If 86% of Americans agree on something, why can't they get their way?
Sunday, October 24, 2010 at 10:46AM A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released September 28, 2010 found outsourcing was the top factor cited by Americans as the cause of the country's continuing economic distress. As reported by WSJ--
Eighty-six percent of those surveyed said outsourcing of jobs by U.S. companies to low-wage foreign countries contributed to economic sluggishness. Among other factors cited, 76% pointed to corporate profit-seeking and 72% blamed high health-care costs.
The poll also found that 53% of respondents believe free-trade agreements have hurt the U.S., up from 30% in late 1999. The shift was mostly attributable to a change in thinking by upper-income people, according to the poll.
The following Justice Louis Brandeis quotation answers the title question.
We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both.
Skeptic
A recent poll from the Pew Research Center shows support for free trade agreements has collapsed among Republicans, apparently under the influence of the Tea Party. Amongst Democrats, Republicans and Independents, Dems are now the most supportive of free trade and Republicans the least. Here's one of the findings that surprised me:
Roughly six-in-ten independents (63%) and Republicans (58%) say that free trade agreements lead to job losses in the United States; fewer Democrats (47%) agree. Independents (49%) and Republicans (48%) are more likely than Democrats (34%) to say that trade agreements slow the U.S. economy. There are only slight partisan differences in views of the other effects of free trade agreements, including their impact on wages in the United States.
