So, please explain to me why we’re losing when it comes to advancing the cause of limiting government. Here is Rebecca Riffkin writing at the Gallup organization:
When asked to choose among big government, big labor and big business, Americans overwhelmingly name big government as the biggest threat to the country in the future. The 69% choosing big government is down slightly from a high of 72% in 2013, the last time Gallup asked the question, but is still one of the highest percentages choosing big government in Gallup’s 50-year trend.
While Americans have always seen big government as a bigger threat than big business or big labor, the percentage naming it was significantly lower prior to 1990, when a much larger segment of Americans saw big labor as the greatest threat. By 2000, the percentage naming big government rose to 65%, as mentions of big labor fell into the single digits. A brief uptick in concerns about big business in 2002, probably prompted by several high-profile business scandals such as Enron, offset some concerns about big government. More recently, concerns about business and labor have drifted down while concerns about big government have climbed back up to nearly 70%.
The large increase in the percentage naming big government as thebiggest threat in 2013 may have resulted from the rollout of the Affordable Care Act and Edward Snowden’s revelations about government monitoring of communications.
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Further, only 8% of Americans in June said they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in Congress, far below the 24% who said they have that much confidence in organized labor and 21% in big business. But slightly more Americans said they have confidence in the presidency and the Supreme Court than said they have confidence in organized labor or big business.
Half of Americans say the federal government poses an immediate threat to rights and freedoms, and Congress’ job approval continues to languish — perhaps explaining why so many see big government as the biggest threat to the country.
Read more: Gallup.com
