71% of Americans believe economy is 'rigged' (CNN)

[think]

71% of Americans believe economy is 'rigged'

by Heather Long @byHeatherLong
June 28, 2016: 3:44 PM ET

The overwhelming majority of Americans believe the economy is rigged.

Seventy-one percent think the U.S. economic system is "rigged in favor of certain groups," according to a new poll by Marketplace and Edison Research.

The poll asked a simple question: Which of the following comes closer to your opinion on the economic system in the U.S.

People could select between three options:
1. The economic system is rigged in favor of certain groups
2. The economy system is fair to all Americans
3. Don't know

Most selected rigged economy. It didn't matter if the person was white, black or Hispanic or whether they identified as Republican, Democrat or Independent. The majority feel the American Dream comes with huge asterisk that reads "only for the favored few."...

Read more:
http://money.cnn.com/2016/06/28/news/economy/americans-believe-economy-is-rigged/

[drray23]

1. thats the kind of useless poll

for which you can get the answer you want. Rigged, what does that even mean ? The question is vague and worded to elicit strong emotions. Of course most people will answer that it is rigged. A better poll would have been to ask more specific questions.

[think]

2. Do you think the TBTF banks play by the rules? 5 of them are now FELONS for rigging markets.

And no one went to jail.

In fact the government changed the rules so even as felons they could continue to do business with the government.

How The Obama Administration Is Helping Big Bank Felons

With the blessing of the White House and the Justice Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is attempting to sneak through a major policy change that would enable big banks convicted of felonies to continue lending through a federal mortgage program, according to federal records and government officials.

The housing agency wants to quietly delete a requirement for lenders to certify they haven’t been convicted of violating federal antitrust laws or committing other serious crimes. HUD proposed the move on May 15, without detailing the reasoning behind the change. It’s now considering public comment, with an eye towards finalizing the proposal.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obama-hud-big-banks_us_55c4f2f2e4b0923c12bcc4b1

[drray23]

8. sure i do not deny that

My point was that this poll gives us nothing we do not know already. The way it is worded is too vague. More specific questions would have been better. For example, some on bank regulation, some on wages, etc..

[spanone]

3. exactly. ^^^

[raindaddy]

13. Yea kinda like that useless Princeton University study .....

that came to the conclusion we're living in an Oligarchy..

[Cryptoad]

20. 71% of Americans dont have any idea what an oligarchy is........

51% are unable to even grasp the meaning

[Marr]

23. That was a study, not a poll.

It doesn't matter how many people know what the word 'oligarchy' means.

[Cryptoad]

19. useless poll indeed!

those Q's were designed to produce the result they got.... surprised it wasnt higher

[beachbum bob]

4. propbably as awful polling questions as I have seen....

leads to no bases for any conclusions of what people are thinking....there should be 6 or 7 more follow up questions to help with details....

[think]

5. "1. The economic system is rigged in favor of certain groups " That seems pretty clear. Is it not?

[beachbum bob]

6. its an open ended question...

most every one is gonna think the system is rigged.....but what are the reasons they think it... thats wheres polling questions and the data can be of interest...

[think]

7. Too big to fail banks are now FELONS and no one went to jail. We could start there how about...

[rpannier]

17. Honestly

Most of these kinds of polls are fairly open ended to interpretation and dependent on the day
Do you approve of the job the President (governor, mayor, etc) is doing? (Yes or No)

[Igel]

24. Nope.

What's "rigged" mean? Is it talking process? Initial opportunity? Conditions set up early in childhood? Late in life? In school? By geography?

Does it mean that if you do well in high school and get grants you go to college? It's rigged for that group? Does it matter that higher-educated parents make more money, and both contribute to doing well in school? Is that rigging or cause and effect.?

What if you're a poor white and do okay in school, but that poor black gets more grants because and can go to college? If you're a poor black do you just assume whites have it better because they're white? How do you account for how Latinos fair? Chinese?

Or did they just say that it was bankers and politicians?

I know kids who resent the Muslims at school because they're generally well off. Children of engineers and such in the petroleum industry. And they do better.

Trump's supporters think things are rigged one way. Sanders' supporters think they're rigged another way. There's some overlap, to be sure. But they'd sharply disagree over many instances.

So, that 70+% that think it's rigged ... What's the solution and who benefits? The poor white, the poor black, the Muslim, the non-immigrants, those who have more complete educational backgrounds, those who get additional help ...

It's not clear. It's a poorly worded question because "yes" can mean a dozen different things, at the very least, many of them diametrically the opposite of other meanings of "yes," with contrary solutions. And in some cases, a "yes" could be based on entirely incorrect information or skewed perceptions.

[Sherman A1]

9. Agreed

and it goes a ways towards explaining this year's political season.

[Human101948]

16. And it is why Hillary must stop playing footsies with the banks and Wall Street...

and the billionaires and the corporate fat cats...

She has to make them "CUT IT OUT!"

Show people unequivocally with no pussy footin' that she is for the average joe.

If she wins and maintains the status quo we will be doomed to some sort of Brexit-like rebellion.

[merrily]

10. The other 29% is either lying or perceptually challenged.

[think]

11. Thanks for the laugh :) /nt

[merrily]

12. You're welcome, but it was an observation, not a joke.

I'm always thrilled to make someone laugh, though.

[think]

14. It was an excellent observation too :)

[Nuclear Unicorn]

25. You stole my post except I was going to say --

28% are blissfully unaware while the rest are content with the arrangement.

[Aerows]

30. Great minds think alike! n/t

[madokie]

15. Sure it is

When it last was not rigged was shortly after WW2 and that was only for a short time

[Cryptoad]

21. it always been rigged , alwasys will be

[Warpy]

31. Periodic reform movements, usally after a major crash when the power of the 1%

has been slightly diminished, are allowed to succeed to a point and they usually do labor a little good for a little while.

Then the 1% recoup their losses and start buying the government again to get rid of the reforms.

[klook]

18. "Certain groups" = the 1% in my worldview,

but my right-wing bro.-in-law would say it's rigged in favor of layabout food stamp users who refuse to get a job. So, hey, at least we agree on something!

[MisterP]

22. heck, even Clinton says so!

[Nuclear Unicorn]

26. One person's complaint is another person's sales pitch.

[Lance Bass esquire]

27. Chomsky nailed it.

[CrispyQ]

28. The system isn't broken; the system is fixed.

I so want that on a bumper sticker.

[Aerows]

29. That means

29% of the population hasn't been paying attention.

[1StrongBlackMan]

32. In selecting among the 3 choices ...

I couldn't select t#3, because I know the system is rigged ... I couldn't select #2, because I know that is not true, either. I would select option #1, because I can provide 200+ years of empirical evidence that the system is rigged in favor of a certain group ... just not the one the OP wishes to suggest.