Polyanna alert: my 'trust in government' is high

Wow, am I ever out of step with the electorate.

The latest WSJ/NBC poll finds that lack of trust in government is off the charts. Incumbents are on the execution block.  The Democrats are going to get their clock cleaned. Republicans have a 20-point advantage among likely voters. 

I am aware of the iron law that trust in government varies inversely with the state of the economy, most specifically with the unemployment rate. I've studied Reagan's poll numbers, to which Obama's so far bear a close resemblance.  I accept that Democrats are caught holding the bag of the financial meltdown of 2008-09 -- and that they share responsibility for it, as many of the key deregulatory actions were taken under the Clinton Administration.

But I'm also grateful that the Democratic Congress, in concert with Obama, was there to clean up the mess.


Within the confines of our sclerotic and lobby-laden political system, the Democrats have done everything humanly possible to get this country out of the economic ditch it was in when Obama took office -- and to lay the foundations of needed structural reform.

How HCR will change lawmaking: Stern vs. Ezra Klein

Andy Stern to Ezra Klein on how the long struggle to get health reform passed has changed the political process, maybe forever:

The bill isn't law yet, but while I have you on the phone, what have been the lessons of this effort?

First, the longer you wait, the harder it gets and the worse it gets. Time for deliberation is appropriate, but indecision and delay are counterproductive to getting something done. The choices don't get easier over time. They get harder.

Second, people have to decide whether people in the same party will use procedural tricks to trip up their teammates. Or whether parties, particularly the Democratic Party, appreciates that the special deals and earmarks that might traditionally have been part of the process no longer work. Politicians used to bring kickbacks home to their district, but now people think the system is corrupt.

Governing honestly and openly and voting based on what's good for the country rather than for your election actually means something right now. It's really dangerous right now to be seen being corrupt in a corrupt system. Ben Nelson used to look like an honorable person in a corrupt system. Then he flipped to looking like one of the corruptors.

Has anyone noticed that for all the agony of this process, the intense fire and scrutiny has actually forced the Democrats to account for every detail in the bill and so write a better bill?

On the the other hand, the process has demonstrated that relentlessly misinforming the public and whipping up a frenzy of opposition on false premises pays off, at least in the short term.  The Republican memes -- government takeover of heatlhcare, back-room deals, death panels, adds to the deficit -- have clearly taken hold.  In phone outreach, I heard most of them.

Quote of the Day

It is simply astonishing that the GOP is now posing as a party of fiscal responsibility. It's like Bristol Palin campaigning against teen pregnancy.

 Andrew Sullivan

Meanwhile, the drumbeat of core progressive voices urging the House to pass the Senate HCR bill cotinues.    Andy Stern is threatening. Steve Benen is warning. The New York Times is importuning. And Paul Begala is begging.