60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll: January Edition

What better time is there than the New Year to take stock of ourselves and resolve to find what Lincoln termed "the better angels of our nature"? The country has been hit hard by bad weather, a tough economy and long term unemployment. America is known to be a nation of optimists, it's in our DNA. We know things can and will get better when we pull together and summon some old fashioned self-reliance.

According to Emerson, it is a recipe comprised of vision, determination, hard work and a can do spirit among other things.

Sprinkle in a little faith, hope and charity and America's best is yet to come. To all of our friends out there, keep going, the American Family needs everyone's best self. A most happy and healthy New Year to you all from the 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll. And now, January's results:

• What would an NFL lockout mean to you?

Half of Americans say they wouldn't care if there was a lockout next year and there were no NFL games to watch. That is surprising when you factor in the television ratings behemoth that the NFL has become. It is by far the most watched programming in the country, and only a few shows (we won't name others but...) even come close to it. In 2010, eight out of the top ten rated shows for the year were NFL games. That said, 31 percent figure they'll settle their differences because everybody has too much to lose if they don't. Ten percent say that if there's a strike they might spend less time on the couch with their Buddy Weiser, and a hardcore nine percent said that it would flat out ruin their sports year.

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[timblincoe]

Oh boy Im shocked you have really convinced me that 70% of Americans want to tax the rich. Do you ever get tired of these ridiculous attempts to shill for the dear leader? Why dont we see if 70% of white people want to tax black people. How about we charge mexicans to come here and everyone else can come for free. Rich people are Americans too why do you think its a great idea to take a poll about which Americans all the other Americans want to discriminate against. Lets get started on that white people poll jerks. Lets see how many white people want to discriminate against someone and we can all get started on it since you think its so important to allow the mob to set the agenda for the country. Why doesnt everybody pay the same % of taxes no matter what they make and make the govt live with it. Lets charge the blacks more . Im white so I dont want my team to pay. That is the same amount of logic your ******* poll shows by letting people who dont pay taxes decide how much someone else can get taxed.

[molesoul]

Poor, poor, put-upon rich people! Oh how they suffer!

Here's some logic for you: The rich have been steadily gaining income share for over 30 years-the richest 1% of the population now has 24% of total national income. For the rest of us, income has remained stagnant over the same period. In addition, multiple tax cuts have disproportionately benefited the rich. For too long we have had trickle-up economics, aided by winner-take-all politics.

Here are just four of the many reasons for increasing taxes on the rich:
? Corporations and their investors make much more use of the empowering infrastructure provided by everybody's tax money, giving them a greater moral obligation to sustain it. For example, the government supports the financial infrastructure for trading stocks, futures, and securities. The legal system protects intellectual property and contracts. Trade laws negotiated and enforced by the government enable exports and imports. Tax-funded research helps corporations develop new technology. Ordinary people just drive on the highways; corporations send fleets of trucks. Ordinary people rarely use the courts; most of the courts are used for corporate law and contract disputes. (source: George Lakoff)
? Obscenely rich Wall Street bankers and traders have just succeeded in nearly bringing about a second Great Depression, sapping the savings and pensions of tens of millions of ordinary Americans, and destroying millions of jobs. And after being saved from collapse by taxpayer-funded bailouts, they are again taking in record profits and bonuses.
? Multi-national corporations have been steadily exporting American jobs to developing countries, and replacing many others with technology or contract workers, diminishing the tax base for the country.
? The richer they get, the more (disproportionate) influence the rich have on elections and government, which weakens our democracy.

I'm afraid that it's your logic that is absurd, my friend. Taxing people based on race or ethnicity would be unfair discrimination; taxing people at different rates based on income levels is a reasonable, rational, effective system practiced by dozens of countries, and a fair solution for many of the ills we suffer today.

[Constitution-Job-One]

The ridiculous list of limited options is proof of the bias at 60 minutes and Vanity Fair. I would also assume you failed to limit your responders to eligible "American" voters. So that would skew things towards the interests of the dependency class. Typical.
Some of the options you willfully omitted: End all Wall Street and Bank bailouts. Recall all unspent TARP monies. End all extensions of Unemployment past 6 months, which just make it another unfunded welfare program. End all agricultural subsidies. End the Dept. of Education. End the Dept. of Energy. End Obamacare. That alone would save $1.2 trillion, and preserve jobs and businesses being destroyed by opressive state tyranny. End the drilling moratorium, both offshore and in the US land areas immediately. Open ANWR for drilling, now. Tariff all foreign manufactured imports at a minimum 20%, and for obviously cheating trade nations, revoke Most Favored Nation Status of the offenders such as China. Let Smoot Hawley take care of the offenders. End the Corporate Income Tax and Capital Gains tax and Death Tax and watch income and business activity and entrepreneurship resurge in the U.S.