And the poll says......

Have you ever been part of a Gallup Poll or maybe a Quinnipiac University Poll?  (Is that a real school?  Do they play football?  What conference are they in?)  According to the above poll of pollsters (haha!) they're in the believable category.  Political party polls and news media polls, not so much.

I'm always hearing about how the American people are in favor of or against blah blah blah, but if you look at how Americans say they feel about contemporary issues, and then look at how Congress is representing us with their votes, you'll see a definite disconnect. 

We say we want immigration reform, and our politicians nod and agree, and then passively do nothing, or worse, the exact opposite.

We say we don't want trade tariffs, and our politicians nod and agree, and then just sit on their thumbs.

We have opinions on various gun control measures, ditto.

We tell them how we feel about taxes, and health care, and they tippy toe around them and do nothing.

Here's a typical day for a Washington politician:  They meet for breakfast with a lobbyist who says his client wants X, then meets with a trade group from "back home" who says they do not want X.  He poses for pictures with his constituents, passes out ceremonial Congressional paper weights, thanks them for their opinion, promises to keep in touch, then goes out and votes for X, which is slyly buried in a bill promising to end puppy mills, 'cause, you know, everyone wants to end puppy mills, right?

Then two months later he's the speaker at an event back home, and they treat him as if he was royalty!  People are scared to speak up and hold his feet to the fire, or throw him in the fire, because....I have no idea why.

What's the point of public opinion polls if our public servants (wow....there's an oxymoron!) pay us no attention?

S