Brownback cuts taxes for wealthy. I think he increased sales tax which hits lower incomes the worse. He create a deficit. People reelect him for act two where he takes money from government workers and retirees to make up for the tax cuts he gave the wealthy. He takes wealth from lower classes by increasing taxes on them and stealing their pensions and passes it up the ladder in the form of tax cuts for the wealthy. If he could run again the idiots in Kansas would reelect him again.

Wall Street created the housing bubble by giving loans to people who could not afford them and creating worthless securities to cause the Great Recession. Congress bailed them out and this week repubs elected by the people gave them permission to do it again with promises from us to bail them out again.
Americans vote for the people who screw them then we get stories telling us that the American people are screwed.

and only factor?

It isn't worth talking about

no, it isn't.

you catch all kinds of hell.

about public responsibility.

it's something you don't worry about.

tell me what public responsibility means to you.

that people seem to vote against their own economic well-being, it is never just one reason, but rather a combination of reasonings, opportunities and unplanned events that have conspired to get us from there to here.

I don't discount your logic and the argument presented, but there is more to the picture.

But I think people have more control than they realize. I think we are convinced that the system is so powerful and works against us that we have no roll to play in the outcomes we face. The 1% is counting on that.
We will never turn this around if we think there is nothing we can do.
We expect the party to put something palatable in front of our noses or we won 't vote. That insures the other side that does vote gains little by little each election to where we find ourselves out of power like we are for the next two years.