Majority believes government doing too much
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A quarter century after the Reagan revolution and a dozen years after Republicans vaulted into control of Congress, a new CNN poll finds most Americans still agree with the bedrock conservative premise that, as the Gipper put it, "government is not the answer to our problems -- government is the problem." [Sometimes it is, but not always. If it hadn't been for the government would Exxon have been held accountable for the Valdez oil spill in Alaska? Who would maintain interstate highways? What about Social Security - who would look after the nation's poorest elderly? Child labor laws? -- who would have enacted those? National defense? - would Exxon-Mobil protect us from al Qaeda?]The poll released Friday also showed that an overwhelming majority of Americans perceive, correctly, that the size and cost of government have gone up in the past four years, when Republicans have had a grip on the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House [But I thought Republicans were for smaller government....].
Discretionary spending grew from $649 billion in fiscal year 2001 to $968 billion in fiscal year 2005, an increase of $319 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Queried about their views on the role of government, 54 percent of the 1,013 adults polled said they thought it was trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses< font color="red">[The only problem I have is with government incompetence. The government makes mistakes, as do companies in the private sector. Enron made mistakes, Halliburton made mistakes, Ford and General Motors have made mistakes -- no entity, private or public, is perfect. What we need in government first and foremost are competent leaders who won't waste the money we budget for the things we believe in as a country]. Only 37 percent said they thought the government should do more to solve the country's problems.
Americans had a slightly different perspective when it came to the specific issue of promoting traditional values. A slight majority -- 51 percent -- said they thought that was an appropriate activity for government, while 43 percent said it should not favor any particular set of values.
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- October 30, 2006
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