Blame the Voters

 Thomas Sowell with a great quote in Reason Magazine -

The only encouraging thing about public reaction to the crisis is that going by polls citizens seem to have more misgivings about some of these policies than politicians or the media. Still, though there have been studies that indicate the New Deal prolonged the Great Depression by years, what is also clear is it was enormously popular. FDR was elected four straight times, and more than once without ever having brought unemployment down to single digits. An economic disaster does not necessarily mean a political disaster. If we could raise the average level of understanding of economics to what Alfred Marshall had in 1890, the vast majority of politicians would be voted out of office.

I read that a few days ago and was reminded of it when I came across this -

Rep. Alan Grayson was standing in the middle of Disney World when it hit him: What Americans really need is a week of paid vacation.

So on Thursday, the Florida Democrat will introduce the Paid Vacation Act -- legislation that would be the first to make paid vacation time a requirement under federal law

.

It's such a painfully bad idea, but Grayson is being taken seriously by the press and other members of congress. And apparently voters think he's OK, too.

H/T Vodkapundit.