Jared Bernstein does not think his former bosses should take all the blame. Is it true that a lot of Americans believe that voicing a concern for good government and robust civic life is for losers who can't win in the race of money, women and cars? Why else all those Tea Party victories in the mid-term? Has anyone really thought about what Rickey Bobby of Talledega Nights really represents? He may have two first names but he speaks for a lot of Americans. Shake and Bake!
"But before you go blaming the grown-ups, and I totally agree they're terrible negotiators, understand that the grown-ups had virtually no-one behind them. Sure, there was me and Jon Cohn<http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-cohn/92989/failure-leadership-obama-debt-deal-cuts-medicare-discretionary>and Ezra Klein and a bunch of others who tried to explain the stakes, but as usual, we were marching in front of a parade with few behind us. If too many Americans don't believe in or understand what government does to help them, to offset recessions, to protect their security in retirement and in hard times, to maintain the infrastructure, to provide educational opportunities and health care decent enough to offset the disadvantages so many are born with...if those functions are unknown, underfunded, and/or carried out poorly, why should they care about how much this deal or the next one cuts? Those of us who do care about the above will not defeat those who strive to get rid of it all by becoming better tacticians. We will only find success when a majority of Americans agrees with us that government is something worth fighting for."
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