Posted on 02/26/2013 4:16:09 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Americans aren't really sure what's going on, but they're pretty sure it's a big deal.
Not only are most people paying very little attention to the sequester, they also have only the faintest sense of what it would do. Less than one in five (18 percent) in the Post-Pew poll say they understand “very well” what would happen if the sequester went into effect.
Those remarkably low numbers come despite the fact that the debate over the sequester has dominated Washington for much of the last month and, in the past week or so, President Obama has cranked up the direness of his warnings about what it could do to the economy.
The lack of interest and knowledge about the sequester stands in contrast to the level of engagement the public showed in the last crisis — the fiscal cliff. In Pew polling done in the run-up to the cliff, 40 percent of people said they were following the negotiations “very” closely, while roughly three in 10 said they had a very strong understanding of what it would mean for themselves and the country if we went off the cliff.
The Washington Post opines that the gap between the sequestration and the cliff is all in a name, which means Washington monikers have devolved to such a state that the dismal “fiscal cliff” is now deemed one of the colorful ones. If only Obama could have foreseen this when he created sequestration and called it the Fiscal Gorge of Eternal Peril, he might be in better shape.
Not that he’s not in plenty good shape. As with most things, Americans seem happy to blame half of one House of Republicans for every problem even though the man who said he’d change the very level of the seas sits atop the federal government he constantly preaches will solve your every problem. Read the rest of the Post-Pew poll for an idea of how perennially bad things are for Republicans, and how bad the media has been at actually informing anyone about the nature of the sequester. I wonder what kind of insane answers pollsters would get if they did a multiple choice on what percentage of the budget sequestration cuts represent— 15 percent? more than 30 percent? Um, at least 50 percent, right?
But the fact that a very low percentage of Americans is deeply engaged in the President’s daily Armageddon briefings improves the chances that sequestration may just become a blip on the exhausted “crisis” radar of everyday Americans. Like that one co-worker who never got into “Downton Abbey,” but knows it’s important to maintain a facade of outrage over the fate of someone named “Matthew” around the water cooler, Americans are very concerned about the sequester but how much do they really care?
What explains the difference between sequester and the cliff? At first glance, it appears to be the fact that, without tax increases included in the sequester, most people don’t think it will really affect them. Just 30 percent of those tested say sequestration would have a “major effect” on their own financial situation — a contrast to 43 percent who said the same about the fiscal cliff…
The sea of numbers above should serve as a reminder that, for most Americans, the sequester doesn’t exist. All of the talk about it coming out of Washington about whom to blame is lost on these people — another fight in the nation’s capital that they don’t believe will have any actual impact in their lives.
Of, course we should never underestimate the ability of the president to foist blame for whatever negative economic sign that appears in the future upon this minuscule decrease in the rate of federal spending after escaping blame for the past four years. If he’s able to do that, good luck ever cutting or reforming anything because the American people have just signed on to the notion that whatever size of government Obama wishes to preside over is the exact size which prevents America from just ending, basically.
The National Journal looks ahead as we move onto the next fake crisis:
Against this backdrop, both parties will be gauging the public reaction to the sequester cuts set to begin on Friday. Groups on all sides of the debate plan to highlight the effects of the cuts once they are officially in place, in an effort to sway public opinion. Obama and Democrats may be evaluating the reaction with an eye on whether a significant public outcry might work to their benefit as they press to replace some cuts with revenue from sources such as levying higher taxes on millionaires, reducing farm subsidies, and closing tax loopholes for oil and gas companies.
If the sequester is met with a shrug, Republicans could use a lack of significant public anger to press Obama and Democrats for still more concessions on the spending they see as a driver of the federal debt. Whichever way it goes, the sequester is set to start soon, and the public’s reaction to the cuts will likely set the stage for what lies ahead.
We better hope Americans don’t really care about Matthew. They’ll soon find Mary will do fine without him.
A closing thought from Ron Swanson:
CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO
But they sure know who got voted off of American Idol(atry).
I shot an email to our local Fox news affiliate this morning, jabbing them about their stupid, and just wrong, coverage.
I said, I don't know if you people are incredibly ignorant, or willfully misinforming your viewers about the specifics of this sequester deal.
If the former, you need to get a clue.
If the latter, you need to get a life.
I don't expect a reply...
RE: I shot an email to our local Fox news affiliate this morning, jabbing them about their stupid, and just wrong, coverage.
If a supposedly more “conservative” news outlet like Fox can’t get it right, what can we expect from the other lamestream media?
what can we expect from the other lamestream media?
We’re gonna die! We’re all gonna die!!!! /s
Cousin Matthewwwww!!! NOOOO!
That wound is still raw. So raw!!
Sequestration on the other hand...bring it. Let it burn.
for the “Ill-Informed” the sequesta is like buying a 24 pack of Charming Toilet Paper and one of the rolls is missing two-sheets. Pretty much the end of the world as we know it.
In my circle of friends, relatives and acquaintances the only one who has mentioned it is a woman whose husband works for the government and she posted that on FB and didn’t get any replies and only a few “likes” from family. She normally gets a lot of “likes” because she is funny.
If people feel like me they feel like they are helpless to influence their so called representatives and we know Obama won’t change course so we just wait to see what will happen.
I feel like We the People have already been sequestered and the government should join to the degree that we have lost wealth and jobs.
it is a beltway game.
the NYT is read by GOP and donkeys.
they all watch cnn and msnbc (and a bit of cnbc to watch their insider trading stocks)
the beaureacrats are not even worried in the slightest. Their meme last week was we all are not big paid government workers, but did not mention they get ALL the money back when rehired.
Well when sequester hits and the electric and water supply go out and the tidal waves hit and the country is salvaged by roaming vampires with no military and police to defend us, the Republicans will wish they 'compromised' with Obama to take away those loopholes. But by then it will be too late.
This is what I figured, outside of DC, Maryland and VA who cares?
Agreed!
What possible role could that young man have that would make him want to die and leave the Abbey????
We were surprised and crushed. [As was he...]
Sequester?
Bring it! Is it Friday yet?
Maybe someone could put political and economic concepts into a game show format.
Default With the Stars?
American Insolvency?
There is no Swahili word for sequestration.
Now go and do the right thing.
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