Americans Express Historic Negativity Toward U.S. Government

[Denny Crane]

http://www.gallup.com/poll/149678/Americans-Express-Historic-Negativity-Toward-Government.aspx

PRINCETON, NJ -- A record-high 81% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way the country is being governed, adding to negativity that has been building over the past 10 years.


Congress' Ratings Have Plunged in Recent Years
Public Officials Held in Low Esteem
Americans Particularly Critical of Domestic Policy


Nearly Half Now Say Government Poses Immediate Threat

Americans' sense that the federal government poses an immediate threat to individuals' rights and freedoms is also at a new high, 49%, since Gallup began asking the question using this wording in 2003. This view is much more pronounced among Republicans (61%) and independents (57%) than among Democrats (28%), although when George W. Bush was president, Democrats and independents were more likely than Republicans to view government as a threat.

 

[MARIS61]

It appears the Bushbaby years took it to a low matched only by the Nixon impeachment, Obama's election turned it sharply to the positive side, then the Republican/teabagger wins last year turned it sharply negative again taking it lower than even Nixon could.

Seems like a mandate for our reps and senators to get on board and support Obama rather than stonewall his proposals as they have repeatedly done.

 

[Natebishop3]

It's not just the executive branch... it's the whole damn thing.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

So the question is when are "the people" going to do something about it? I mean, the Tea Party was a fair start as they have demanded more accountability in government and a balanced budget with tax and entitlement reform that is long overdue... The main problem is that both sides continue to toss up "politics as usual" candidates. And then they become part of the problem themselves. It's bad enough with some of the older congress people who have kept things running so poorly for so long, but so are a lot of the newbies.

At some point in time people are going to demand real change to the point they will do something about it. I wonder what it will look like? And will hate groups like unions send out goons again to injure and try to kill some of the people... We are entering the most intere4sting time in our country since the Vietnam protest days possibly.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Seems like a mandate for our reps and senators to get on board and support Obama rather than stonewall his proposals as they have repeatedly done.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

I hate to say it, but this is Maris's ideal world.

 

[barfo]

At some point in time people are going to demand real change to the point they will do something about it. I wonder what it will look like? And will hate groups like unions send out goons again to injure and try to kill some of the people... We are entering the most intere4sting time in our country since the Vietnam protest days possibly.

No they aren't. Once a Republican is in the white house, everyone who is complaining now will think everything is just peachy, and everyone who supports the current administration will start complaining.

This view is much more pronounced among Republicans (61%) and independents (57%) than among Democrats (28%), although when George W. Bush was president, Democrats and independents were more likely than Republicans to view government as a threat.

Just because people are running around claiming the apocalypse is coming, doesn't mean that it is. People like to exaggerate. A lot.

barfo

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

No they aren't. Once a Republican is in the white house, everyone who is complaining now will think everything is just peachy, and everyone who supports the current administration will start complaining.



Just because people are running around claiming the apocalypse is coming, doesn't mean that it is. People like to exaggerate. A lot.

barfo

You may very well be right, but don't you think we're poised for an economic collapse?

 

[barfo]

You may very well be right, but don't you think we're poised for an economic collapse?

No, I don't. I think we had the collapse in 2008 and are slowly recovering from it.

Eventually, there will be another collapse, of course, there always is. But I'm not expecting that to happen tomorrow.

barfo

 

[ABM]

People like to exaggerate. A lot.

barfo

You got that right......barfo.

 

[MARIS61]

I hate to say it, but this is Maris's ideal world.

Far from it. My ideal world has no government at all.

 

[MARIS61]

QUOTE=barfo;2663676]
Just because people are running around claiming the apocalypse is coming, doesn't mean that it is. People like to exaggerate. A lot.

barfo[/QUOTE]

That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?

 

[Nikolokolus]

Completely incapable of reasonable and responsible governance ... both sides.

 

[Denny Crane]

No they aren't. Once a Republican is in the white house, everyone who is complaining now will think everything is just peachy, and everyone who supports the current administration will complain even more.
barfo

FIFY

 

[Denny Crane]

No, I don't. I think we had the collapse in 2008 and are slowly recovering from it.

Eventually, there will be another collapse, of course, there always is. But I'm not expecting that to happen tomorrow.

barfo

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentis...2011/sep/23/george-soros-double-dip-recession

Is the US double-dipping into recession?

George Soros believes the US is already in a double-dip recession. Do you agree?

http://www.google.com/hostednews/af...ocId=CNG.a1a0fa7851ea5002e0eaf3cb1af82a01.631

Obama: Europe crisis scaring world

 

[huevonkiller]

No, I don't. I think we had the collapse in 2008 and are slowly recovering from it.

Eventually, there will be another collapse, of course, there always is. But I'm not expecting that to happen tomorrow.

barfo

Well this is utter nonsense, our spending has never been at this level aside from World War 2. We are on the books for trillions of dollars in future liabilities.

 

[huevonkiller]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentis...2011/sep/23/george-soros-double-dip-recession

Is the US double-dipping into recession?

George Soros believes the US is already in a double-dip recession. Do you agree?

http://www.google.com/hostednews/af...ocId=CNG.a1a0fa7851ea5002e0eaf3cb1af82a01.631

Obama: Europe crisis scaring world

Sure looks like it so far.

 

[BrianFromWA]

It appears the Bushbaby years took it to a low matched only by the Nixon impeachment, Obama's election turned it sharply to the positive side, then when people saw the effects of how Obama and the the Congress have governed in the last 2+ years turned it sharply negative again taking it lower than even Nixon could.

Seems like a mandate for our reps and senators to get on board with what the people want, instead of the President's view of utopia is

my additions

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Far from it. My ideal world has no government at all.

That's interesting. Then why do so many of your posts depict a socialist/communistic viewpoint?

 

[speeds]

Far from it. My ideal world has no government at all.

 

[BrianFromWA]

Far from it. My ideal world has no government at all.

Somalia and Sudan are just a plane ticket away.

 

[blazerboy30]

No they aren't. Once a Republican is in the white house, everyone who is complaining now will think everything is just peachy, and everyone who supports the current administration will start complaining.

Yep. Because every single person that is complaining now just loved Bush.

 

[bluefrog]

Stupid voters enable broken government

When you know important debates are influenced by people who don't like being bothered with facts, you question just how many of the country's problems over the years have been caused by people who should not have been involved in the process in the first place.

But they are because of us. So can we genuinely complain about government without accepting a lot of the blame? I don't think so. After all, they didn't elect themselves. So if we want government to work, we have to be smarter about our choices. It's one thing to have a population with a variety of political sensibilities; it's another to be a country full of idiots. Too many times we vote and consequently govern like the latter.

We have to move away from easy-to-repeat campaign slogans and promises of easy solutions, because we're a country with more than 300 million people, a complicated racial and religious history and the world's largest GDP. There are no easy solutions.
...
Last week I was bombarded with e-mails from readers who said Social Security should be protected because they paid into it, but they didn't care about Medicaid or Medicare because the government pays for those. And in 13 months some of these people will be voting for president.

 

[maxiep]

Did anyone else read the thread title as "American Express Historic Negativity Toward U.S. Government"?

I was wondering what a credit card company's views about the government have to do with anything.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Did anyone else read the thread title as "American Express Historic Negativity Toward U.S. Government"?

I was wondering what a credit card company's views about the government have to do with anything.

I did initially ... and they probably do have a beef with the U.S. govt. since you have to pay your Amex bill in full every month (or at least you used to?).