posted November 21, 2009 01:30 PM         

Elitist politicians are and have been confronted in townhalls, in their state offices and in their Congressional offices. Their phone lines are jammed with callers and their email boxes are full. This is what happens when elitists think they have become rulers over the Mainstream of American voters who elect...or in the coming case..unelect those who are unresponsive and vote against the wishes and best interests of their constituents.

The Mainstream press..is not now nor has it been "mainstream" for more than 45 years. Poll after poll reveal the press is so totally out of step with Americans that their views are not even close to Mainstream America. As a result, they're not trusted, not supported and their readership and viewership numbers have fallen and are falling further. There have been massive layoffs at newpapers and so called news magazines which support the elitist positions and lie through their teeth to support them for ideological reasons.

So, O'Bomber and his coven of Marxist Socialists in Congress are marching themselves off the cliff for their radical...non mainstream ideology with which they are making war on American citizens in the economy, in American domestic policy and in US foreign policy. They are going to pay the price for confusing themselves with "rulers" rather than "employees" of American citizens.

62% Hold Populist, or Mainstream, Views
Friday, September 18, 2009

Sixty-two percent (62%) of voters nationwide now hold populist, or Mainstream, views of government. That’s up from 55% earlier in the year. These voters are skeptical of both big government and big business. (see crosstabs)

Only four percent (4%) now support the the Political Class, down from seven percent (7%) six months ago. These voters tend to trust political leaders more than the public at large and are far less skeptical about government.

When leaners are included, 79% are in the Mainstream category, and 12% support the Political Class.

Polling conducted from September 7 through September 13 found that 70% of voters generally trust the American people more than political leaders on important national issues. Sixty-eight percent (68%) view the federal government as a special interest group, and 71% believe that the government and big business typically work together in ways that hurt consumers and investors.

The Political Class Index is based on three questions. All three clearly address populist tendencies and perspectives, all three have strong public support, and, for all three questions, the populist perspective is shared by a majority of Democrats, Republicans and those not affiliated with either of the major parties. We have asked the questions before, and the results change little whether Republicans or Democrats are in charge of the government.

Over time, we have found that those with Mainstream views often have a very different perspective from those who support the Political Class. In many cases, the gap between the Mainstream view and the Political Class is larger than the gap between Mainstream Republicans and Democrats.

Initially, Rasmussen Reports labeled the groups Populist and Political Class. However, despite the many news stories referring to populist anger over bailouts and other government actions, the labels created confusion for some. In particular, some equated populist attitudes with the views of the late-19th century Populist Party. To avoid that confusion, and since a majority clearly hold skeptical views about the ruling elites, we now label the groups Mainstream and Political Class.

The questions used to calculate the Index are:

-- Generally speaking, when it comes to important national issues, whose judgment do you trust more - the American people or America’s political leaders?

-- Some people believe that the federal government has become a special interest group that looks out primarily for its own interests. Has the federal government become a special interest group?

-- Do government and big business often work together in ways that hurt consumers and investors?

To create a scale, each response earns a plus 1 for the populist answer, a minus 1 for the political class answer, and a 0 for not sure.

Those who score 2 or higher are considered a populist or part of the Mainstream. Those who score -2 or lower are considered to be aligned with the Political Class. Those who score +1 or -1 are considered leaners in one direction or the other.

posted November 21, 2009 01:42 PM         

As the policy debate has unfolded in Washington this year, voters have consistently believed that tax cuts would do more than increased government spending to stimulate the economy and create jobs. Now that the nation’s unemployment rate has reached 10.2%, voters continue to hold that view.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 62% believe tax cuts are a better way to create jobs and fight unemployment. Only 21% believe that additional stimulus spending is a more effective tool. Earlier this year, as the first stimulus package was being debated in Congress, 62% of voters wanted the plan to have more tax cuts and less spending.

Given a different choice today, 51% believe canceling the rest of the stimulus money would create more jobs while 32% say spending the money would be the better approach to job creation. These findings are consistent with earlier polling. Most Americans say that, generally speaking, increased government spending is bad for the economy. Earlier this year, before the unemployment rate had reached its current highs, 45% wanted to cancel the rest of the stimulus spending while just 36% disagreed.

While voters believe that tax cuts and stopping spending is the path to job creation, the Political Class disagrees. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of those in the Political Class say that spending the stimulus money would create more jobs than canceling the remaining stimulus spending. Fifty-five percent (55%) of the Political Class believes that new spending will create more jobs than tax cuts. Only 13% believe the tax cutting would do more (see more on the Political Class).

On both questions, there is also a substantial partisan divide. Democrats are fairly evenly divided on both questions while Republicans overwhelmingly believe that canceling the rest of the stimulus money and cutting taxes are better job creation tools than additional stimulus spending.

As for those not affiliated with either major party, just over 50% say that stopping spending and cutting taxes is the best way to create jobs.

The survey also found that most voters are skeptical about claims of government job creation. Most (58%) say it’s unlikely that the stimulus plan has saved or created more than 600,000 jobs.

posted November 21, 2009 03:06 PM         

but i think you can get too simplistic with this and it seems easy to misread trends:

"There have been massive layoffs at newpapers and so called news magazines which support the elitist positions and lie through their teeth to support them for ideological reasons."