Washington Politics: Patch Talks Debt, Taxes, Disconnection

Over the past several weeks, congressional leaders have been in a heated debate on Capitol Hill over the country’s debt ceiling, whose current level of $14.294 trillion was reached on May 16.

If a deal is not reached and the limit is not raised by Aug. 2, the country could face a shutdown of the federal government, which might mean a halt in Social Security checks, military wages and many services. There are also predictions of other dire consequences.

A pretty big deal, right? But do Americans actually know what’s going on in Washington and do they care? Patch wanted to find out, so we hit the streets looking for folks to see what they think.

We sat down with a Glencoe woman who demanded that both Democratic and Republican lawmakers start working together. We spoke to a Los Angeles native vacationing in Northbrook who claimed raising taxes was an essential part of negotiations between Congress and the White House. We talked with a student at in Deerfield who insisted better communication between policymakers and their constituents was key.

These three people with diverse backgrounds had varying opinions, but they all agreed on one thing: Washington politicians are “extremely” disconnected from the general public.

“It just seems like they’re not even talking English when they talk about the problem,” one person commented to Patch.

To hear more about what our interviewees had to say on debt, taxes and political disconnection click on the video link above.

Then we want to know how you feel. Join in on the conversation by submitting a comment below.