Here are the results of the latest Time magazine poll in handy chart form. At least for now, the Occupy Wall Street folks are way, way, way more popular than the Tea Party. And why not? In other questions:
- 86% agree that Wall Street and its lobbyists have too much power in Washington
- 79% agree that the gap between rich and poor has grown too large in America
- 71% think the Wall Street executives responsible for the financial meltdown should be prosecuted
- 68% think the rich should pay more taxes
However, 56% believe the OWS protests will have little impact on any of this. Sadly, they’re probably right. As Dana Milbank says after surveying recent congressional priorities, “For all the talk of populist foment — the Tea Party on the right and the new Occupy Wall Street movement on the left — business interests remain firmly in control. Forced to choose between their voters and their donors, lawmakers don’t hesitate before choosing the latter.”
No they don’t, do they? After all, the tea partiers and the OWSers might have all the energy and get all the media attention, but business interests still have all the mother’s milk of politics.
