Press TV posted a monologue I did last night responding to a new Pew poll indicating that most Americans are feeling financially stressed and that 82% of households reported suffering a financial shock last year. My riff focused on how U.S. government policies make life more difficult for average Americans:
If you listen to Congress and the Obama appointees, you get the impression that Americans are doing great because the official unemployment rate has fallen and some other indicators have rebounded. But there is not a broad sense of prosperity outside the Capital Beltway. The Federal Reserve has driven the interest rates down to zero — people who rely on their savings have been crucified as part of the government’s plan to make things better for businesses and the housing market.
Politicians have piled on taxes on gasoline and other things and there are so many government restrictions that make it difficult for people to live cheaper and easier. Most of the things that Washington has done in the last 15 years has made life more difficult and expensive for the average family.
Politicians are doing very well. The average member of Congress is a millionaire and has very good prospects (as a lobbyist after leaving Congress). They don’t need to work that hard, they have much longer vacations than the average worker in this country. So it is no surprise that Washington doesn’t pay attention to the suffering of average Americans.
Here is an MP3 file of the rambling monologue from last night:
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