Vast majority: Federal govt. actually causing nation's troubles
8 in 10 Americans: Washington has too much power
Published: 10 hours ago
Editor’s Note: This is another in a series of reports on the polling by Clout Research, a national opinion research firm in Columbus, Ohio, for WND.com.
It’s where officials have way too much power, they don’t really listen to Americans or their laws and effectively cause problems for the nation.
It’s not Havana, Moscow, Beijing or North Korea. Or Tehran, Ramadi or Mosul. It’s not Damascus or Raqqa. It’s not Mexico City or London.
It’s Washington, D.C.
Those are the stunning results of a new WND/Clout poll by Clout Research, a national opinion research firm in Columbus, Ohio. The telephone survey of registered voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.15 percentage points.
To the question whether the federal government has enough, or too much power, overwhelmingly respondents said too much.
In fact, nearly 71 percent said Washington has “far too much power” and another 10 percent say a little too much.
“America may have finally reached a tipping point,” said Clout Research chief Fritz Wenzel.
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“Republicans and independent voters have for several years now felt that Washington was out of control and drunk on power, but finally, even Democrats are coming to the same conclusion, our polling shows. Half of Democrats in our survey – 49 percent – said they believe the federal government has far too much power. Republicans and independents were there a long time ago – but now, 93 percent of Republicans and 65 percent of independents say the feds have far too much power.”
He continued, “With a new speaker of the House and a Senate considering life after Barack Obama, perhaps change in the form of limits to federal power will come to Washington. Maybe.
“Among Democrats, another 17 percent said they believe the federal government has a little too much power, comprising a significant majority of 66 percent of Democrats who say Washington is over the line,” Wenzel said.
A second question raised the issue of whether Washington is accountable to the will of the people – and the “law of the land.”
About 55 percent said no.
For members of the GOP, that total was 67 percent, for independents it was 61 percent and even for Democrats, the party of the president, it was 41 percent.
“The Obama administration['s] … attempt to solve problems using one-size-fits-all comprehensive solutions has not worked, and as a result, Americans are wary of government fixes. What has made this worse is Obama’s penchant for sidestepping Congress and using executive orders to accomplish his political goals,” Wenzel explained.
“Distrust in Washington could not be more intense. This is the clear reason that Republican voters are so hungry for a voice from outside Washington, and why anyone with government experience has had such a hard time breaking through in the presidential polls. The default position of Republican primary election voters is not to trust anyone in government, no matter their experience. They may come to their senses before they start casting ballots, but it is hard to imagine a scenario in which they are moved away from outsiders.”
He continued, “Among Democrats, 50 percent said they agree, more or less, that Washington is accountable enough to the will of the people and the law of the land, but 41 percent said they disagree with that notion.
“Again, Republicans and independent voters are way ahead of them on this question – largely as a response to the activist government of Obama, I think. Here is where you see in stark display the reaction to the Obama executive orders. Overall, 55 percent of Americans believe the federal government is not accountable to the people or even the law. Scary stuff.”
He continued, “This is the stuff that makes you wonder what the reaction will be should we begin to see Paris-style attacks here at home and government efforts to impose curfews and limits on guns and ammo. It’s probably not going to be pretty. Our nation is on the brink here, and pushed just hard enough in the wrong direction, could slip down into a very ugly place.”
The third question was: “It is widely agreed that the federal government is not very effective at solving problems, as evidenced by dramatically increased spending despite declining test scores in public schools, increasing poverty, dramatic spikes in violent crime in the nation’s inner cities and an economy that is stagnant. Which of the following reasons best describes why you think the government has not been able to solve these problems:”
Nearly 22 percent said the problems are too big, and 23 percent government misunderstands the problems. Nearly 19 percent said it just doesn’t care.
But nearly 37 percent said it doesn’t solve the problems because it is the government that causes the problems.
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“When asked why the federal government seems unable to solve the big problems that are nagging our country – failing public schools, spikes in violent crime, a stagnant national economy – 37 percent said they believe it is because the government actually causes the problems with its policies or actions,” Wenzel said.
He noted the 19 percent who say the government doesn’t care.
“When you add in another 23 percent who said the federal government doesn’t understand these problems and so cannot possibly apply the correct solution, you have a huge majority of 78 percent who said their government is either corrupt or incompetent. It’s not a pretty picture of our national mood.”
Among the category surprises: More than 52 percent of Hispanics said the problem is that the government causes the problems. That group, by a 90 percent margin, also said Washington has “far too much power.”
See the results:
Question 1: Based on everything you know about it, does the federal government in Washington have too much power or not enough?
Question 2: Do you agree or disagree that Washington is accountable enough to the will of the people and the law of the land?
Question 3: It is widely agreed that the federal government is not very effective at solving problems, as evidenced by dramatically increased spending despite declining test scores in public schools, increasing poverty, dramatic spikes in violent crime in the nation’s inner cities and an economy that is stagnant. Which of the following reasons best describes why you think the government has not been able to solve these problems:
Read more at
http://www.wnd.com/2015/11/vast-majority-federal-govt-actually-causing-nations-troubles/#wc2rLADqDHd6Qytt.99
