I’m afraid were headed for a major economic collapse, one person at a time.

When average Americans defend huge tax cuts for the wealthy (remember the rich don’t pay 12.4 percent Soc. Sec. tax on anything above $106,000, like average Americans), don’t want universal health care so they don’t lose everything due to an illness, think people with good pay and benefits from government jobs should get lousy pay and no benefits like in the private sector, demand politicians listen to them and be bipartisan but then gain power promising no compromises, put the same party in power that crashed the economy and blew away 8 million jobs because they promised to create jobs, and are okay with reducing their own retirement programs while fighting for tax cuts for the wealthy…were all lost and it’s going to take a major catastrophe to restore sanity.

Take the upside down thinking by voters in Wisconsin when they voted in Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, who really did bankrupt the county, and Ron Johnson, who really defended offshoring jobs and the business climate in China while shrugging off the lost jobs in his state as “creative destruction.”

Chicago Tribune: Unhappiness with the federal government and the sputtering economy were too much for veteran Sen. Russ Feingold and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Tom Barrett to overcome, an exit poll of Wisconsin voters showed. I worry the economy is getting worse," said Kristina Mann, a 28-year-old hair stylist in Appleton. She said she blamed Democrats and voted a straight Republican ticket. Mann said her business has slowed considerably as clients have told her they and their husbands are losing jobs.

Wisconsin voters mirrored the nation Tuesday, with three in five saying the economy was the most important issue facing the country while only one in five chose health care. Barrett did well with voters who made under $30,000 or lived in a union household, while Walker -- the Milwaukee County executive -- did well with white Protestants and voters making $100,000 to $199,999 a year. About three-fourths of voters who thought an ability to bring about change was the most important quality in a candidate chose Johnson. Nearly half of voters surveyed said they think Congress should repeal the health care overhaul,

Here are more national numbers:

Nearly 9 in 10 called the economy bad and expressed worry over the coming year, and 4 in 10 said their personal finances had grown worse under President Barack Obama. All of those people leaned strongly Republican.

Stephen Skavlem, 45, a Cincinnati Republican, said of the economy "I blame the Democrats in Washington. I feel they got the keys to the castle, they couldn't reach a consensus and didn't get a lot done" ... about 54 percent expressed disapproval of the job he's doing and similar numbers said his policies will harm the country. A majority said the government should more often leave people and businesses alone another group that tilted Republican.

Asked to choose among three issues, about 4 in 10 want Congress to focus on reducing the federal deficit while nearly as many prefer spending to create jobs. Tax cuts finished last. Overall, about 4 in 10 want to continue the tax cuts approved under President George W. Bush, including reductions for people earning at least $250,000 annually. About an equal number want to let the cuts expire for the wealthiest earners ... Close to half want to repeal the health care overhaul Obama enacted this year, while about the same number want to expand it even further or leave it in place.

Related articles

• Wisconsin Electorate Takes a Hard Right (online.wsj.com)
• In Midwest, GOP Capitalizes on Economy (online.wsj.com)
• Johnson topples liberal Sen. Feingold in Wisconsin (seattletimes.nwsource.com)