EP 1014 If Americans Agree on So Many Key Issues, Why Is Nothing Getting Done?

 The University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation, under the direction of Steven Kull, has been out surveying people in 11 competitive states and 28 competitive U.S. House districts in advance of the midterm elections.  Perhaps, surprisingly, on key issues like fixing Social Security’s impending fiscal crisis, which would require recipients to accept up to 20 percent less each month, the affordability of housing and health care and the onrush of AI, there is widespread agreement on those polled as to common sense fixes, regardless of party affiliation.  So, I ask, in this podcast why does so little get done in Congress?  The answer may well lie in how our campaigns are funded and the impact of maintaining the status quo on behalf of the few and not for the many.  Other tweaks to our elections processes, like dealing with extremes who control gerrymandered districts, couldn’t hurt either.  What you are about to hear is not what is conventionally thought of as being the case in our fractured politics of the moment.

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