How Much Do Americans Really Know About the Budget Debate?

Salon: Beware the "middle ground" of the Great Budget Debate

Salon warns of the assumptions of identifying what ‘centrism’ means in American politics as the budget debate continues. The author of the article, Robert Reich, argues that rather than a halfway point between President Obama’s and Representative Paul Ryan’s solutions, the ideal ‘center’ solution for Americans would shift toward the left. In fact, Reich asserts that if more Americans had a higher political awareness, they would have an overwhelming opposition to the House Republican fiscal plan.

He states, “I'd wager if Americans also knew two-thirds of Ryan's budget cuts come from programs serving lower and moderate-income Americans and over 70 percent of the savings fund tax cuts for the rich -- meaning it's really just a giant transfer from the less advantaged to the super advantaged without much deficit reduction at all -- far more would be against it.”

Partisan politics aside, this article is particularly interesting because it brings up the issue of political knowledge in our society. Reich returns to this problem in discussing the high amount of finances for defense, asserting that “If Americans understood how much they're paying for defense and how little they're getting, they'd demand a defense budget at least 25 percent smaller than it is today.” As Congress and President Obama continue to struggle on constructing a universally satisfactory budget plan, Reich’s article begs the question: Do many Americans actually understand what has been happening throughout the budget debate? Furthermore, are they being equipped with the necessary resources to understand?

The media plays an extremely important role in this, as much of the coverage is focused on framing the fiscal crisis as a dramatic dispute between parties and the Obama administration. Some media outlets have even connected the budget debate to discussion of the 2012 election. This brings forth the issue of what the media’s role should be in conveying political information. Should the media be doing more to ensure the audience has a better comprehension of the issues surrounding the fiscal crisis? News outlets can only go so far in providing the audience with general information, especially when partisanship blinds many people to considering the reasoning of the opposing side(s). There may not be a definite resolution on the qualities of an ideal media, but ignoring important details of the debate in favor of highlighting ideological conflicts is unquestionably harmful.