WASHINGTON — Confused by the federal health care law? How about the debate over NSA surveillance? The way the Federal Reserve affects interest rates?
You’re far from alone.
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Most Americans say the issues facing the country are getting harder to fathom.
It’s not just people who have tuned out politics who feel perplexed. Those paying attention – people who vote regularly, follow news about November’s midterm election, or simply feel a civic duty to stay informed – are most likely to say that issues have become “much more complicated” over the last decade, an Associated Press-GfK poll shows.
Why are things such a muddle?
Karla Lynn of Lavaca, Arkansas, blames politicians who would rather snipe at each other than honestly explain the nation’s problems in straightforward terms.
“They’ll spin everything,” said Lynn, 61, a retired product developer. “You’ve got to wade through so much muck to try to find the truth.”
David Stewart blames the deluge from social media, partisan blogs and 24-hour news sites for complicating things. At one time people would only see a news story about a violent group like the Islamic State, he said, but now they watch the militants’ videos of beheadings online.
“People get a little overwhelmed by all the information about what’s going on in the world,” said Stewart, 40, a salesman at a home improvement store in Georgetown, Kentucky. The father of three said it takes time from an already busy life to go online and sort out “what’s fluff, what’s been engineered, and what’s actually true and believable.”
The issue that stumps Stewart most? President Obama’s health care overhaul. It can sound like a tragedy or a godsend, depending on whether Republicans or Democrats are talking about it.
Nearly three-fourths of Americans find it difficult, according to the AP-GfK poll, and about 4 in 10 say it’s “very hard” to understand.
One obvious reason: The law really is complex. Politicians even say so.
Republicans were condemning “Obamacare” as a regulatory morass even before it passed. When the federal website enrolling people crashed last year, Obama himself pointed to the enormous size of the undertaking. “It’s complicated,” he said. “It’s hard.”
Politicians do try to make issues sound simpler. They like to invoke your own family budget when talking about the national debt.
But in the AP-GfK poll, confidence in dealing with household problems didn’t offer much help in understanding national matters. Most under age 30 said it’s easy to protect your privacy and financial information online. But most young adults think it’s hard to understand NSA data collection programs.
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