More proof, as if any is needed, that a large number of Americans (43%) are clueless when it comes to economic policy

A poll out yesterday showed that 43% of respondents think the House Republicans could do a better job managing the economy while 41% favored the president.

Such a breakdown might make sense if they debate were simply over who is most capable of administering a policy that meets common ideals. (Sort of like the Berks commissioners hiring a manager to oversee county operations.)  But the economic debate is not over competence; the House Republicans already control the purse strings; high oil prices are the result of over consumption, etc. Rather, the debate is over the direction the nation should take: The GOP wants to gut Medicare and stick the recovery on the backs of the middle-class; Obama want to spread the pain so the top 2% of Americans kick in their fair share, too. For Americans to flip-flop on this issue, as if one economic plan is better today and another will be top on Tuesday is just plain stupid.

Makes you want to reconsider what Mark Twain said about the idea of universal suffrage -- "this wicked ungodly suffrage, where the vote of a man who knew nothing was as good as the vote of a man of education and industry; this endeavor to equalize what God has made unequal was a wrong and a shame" -- except that the notion of disenfranchisement has been a Republican hallmark for more than a decade. (See Florida 2000.)

Instead, let's ask the Republican leaders, who surely rank among the wealthiest 2% of Americans, how many jobs they've created while enjoying the Bush tax breaks. You're up first, Mitt.