Respondents even believe that fair regulation of businesses would fare better under local and state oversight, according to the polling data.
—snip—
Deal wid it.
AG
