Posted on 04/19/2010 4:18:15 AM PDT by Red in Blue PA
WASHINGTON (AP) America's "Great Compromiser" Henry Clay called government "the great trust," but most Americans today have little faith in Washington's ability to deal with the nation's problems.
Public confidence in government is at one of the lowest points in a half century, according to a survey from the Pew Research Center. Nearly 8 in 10 Americans say they don't trust the federal government and have little faith it can solve America's ills, the survey found.
The survey illustrates the ominous situation President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party face as they struggle to maintain their comfortable congressional majorities in this fall's elections. Midterm prospects are typically tough for the party in power. Add a toxic environment like this and lots of incumbent Democrats could be out of work.
The survey found that just 22 percent of those questioned say they can trust Washington almost always or most of the time and just 19 percent say they are basically content with it. Nearly half say the government negatively effects their daily lives, a sentiment that's grown over the past dozen years.
This anti-government feeling has driven the tea party movement, reflected in fierce protests this past week.
(Excerpt) Read more at mcall.com ...
50 year low? You mean the last time the people were so distrustful of government, Kennedy was president?
Government is the religion of liberals and socialist. If this survey is any indication of reality then it's going to be a political bloodbath in November!
Wouldn’t it be delicious if public furor grew so cacaphonous prior to the election that the Dems preemptively repealed ObamaCare in hopes of averting an electoral tsunami? Remember, the bill passed with the assurances by Obama, Pelosi, Reid that this would be good politics—that voters would come to love or at least accept ObamaCare once they understood the bill’s details. As each day demonstrates the implausibility of that claim, at some point sheer survival may induce Congress to take actions that today seem nearly impossible to contemplate.
It took 16 months for Congress to repeal the Medicare Catastrophic Act of 1988. Perhaps in the case of ObamaCare, Congress will come to its senses in only half the time!
Eisenhower. But I took it to mean “never in the history of polling this question”.
Eisenhower?
The bastards might repeal the health part of the bill but they will leave the 2/3 of the bill that empowers the IRS. Little things like the 3.8% sales tax on selling your home,,,little things like that.
I guess the welfare crowd are even getting worried about Uncle Sugar. ;0)
Where were the “fierce” protests last week? New Orleans?
Then why do they continually vote to send Big Government advocates like Dear Reader to DC?
It maybe that they did not poll on this question until the 1960s. In that case, Distrust of the Government is at an all time low, as far as we know.
Name one thing that isn't regulated by the government.
I think the polls aren’t completely off the cliff due to political correctness.
“they will leave the 2/3 of the bill that empowers the IRS”
I concur that having created a Rube Goldberg-inspired hodge-podge of devices to channel $1T in resources through Uncle Sam’s coffers, they will be most reluctant to give this up. If I were conspiracy-minded, it would be tempting to view this whole charade as a massive shell game in which the Dems design a plan to raise $1T in new revenues on the pretext of assisting the uninsured, but voluntarily dispense with the latter assistance on grounds the public does not support it, leaving behind an infrastructure for capturing “enhanced revenues.”
Just keeping in mind, though... some of the respondents are those who keep government as the religion and are of the belief it isn't doing ENOUGH to take over their lives. But I do agree it'll be a bloodbath in November.
“Government is the religion of liberals and socialist.”
You are exactly right. But it appears that people are waking up.
BUSH’S FALT!!!!111!!!11!!!!
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