Can A New Congress Restore Families? New Rasmussen Report Released

A recent Rasmussen Report on the United States Congress reveals a great deal about what Americans think today. Whether Congress cares about Americans, their families, and their thoughts and concerns does not appear to align with what American families need; and any congressional concern for families is tenuous and not very apparent from this report.

Here are some of the results: 62% of likely voters say that no matter how bad things are, Congress will make them worse. According to the Report, most voters believe that it would be better for the country if the majority of congress were thrown out this November. Some key highlights from the Report also include that:

• "60% believe most members of Congress don't care what their constituents think;"
• Just 16% of respondents think Congress is doing a good or exceptional job;
• Only 27% of respondents think that their representative is the best person for the job;
• Just 37% believe their current representative deserves re-election;
• Only 23% of voters believe that congress has the consent of the governed.

You can read the full report here.

The information released by this Rasmussen Report underscores a growing divide between the political class (those who rule the electorate) and mainstream society: the political class knows better what is good for Americans and their families than anyone else. The Report notes that "[t]he only exception [to these redundant findings] is the [view from the] nation's Political Class. Seventy-five percent (75%) of voters in the political Mainstream say if something is not going well, Congress can always make it worse, but 63% of the Political Class disagree." This political class seems not to care what mainstream society thinks or wants. Neither does the political class understand the values and struggles of the average American family. With less than 2 months to go before national Congressional elections, the message could not be more clear: voters want to fire congress.

Yet Congress views itself at almost too elite to be bothered with the views of its constituents and their families. Individuals and family members understand that Congress affects their lives; Congress understands that too, but does not necessarily care what the average American family thinks of them.
To find out more about the concept of the political class of elites and how it affects your family, read Professor Kohm's Family Manifesto: What went wrong with the moral basis for the family and how to restore it (W.S. Hein 2006), chapter 3, "Elitism and the Family."