I can understand the survey results shown below. People see the impact of inflation and they have been bombarded on immigration even while most people are unaffected, but respond to the fear that has been created – with much misinformation.
I think voters have it backwards.
According to Statista.com only 4% of voters see taxes and government spending as most the important issue we face. Only 2% say foreign policy is most important.
The top concern is inflation and prices (25%) and number two immigration (11%).
In the long term interests of our Country and the following generations, global issues, deficit spending, debt and the eventual need for higher taxes should be the top concerns.
Thinking short-term is a trap.
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
taxes aren’t a problem yet? Sure, all you have to do is keep Biden/Harris/Trump/Obama in office and we can keep spending $2 trillion more than taxes paid indefinitely! Sure.
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Surveys about campaign issues are kind of fuzzy.
Immediate concerns contributes to our personal fears about our present and future. Here’s what concerns us: paying the bills, providing for ourselves and our families, our health and safety, and especially unknowns about the future fueled by the news propaganda we are exposed to.
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All surveys are fuzzy. People tend say what they think surveys want to hear
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Agreed! What’s even worse is that throwing money at the immigration “problem” will only make the deficit and tax issues worse.
Always enjoy your thoughts and insights Richard.
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I couldn’t agree more, the mis-information is astounding. US inflation while it is impactful is not nearly as bad as much of the western world and is diminishing. No doubt corporations have seized on the notion that this was a good time to raise prices and so corporate profits have risen smartly in many instances but that horse is coming to a stop. Meanwhile the allies and alliances that we had to go about restoring over the past four years have served us well. The deal for the Russian prisoners would not have happened under Trump as the Germans would not have let go their detainees as Trump did nothing but insult them and the entire NATO alliance. Isolationism does not work and the idea of tariffs only would result in greater inflation as someone ultimately pays the tariff and it is mostly transferred to the consumer as the tariffs become more and more reciprocal. Mutual trade dependency is much more effective at keeping the world at peace. Remaining an integral player in institutions like the World Trade Organization, as frustrating as they can be, are still the best means of keeping the world a safer place.
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Look at the misinformation you’re spreading. Like hey, at least our inflation isn’t as bad as Argentina or Zimbabwe – we’re lucky. I mean, who could have possibly thought pumping trillions of government $$ into the economy could have resulted in high inflation. So much for your “modern monetary theory.”
The deal with the Russians actually showed weakness, and our NATO allies haven’t been paying their fair share for a long time – Trump called them out on that. Oh, and our allies appreciate the way the Biden/Harris administration executed the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
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I stated the western world and you are trying to compare us with the worst of worst? The facts are as illustrated by the attached link. TRADING ECONOMICS | 20 million INDICATORS FROM 196 COUNTRIES
According to the source quoted which is verifiable the US has the 121 lowest rate of inflation as of Nov 2023 so with the recent decline I imagine we fare even a bit better today.
Read a bit about the diplomacy involved in getting the Russian prisoner exchange done and you might recognize that the deal took strategic negotiation to accomplish. Brute strength is usually not a way to get much done at least not in the long term. trading off alliances and trying to keep them maintained for the long term is a much more likely way to accomplish long term goals.
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People know what is hitting them here and now. Inflation(prices) and in many areas immigration are here and now and in their neighborhoods. That relates closely to debt and deficit spending. Taxes aren’t a current problem as yet. Global issues are minuscule to most voters because while they have sympathy for people being killed and displaced in conflict areas, they have no leverage to change things “over there”.
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People aren’t worried about what might happen in Taiwan in 10 years. They are worried about what food is going to cost them tonight, car repairs and the rest. There is nothing Joe Six-Pack can do about Russia and China.
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