posted April 19, 2010 09:36 AM         

By LIZ SIDOTI, AP National Political Writer Liz Sidoti, Ap National Political Writer – 2 hrs 58 mins ago

WASHINGTON – 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.

"The government's been lying to people for years. Politicians make promises to get elected, and when they get elected, they don't follow through," says Cindy Wanto, 57, a registered Democrat from Nemacolin, Pa., who joined several thousand for a rally in Washington on April 15 — the tax filing deadline. "There's too much government in my business. It was a problem before Obama, but he's certainly not helping fix it."

Majorities in the survey call Washington too big and too powerful, and say it's interfering too much in state and local matters. The public is split over whether the government should be responsible for dealing with critical problems or scaled back to reduce its power, presumably in favor of personal responsibility.

About half say they want a smaller government with fewer services, compared with roughly 40 percent who want a bigger government providing more. The public was evenly divided on those questions long before Obama was elected. Still, a majority supported the Obama administration exerting greater control over the economy during the recession.

"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."

The survey found that Obama's policies were partly to blame for a rise in distrustful, anti-government views. In his first year in office, the president orchestrated a government takeover of Detroit automakers, secured a $787 billion stimulus package and pushed to overhaul the health care system.

But the poll also identified a combination of factors that contributed to the electorate's hostility: the recession that Obama inherited from President George W. Bush; a dispirited public; and anger with Congress and politicians of all political leanings.

"I want an honest government. This isn't an honest government. It hasn't been for some time," said self-described independent David Willms, 54, of Sarasota, Fla. He faulted the White House and Congress under both parties.

The poll was based on four surveys done from March 11 to April 11 on landline and cell phones. The largest survey, of 2,500 adults, has a margin of sampling error of 2.5 percentage points; the others, of about 1,000 adults each, has a margin of sampling error of 4 percentage points.

In the short term, the deepening distrust is politically troubling for Obama and Democrats. Analysts say out-of-power Republicans could well benefit from the bitterness toward Washington come November, even though voters blame them, too, for partisan gridlock that hinders progress.

In a democracy built on the notion that citizens have a voice and a right to exercise it, the long-term consequences could prove to be simply unhealthy — or truly debilitating. Distrust could lead people to refuse to vote or get involved in their own communities. Apathy could set in, or worse — violence.

Democrats and Republicans both accept responsibility and fault the other party for the electorate's lack of confidence.

"This should be a wake-up call. Both sides are guilty," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. She pointed to "nonsense" that goes on during campaigns that leads to "promises made but not promises kept." Still, she added: "Distrust of government is an all-American activity. It's something we do as Americans and there's nothing wrong with it."

Sen. Scott Brown, a Republican who won a long-held Democratic Senate seat in Massachusetts in January by seizing on public antagonism toward Washington, said: "It's clear Washington is broken. There's too much partisan bickering to be able to solve the problems people want us to solve."

And, he added: "It's going to be reflected in the elections this fall."

But Matthew Dowd, a top strategist on Bush's re-election campaign who now shuns the GOP label, says both Republicans and Democrats are missing the mark.

"What the country wants is a community solution to the problems but not necessarily a federal government solution," Dowd said. Democrats are emphasizing the federal government, while Republicans are saying it's about the individual; neither is emphasizing the right combination to satisfy Americans, he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100419/ap_on_go_ot/us_government_distrust

Glad to see that the majority isn't all as divided as it is often made to seem. Republicans, Democrats, everyone else ... not pointing the finger at 1 person in particular but angry at the whole lot of them. Ah, sweet music.

posted April 19, 2010 10:23 AM         

They're 51% Democrats and Independents and 49% Republicans and they're alienated from the "establishment Democratic and Republican Parties".

They are a very real threat to the power and influence of both parties and just as unlikely to vote for an big government "Establishment Republican" as they are for a big government Democrat.

So, when they're called "unpatriotic", "a mob", "Nazis", "Racists", "the Klan", "Astroturf" or whatever the insult of the day happens to be; they're not amused.

posted April 19, 2010 01:34 PM         

Exactly

It's not about Leftwing vs Rightwing, Liberal vs. Conservative, nor Democrat vs Republican.

People been having problems trusting Washington long before Obama came into office.

The US government always had flaws. The constitution always had flaws. Constitution has been changed so many times.

I believe that other major political parties should be established.

Green Party is definitely not one of them.

I am a liberal.

I believe in fiscal moderation.

I will always be a social liberal. I believe that gay marriage should be a right just like interracial marriage is a right.
Interracial marriages used to be banned until 1967. We shouldn't let religious beliefs and bigotry infringe on the rights of others. I believe in tolerance of religion. USA isn't a Christian country. It's a multi-faith nation,and too many people seem to forget that. It shouldn't even matter what a President's religion is. There is no rule that a President has to be a Christian. I believe in women's rights too,and so I am Pro-Choice. I also believe that women need to be responsible when it comes to sex and having children. I was born to a 17 year old mother who had my half brother when she was 15,and I understand the issue about unplanned pregnancies. I believe that people shouldn't have children until they are mature and responsible.

I believe that we need to do away with affirmative action because it isn't really helping much. I think that it adds resentment to people that aren't black. I believe that people should get hired and be accepted to schools based on their own merit and not because of their race or should I say sub-race.

I am a naval veteran. I believe that too much money was put in the military. We didn't need thousands of nuclear weapons. We are the only country that used nuclear weapons against another country with bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan which helped bring an end to World War 2.

A lot of the money that was put into the military could have been used for education and healthcare.

I believe that both needed major reform.

I can't stress how badly education reform is strongly need. The education system is mainly auditory sequential teaching learning environment, and most students actually have a preference for visual spatial learning.
The education system is based on factory working system. People whose brains are wired to be explorers,pioneers,inventors,and entrepreneurs are a mismatch for schools since the 1790's.

Multisensory teaching methods need to be implemented in all schools. This would help decrease the high school drop out rate,crime,and unemployment. People with learning disabilities (differences) are over-represented when it comes to high school drop out rate,crime,and unemployment.
You can read about that on Learning Disability Association site.

Former President George W. Bush's NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT made things worse because of the increased focus on passing standardized tests. As the brother of a dyslexic, he should know better. He might even be Dyslexic himself. His father might too.

Psychiatry reform is needed. A lot of it has to do with how people with neurological/learning differences are treated. Many are misdiagnosed and undiagnosed.

Many homeless people have psychiatric problems like schizophrenia.

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Raymond

Supporting the Neurodiversity Movement