Americans have more ‘negative view’ of govt than a decade ago:Poll

WASHINGTON - Most Americans have a more negative view of government today than they did a decade ago, or even a few years ago, according to a new study by The Washington Post, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University.

Most respondents have reportedly said that the Government focuses on the wrong things and lack confidence that it can solve big domestic problems, and it is this general anti-Washington sentiment that might fuel a potential Republican takeover of Congress next month, The Washington Post said.

The poll revealed that most Americans who say they want more limited government also call social security and medicare “very important,” and want Washington to be involved in schools and to help reduce poverty. Nearly half want the government to maintain a role in regulating health care.

Eighty percent of Republicans say the government’s priorities are misplaced, and just 6 percent express a lot of faith in government when it comes to fixing economic problems or dealing with Social Security.

About 55 percent of Americans say the government is not paying attention to the biggest issues, while nearly the same number say that it does not use tax money wisely. Nearly half of the 2,054 adults polled say the federal government threatens their personal liberties.

Fifty-nine percent of Americans say the country is seriously on the wrong track, up a dozen percentage points from the summer of 2000. 59 percent of Americans say the country is seriously on the wrong track, up a dozen percentage points from the summer of 2000.

The percentage of Democrats who give the federal government a grade of A or B has dipped from 47 to 42 percent.

Meanwhile the tea party supporters have said that they would prefer a smaller federal government, and 81 percent consider themselves to be fiscal conservatives (56 percent say they are “very conservative”). Regarding the upcoming elections, the vast majority of tea party supporters say they want the GOP to take control of Congress.

The poll was conducted by telephone from September 22 to October 3, and included interviews with 2,054 randomly selected adults. (ANI)