Our representatives and senators are not out of touch with the rest of America. They are the rest of America. In my part of Ohio, the reps et al are here all the time, listening to people, tracking polls. They are if anything too much in sync with us.
They are pulled and pushed by intractably divided constituencies who want balanced everything without taxes and without touching favored programs. In the absence of an incentive to compromise, they'll do nothing and try to shift the blame.
Thus we have an absurd situation in which no one can yield a bit over a marginal tax increase for taxable income over $250k, and where it is political suicide to touch Social Security, Medicare, Defense, even though everyone knows they are unmanageable.
The 'Sequester' is therefore the only political option left to most of them. It's idiotic, yes, but that's because in these matters we've all become idiots. So, as always, this is on all of us. Welcome to representative government.
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