When the public is clueless

"Americans like higher taxes for the wealthy, dislike radical changes to Medicare, and don't want the debt ceiling to be raised. Here's the uncomfortable truth: policymakers simply must ignore them. The public has no meaningful understanding of what the debt ceiling is, what happens if interest rates go up, or the global economic consequences of a potential default. ... This is one of those classic dynamics in which responsible policymakers realize that they know more about the subject matter than the public at large, so they have to do the right thing, even if the uninformed find it distasteful -- knowing that the disaster that would follow would be far more unpopular." (Steve Benen, Washington Monthly, "What to do when the public is wrong")