According to a December 5-8 Gallup poll, more people in the U.S. believe that “big government” is more threatening to the USA than “big business” or “big labor.” You can read it here.
“Seventy-two percent of Americans say big government is a greater threat to the U.S. in the future than is big business or big labor, a record high in the nearly 50-year history of this question. The prior high for big government was 65% in 1999 and 2000. Big government has always topped big business and big labor, including in the initial asking in 1965, but just 35% named it at that time.”
Public concern over big government has steadily increased since 2009. This may be due to an ever increasing burden big government is foisting upon taxpayers. Think: [Un]Affordable Care Act.
Or, it may be partially a result of Edward Snowden’s revelations of “Big Brother” and the NSA.
Whatever the case, Americans are increasingly aware – and threatened – by what they see and hear coming out of Washington, DC., although this had not been the case since 9/11:
“The historical high choosing big business, 38%, came in 2002, after a series of corporate scandals rocked major corporations including Enron and Tyco. Also at that time, Americans may have been less willing to choose government given the rally in support for government institutions and officials after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.”
Apparently, Americans have always seen big government as their greatest threat, but the degree of mistrust varies depending upon who is President. Barak Obama’s numbers are worse than George W. Bush’s (Bush2), but “similar to the 65% average from 1992-2000 during the Clinton administration.”
Gallup opines the pattern is “largely driven by Republicans”, especially when a Democrat occupies the White House. Vise versa for the Democrats; however, they “tend to see government as less threatening than Republicans do.” Democrats’ concerns topped out in 2005 at 62% under Bush2.
Party opinion differences were much more modest under Johnson, Nixon, Carter and Reagan.
Currently, the political party groups seem to agree that big government is the greatest threat to the USA: 92% of Republicans; 56% of Democrats; and, 71% of independents. You can see more numbers and a chart in the article.
What does this mean? While Americans have consistently seen big government as the greatest threat to the USA when compared to big labor or big business, they do so much more these days. Gallup speculates that this may be partly a reaction to the Obama administration’s propensity to see government as a problem solver. Perhaps, but I don’t see that characteristic particularly queer to Mr. Obama’s term at the helm. Bush2 gave us Medicare Part D.
Perhaps it is the NSA’s snooping on all things Internet . . . and more. Or, perhaps it is has something to do with the fact that big business has seen fewer major corporate scandals since the early 2000s; and big labor has been unable to maintain its hold from the past.
I’m encouraged to see that Democrats, Republicans and Independents fear big government, to one degree or another. That’s a good thing.