Rasmussen came out with an interesting poll this week. The question was do you support higher taxes.  Now you’d think that everyone, except for some lunatic libs, would say no.  That’s not what Rasmussen found. 

The poll was taken of American voters. Two-thirds thought we’re overtaxed.  Nothing surprising there except that it was only two thirds of those polled.

Roughly two-out-of-three voters think Americans are overtaxed, and nearly as many say any federal tax increase should be subject to a vote by the American people. Complicating things for would-be budget cutters, however, is the belief by even more that any changes in Social Security and Medicare also should be voted on by the public.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 64% of Likely U.S. Voters believe America is overtaxed. Twenty-four percent (24%) disagree, and 11% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

This is virtually unchanged from this time last year. — Rasmussen Reports, April 6, 2011.

The opposition to lowering taxes is the political class, as Rasmussen defines them.

But the  Political Class strongly disagrees. While 79% of Mainstream voters think Americans are overtaxed, 87% of those in the Political Class don’t share that assessment. — Rasmussen Reports, April 6, 2011.

Rasmussen did an earlier survey about the differences between voting Americans and the Political Class.  The goals and opinions of the two are diametrically opposite.

Recent polling has shown huge gaps between the Political Class and Mainstream Americans on issues ranging from immigration to health care to the virtues of free markets. 

The gap is just as big when it comes to the traditional right direction/wrong track polling question.

A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 67% of Political Class voters believe the United States is generally heading in the right direction. However, things look a lot different to Mainstream Americans. Among these voters, 84% say the country has gotten off on the wrong track.

Twenty-four percent (24%) of Mainstream voters consider fiscal policy issues such as taxes and government spending to be the most important issue facing the nation today. Just two percent (2%) of Political Class voters agree.

With a gap that wide, it’s not surprising that 68% of voters believe the Political Class doesn’t care what most Americans think.  Fifty-nine percent (59%) are embarrassed by the behavior of the Political Class. 

Just 23% believe the federal government today has the consent of the governed. 

Most voters believe that cutting government spending and reducing deficits is good for the economy. The only group that disagrees is America’s Political Class. In addition to the policy implications, this highlights an interesting dilemma when it comes to interpreting polling data based upon questions that make sense only to the Political Class. After all, if someone believes spending cuts are good for the economy, how can they answer a question giving them a choice between spending cuts and helping the economy?– Rasmussen Reports, August 3, 2010.

The group opposite of the Political is, named by Rasmussen, the Mainstream.  The label “Mainstream” was chosen because that group matched the sentiments and opinions of the majority of American voters.  Two of the questions asked to differentiate the two groups were:

— Generally speaking, when it comes to important national issues, whose judgment do you trust more – the American people or America’s political leaders?

— Some people believe that the federal government has become a special interest group that looks out primarily for its own interests. Has the federal government become a special interest group?

If you answered, “Yes,” you were a member of the Mainstream.  

My preferred label for the “Political Class” is the Parasite Class. I believe my label is much more accurate and appropriate. The surprising part of all this is that the Political Class contains just as many ‘pubs and it does dems.  Perhaps it is time for a true third party—the Tea Party since neither of the other two seem to be interested in what is best for the country. To the contrary they seem more interested in their own betterment—the Ruling Class says the American Spectator.