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Keller @ Large: Blame Game Is Out Of Control

BOSTON (CBS) - Ah yes, the Blame Game, America's fastest-growing pastime.

You know how it works.

If your team loses the big game, it's because the refs were fixed, the league didn't want your team to win, even the TV announcers were biased against you. If your girlfriend dumps you, it couldn't possibly be because you were an inattentive slob who took her for granted. And so on.

Sometimes, bad things do happen to innocent people, we all know that. But when you see the new CNN/Kaiser Family Foundation poll of white working-class Americans finds 62% blame the federal government for their economic woes, you have to wonder if this finger-pointing is more than a bit misdirected.

Blaming federal trade policies for lost manufacturing jobs is one thing. There's no doubt companies are chasing better profit margins by outsourcing jobs Americans once held.

But the survey found that only 13% of the white working-class blames employers for their economic struggles, compared with that 62% who blame Washington and 33% who blame Wall Street.

And guess how many respondents blame themselves for their problems?

Five percent, barely outside the survey's margin of error.

Decisions you made and priorities you set had nothing to do with how you ended up? Who do you think you're kidding?

Our government's handling of the economy is fair game for criticism, no question.

But these numbers speak to a self-serving Blame Game that has gotten way out of hand.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

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