Few think government helps the middle class

As we eagerly anticipate our sixth annual summer of recover it appears that public has at last begun to develop a healthy cynicism about the future of the nation and the benefits of crony capitalism. In a recent Pew poll the public sounds like Elizabeth Warren in that government is good for corporation but not the middle class. The bitch is, Warren's party has controlled the White House and the Senate up until now.

The public makes sharp distinctions about which groups have benefited – and which have not – from the economic policies the government has put in place since the start of the recession. Majorities say that large banks, large corporations and the wealthy have been helped a great deal or a fair amount by government policies. By contrast, 72% say that, in general, the government’s policies since the recession have done little or nothing to help middle class people, and nearly as many say they have provided little or no help for small businesses (68%) and the poor (65%). Banks, Corporations, the Wealthy Widely Viewed as Benefiting from Gov't Policies Since Recession These opinions have changed little in recent years, and differ only modestly across demographic and income categories. There are significant partisan differences in these views, though majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents say that government policies following the start of the recession have done little or nothing for the poor and the middle class.

Notice in the graphic below that 72% of respondents do not think government policies help the middle class. Just because Obama has opposed the Keystone pipeline for 6 years, waged war on coal and imposed a drilling moratorium in the Gulf that cost thousand of jobs while smearing literally billions of tax dollars to large corporations in the form of tax credits, DOE grants and loan guarantees the public is jaundiced. Turning to monetary policy, quantitative easing has deprived retirees of a traditional source of income, namely interest.
A finding that may surprise many is the opinion the public has of assistance to the poor. 49% think government assistance does more harm than good but 44% think the inverse is true.