By Allan Wall
01/25/2014
According to a January Gallup Poll, two-thirds of respondents think the federal government is too big and powerful. From Breitbart’s Gallup: Two-Thirds Say Fed. Gov't 'Too Big, Powerful',By Tony Lee, January 23, 2014:
Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that the federal government is too big and powerful and are dissatisfied with how the government is working.
Gallup released its "Mood of the Nation" poll yesterday [January 22], conducted between January 5-8, finding that 66% of Americans are "unhappy with the size and power of the federal government." This number has been the roughly the same for the last three years after jumping 10 percentage points between 2008 and 2011. In addition, 65% of Americans "are dissatisfied with the nation’s system of government and how well it works, the highest percentage in Gallup’s trend since 2001."
Note that Republican and independent support for Bush was already declining during his presidency.
The poll found that "Republicans and independents are largely responsible for the overall decrease in satisfaction with government effectiveness in recent years," and "satisfaction among Republicans and independents began to wane during President George W. Bush’s final year in office," which was also when the Tea Party movement started to form in response to the big-government programs of the Bush administration.
It’s too bad that more Republicans didn’t figure out what a disaster the Bush administration was earlier. Here at VDARE.COM, opposition to Bush’s disastrous National Question policies was evident since before Bush took office.
The poll also found that Republicans and independents have become even more dissatisfied with government since President Barack Obama got elected in 2008 while Democrats' satisfaction has remained steady since 2004. Gallup found that "satisfaction among independents, meanwhile, has gone down 10 percentage points" since 2004.
The polling organization noted that this climate will make it difficult for President Barack Obama to push for more government programs during his final years in office.
One would hope so, but Obama can still do a lot with his executive orders and such, with such tactics provoking little opposition in Congress.
What this poll indicates though could be an opportunity for politicians and candidates. After all, mass immigration and multiculturalism are increasing the power of Big Government. Why not point this out to the electorate? It could be part of a winning strategy. Even if a candidate pointing this out didn’t win, he could still educate the electorate, and that’s very important.
This is a content archive of VDARE.com, which Letitia James forced off of the Internet using lawfare.