Admit It: You're All Liberals

Maybe this explains the frantic, hysterical attacks on "the professional left" (if there is such a thing, why is it not paying me large sums of money?) by the White House: they've seen polling proving that large majorities of Americans support liberal solutions to our problems, and they have to discredit "the left" before those Americans realize they're really liberals.

Down with Tyranny:

With new polling coming out that shows the vast majority of Americans strongly oppose cuts to Social Security and other conservative shenanigans to further shift the burden of paying for the disasters of the ruling elites onto the backs of working families, even as radical right a Social Security hater as Nevada nut case Sharron Angle is trying to back away from her threats to destroy the program. Yesterday Campaign For America's Future released a study showing that "politicians will face major voter backlash if they advocate cuts in Social Security benefits or choose deficit reduction over job creation." If Democrats use that wisely-- they won't-- they could rid themselves of trouble from lots of Republicans and Blue Dogs in one shot.

Some of the key findings from the latest poll from Greenberg Quinlan Rosner for Democracy Corps and Campaign for America’s Future include:

• Right now, a plurality of 49 percent support providing more funding to states to prevent lay-offs-- jumping to 62 percent when told about the scale of public sector lay-offs due to the recession.

• Just as many, six-in-ten, give a favorable rating to a plan to invest in new industries and rebuild the country over the next five years as to a plan for dramatically reducing the deficit.

• Voters say spending cuts for Social Security and Medicare should not be part of any deficit reduction plan by a wide 68 to 28 percent margin.

• Progressive proposals for deficit reduction-- ending tax breaks for corporations, raising taxes on Wall Street and repealing the Bush tax cuts for those earning more than $250,000-- win large majority support.

• By 52 to 42 percent, more voters prefer investing in the future over an alternative proposition for bold cuts in spending-- so long as it is combined with deficit reduction over time.

• Six-in-ten voters respond positively to a broad narrative focused on resolving our public investment deficit in infrastructure. This message focuses on investments in “roads, sewers, schools, trains, renewable energy and other basic parts of our communities.” Such investments would “create jobs, help business compete, improve our communities and generate revenues to pay down the deficit.” This message tests better than any other progressive message on investment as well as more conservative messages focused on spending cuts.

Read the whole thing.

Notice that the entirely reasonable and dare I say common-sense policies supported by a majority of Americans are policies the cowardly corporatists in the White House won't touch with a 10-foot pole. Yes, implementing such policies require more than just majority opinion; doing so requires the courage to publicly support those policies in the face of repug lies, and to defy the obscenely wealthy corporations who think they can buy elections.

But if they had that kind of courage, I wouldn't call them cowardly corporatists.

Cross-posted at They Gave Us A Republic ....