Poll: Majority lacks trust in government

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

The good news is that they blame both parties and all politicians.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100419/ap_on_go_ot/us_government_distrust

WASHINGTON – Can you trust Washington? Nearly 80 percent of Americans say they can't and they have little faith that the massive federal bureaucracy can solve the nation's ills, according to a survey from the Pew Research Center that shows public confidence in the federal government at one of the lowest points in a half-century.

The poll released Sunday illustrates the ominous situation facing President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party 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.

"Trust in government rarely gets this low," said Andrew Kohut, director of the nonpartisan center that conducted the survey. "Some of it's backlash against Obama. But there are a lot of other things going on." And, he added: "Politics has poisoned the well."

http://people-press.org/report/606/trust-in-government



By almost every conceivable measure Americans are less positive and more critical of government these days. A new Pew Research Center survey finds a perfect storm of conditions associated with distrust of government – a dismal economy, an unhappy public, bitter partisan-based backlash, and epic discontent with Congress and elected officials.

Rather than an activist government to deal with the nation’s top problems, the public now wants government reformed and growing numbers want its power curtailed. With the exception of greater regulation of major financial institutions, there is less of an appetite for government solutions to the nation’s problems – including more government control over the economy – than there was when Barack Obama first took office.

The public’s hostility toward government seems likely to be an important election issue favoring the Republicans this fall. However, the Democrats can take some solace in the fact that neither party can be confident that they have the advantage among such a disillusioned electorate. Favorable ratings for both major parties, as well as for Congress, have reached record lows while o pposition to congressional incumbents, already approaching an all-time high, continues to climb.

[ixion]

1. what's to trust?

Politicians -- in both parties -- prove their untrustworthiness daily.

[Kahuna]

2. Thanks to SCOTUS it's only going to get worse. nt

[Selatius]

3. Problem is the government is also the answer. It was, originally, the regulator of the system.

If people were given a poll about corporate governance, for instance, especially post-financial crash and post-Enron and post-banker bailout, you would probably see results as bad if not worse. I would guess it may very well be worse. Unlike politicians in office, you can't vote out your damn boss. He usually kicks you to the curb instead.

The US is a country dominated by corporate monopolies. The US suffers from a virulent strain of corporatism that has spread throughout large parts of the body, and it may be fatal for this republic in the end.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. Unfortunately, corporatism has taken over the government and can't be voted out of office.

It's Catch-22 IMO. The politicians can't get elected without corporate money. Which attracts politicians most open to corruption who, in turn, are the least likely to curb corporate power.

It seems, now, that the best we can hope for is that "our guys" won't be quite as beholden to the real bosses as the other guys.

[Zoeisright]

11. Yep, you're right. In a severe recession, government spending is

the only answer. Unfortunately, too many Americans are too stupid to understand this.

[craigmatic]

4. of course it does and here's why.

The repubs have had a continuous message of saying that government is incapeable of doing anything when democrats have power then when they get elected they don't try to make government work for normal people. This has gone on since 1980. It's one of their only real accomplishments. They even go so far as underminding the government outright when dems have power.

[Walk away]

5. All racists jump off a cliff......OK now take the poll again. nt

[xchrom]

6. When institutionsvrespond more to the needs

Of wall street than main street -- it should
come as no surprise that people mistrust
government.

[EFerrari]

7. Gee, how can this be.

lol

[BrklynLiberal]

9. I think it just indicates that politicians are not as good as they used to be at fooling the public.

With the exception of TeaBaggers. Anyone could fool them

[Odin2005]

10. Well I certainly lack trust in government.

Fuck the Corporatists!

[Warpy]

12. Because of Stupid's biggest crime of all, staffing all regulatory agencies

with bible bots and other flunkies who refused to enforce any of the regulatory laws they didn't like (see: FCC, FDA, INS, SEC), no one was there to protect the American public for eight solid, miserable years.

One day I want to see this listed as Stupid's biggest domestic crime in office. So far it hasn't been.

That's why people don't trust the government. It hasn't been there for us for the past eight rotten years.

[sendero]

13. +1

It's becoming more and more obvious that there was a conscious decision, right from the top of the Bush administration, to not enforce any important regulations.

Sometimes it boggles my mind what an absolute idiot George Bush is.

[Jennicut]

15. Heckuva job Brownie?

Even the heads of other dept.'s of govt. were incompetent and inexperienced.

[Warpy]

17. I was thinking especially of Chris Cox

that wonderful head of the SEC who couldn't find anything worth investigating for his whole term in office, even with the whole Madoff case dropped into his lap with a pink ribbon on it repeatedly during that time.

Then there was the biblebot FDA that refused to approve Plan B because they wanted all those evil sluts out there to suffer for having sex they might have enjoyed.

This went entirely through the government under that administration, from Porter Goss trying to purge the CIA of careerists who were registered Democrats on down to the utterly air headed and incompetent Brownie. Oh, and don't forget he failed to appoint any Democrats as required by law to the NLRB.

There was nobody home to protect the people against the powerful at any level.

[cilla4progress]

14. Ok, and what do we do about this?

Those of us who want to see Dems keep both houses in the fall?

[salguine]

16. Why in the hell WOULD they trust the government? What has the government done to merit trust?