TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Gallup conducted a poll of Americans about what they think are the causes of our poor economy, and the results are quite interesting:

When asked whom they blame more for the poor economy, 64% of Americans name the federal government and 30% say big financial institutions.

A large majority blame the financial sector, but even more people blame the federal government:

78% say Wall Street bears a great deal or a fair amount of blame for the economy; 87% say the same about Washington.

People don’t seem to think the wealthy should pay such high taxes:

Asked what the wealthiest 1% of Americans — the ones excoriated by Occupy Wall Street —should pay in taxes as a percentage of their income, more than a quarter of people — 28% — have no opinion. Another 21% say the richest should pay 10% or less, and only 18% say they should pay more than 30%.

Only one group blames the financial sector more than the federal government:

On whom to blame for the economy, only one educational group — people with some post-graduate schooling — were more likely to blame Wall Street instead of Washington. All others — college grads, people with some college, people who never went to college — pointed more at Washington.

And people seem rather unsure about the protests:

The poll shows that most Americans are paying attention to the protest movement. But most don’t know enough to take a position. Even among those who have followed the protests closely, 43% don’t know enough to say whether they support or oppose the movement’s goals.

About a quarter of poll respondents describe themselves as supporters of the movement; 19% call themselves opponents.

Here’s how the Occupy Wall Street group describe their protest:

We, the people of the United States of America, considering the crisis at hand, now reassert our sovereign control of our land.

Solidarity Forever!

They speak for the 99 percent, after all.