In recent weeks, I’ve been on the road—or in the air—a lot. Among the places I’ve visited are San Francisco, New York, Memphis, and Lincoln, Nebraska. In the last two cities I gave a number of talks on the state of the economy and the markets. The audiences differed, but they were largely composed of long time public radio and television supporters, professionals, academics, and business people. It’s an admittedly limited sample, but I found it intriguing that during the question-and-answer sessions President Bush’s drive for massive tax cuts got little support. No one seemed troubled by the current budget deficit—Nixon was right, we’re all Keynesians now—but there was a great deal of concern over the prospect of budget deficits as far as the eye can see.

What did get a lot of attention? Well, for one thing, state and local government budget cuts. States have had to close budget gaps totaling some $200 billion beginning in fiscal 2001, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. State spending on everything from K-12 education to medical care to worker training to park maintenance is being slashed, lowering everyone’s quality of life.

Many people expressed particular concern about reduced funding and higher tuition charges for public universities. After all, America's universities are vital for long-term economic growth and living standards. The ideas that eventually become a new computer chip, a revolutionary drug, or an innovative manufacturing process increasingly come from someone working at a university or by someone with a college degree. On a more personal level, a college degree is seen as a stepping-stone to economic success. Indeed, economists estimate that the lifetime rate of return from investing in a four-year college education is between 10 percent and 15 percent annually—a rate of return that beats the stock market hands down. Yet states are tarnishing their crown jewels of their local economies while making it harder for low-income students to move up the income ladder.

Healthcare was another hot-button issue. Clearly, the health care system is in a crisis. Some questioners were appalled that nearly 75 million Americans were without health insurance at some point during 2001 and 2002. Several small business owners felt that they couldn’t absorb double-digit health insurance premium hikes for much longer. The self-employed complained about the lack of affordable insurance for millions of entrepreneurs.

Everywhere I went there was expressed a low level frustration that Washington isn’t addressing these issues. Instead, Washington is absorbed with the ideological war that has broken out between supply-siders and deficit hawks. But what the people I talked with wanted to learn was how to provide a quality education for children, how to preserve the quality of life in their region, and how to solve the healthcare mess-and not about "dynamic scoring" and "static analysis." Sad to say, I don’t think Washington is listening—at least not yet.

Exchange: Reactions to this week's "News and Views"? Discuss personal finance and the economy at the Sound Money Exchange.