We Get It! Why Don't They?

More shocking news! Americans have demonstrated once again that we are smarter than the people we vote into office. In a recent poll, nearly half of Americans said they think the sequester will hurt the economy, only 10% said they thought it would help. No surprise there. I'm surprised the numbers weren't even higher. Spending cuts in economic downturns don't even make sense in theory. In practice, the results have been abysmal. Europe is suffocating under the yolk of austerity. It hasn't worked anywhere. Spending cuts from the sequester and higher payroll taxes have stifled the recovery. China largely dodged the 2008 crisis through stimulus spending. America didn't get the memo, except we did, we just didn't vote for people who got the memo.

As I've pointed out before, the ironic twist of Republicans being right that the government is hurting the economy is that they're the ones doing most to impede the recovery. Does this cruel twist of fate merely illustrate their staggering misunderstanding of basic economics, or is there something else going on?

Actually the answer is both. While some hardcore tea party candidates actually do believe that the government spending needs to be cut now - those 10% of people get to elect someone after all - it is increasingly obvious that the Republican party is simply out of touch with America, caving more and more to people who simply want to deny President Obama any success and care little for the effect of their policies.

This is true for more issues than just the economy. The recent Senate vote on background checks was supported by something like 90% of Americans, and yet it failed. The idea of expanding background checks is literally the crux of the pro-gun argument, and yet the bill failed. This reflects nothing more than the fact that defeating the president is the most important item on the Republican agenda. They've turned the man into such a monster in their own heads and to their constituents that they must object to his every move to slay their own inner demons. The well-being of the country be damned.

The American people clearly get it. We favor smart spending now, smart cuts later. We support background checks. We support common sense. We get it! Why don't they? Will the Republican party learn or will their collective madness drive them to extinction?