Americans still think the federal government can and should solve problems. This is their default mode. At the same time, they do not think Washington is competent. This is what is sometimes called cognitive dissonance.
Lack of trust is across the boards: in the presidency, Congress, and the Supreme Court. Here are the latest findings.
Americans’ confidence in all three branches of government is at or near record lows, according to a major survey that has measured attitudes on the subject for 40 years.
The 2014 General Social Survey finds only 23 percent of Americans have a great deal of confidence in the Supreme Court, 11 percent in the executive branch and 5 percent in Congress.
As long as the checks keep coming, Americans will grin and bear it. When the checks bounce, the game will be over.
The checks will eventually bounce. The Federal Government has unfunded liabilities of $210 trillion. There will be a Great Default.
The great thing about the Great Default will be this: there will be a cacophony of analyses and solutions offered. The politicians will look like the Keystone Kops. There will be great confusion.
At that point, those of us who have warned that the free market will triumph over Keynesian economic planning will get a hearing. Establishment Keynesianism’s control in the media over what constitutes the acceptable limits of discussion will be blown apart.
Problem: if the Republicans win the presidency in 2016 before recession hits, it will hit on their watch. The Democrats will have a field day in 2020. “We told you so!” They will give us another round of statism. But it won’t work.
The political oligopoly will fail. Council on Foreign Relations Team A will be as impotent in solving the economic crisis as Council on Foreign Relations Team B.
