If you're like me, your chance to win Warren Buffett's billion-dollar prize for a perfect bracket evaporated almost immediately. Though that chance is gone, it's still worth being optimistic that your decisions will pay off in a winning fashion.
Middle-class Americans feel the same way about government; they don't want to be left out in the cold, but they also recognize that the government should create an environment that encourages hard work.
This is one of the telling findings in YG Network's recently released Battleground Poll. By surveying the 90 most competitive congressional districts (per the Cook Political Report), it was possible to cut through partisanship to see what middle-of-the-road Americans believe.
By a wide margin, the American people want the government to create an environment for the private sector to thrive (71 percent), rather than the government directly spending money to create jobs (only 29 percent).
Even younger Americans (18-44 years of age), think government should pave the way for private sector growth instead of trying to spend money on jobs.
Recently, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen noted that the American economy is "not close to full employment," but the middle class continues to suffer while President Obama's pet projects and special interests remain his top priorities.
Take Obamacare, for example. Instead of creating policies that help Americans in this time of economic tumult, President Obama and his liberal allies have stubbornly stood by while this healthcare law is about to cause "premiums to skyrocket."
Costs like these put a dramatic dent in people's pocketbooks. As families sit around the kitchen table, trying to figure out how they're going to pay for their children's college tuition (for which the costs have increased by over 26 percent at a public four-year institution since President Obama took office), or how they are going to pay for this week's gas and groceries, the last thing they need is a healthcare law that hits their wallets.
And even though it's reasonable to think that people want more free time in their lives, the American people do not believe Obamacare's reduction of work hours is a helpful policy. In fact, a majority of battleground respondents (57 percent) said they don't buy the Left's argument that Obamacare's reduction of work hours (the equivalent of more than 2 million jobs) is a good thing. Instead, they feel the law will discourage people from working for a living.
For some reason, the Left believes that American families can just sit around and wait for Buffett's billion, because they continue to focus on Obamacare and other policies that do not help grow the economy.
As a result, conservatives have a tremendous opportunity to demonstrate to the American people that there sound policy is out there that actually helps people get back to work and deal with everyday expenses.