As an economics teacher, my students understand basic relationships between taxing and spending. If you want government services, you have to pay for it through taxes. I would say in class: “this is not rocket surgery.” Unfortunately they are not old enough to vote. Even worse, there are plenty of people who have the franchise who definitely don’t get this: independent voters.
The 2012 Election will be decided by independents. “Issues voters” or people who vote the candidates, not the party line, they have been granted legitimacy by the news media as a force in American politics. The problem: on economic issues, independent voters are illogical idiots. This is not a personal attack, as here at Nomadic Teacher, we eschew such base and lowbrow mudslinging. This conclusion is backed up by polling data on mutually exclusive positions. The fate of our election in 2012 rests in the hand of the independent voter, a voter who, on issues of economics does not understand the connection between taxation and spending.

