What I don't understand is how can anyone say that a country has wealth when according to the national debt clock the U.S. is at this moment $13,870,084,265,089.870 in debt and that debt is increasing by $4.13 billion per day. How about a reality check?

If that current number is correct, that is almost 100% of 2009 GDP..

that is just peachy...

try living in Italy or Japan,, their debt to gdp ratios are much higher ... I actually wouldnt mind living in Italy,,lol

Distrust, Discontent, Anger and Partisan Rancor

Pew Research Center survey


By almost every conceivable measure Americans are less positive and more critical of government these days. A new Pew Research Center survey finds a perfect storm of conditions associated with distrust of government – a dismal economy, an unhappy public, bitter partisan-based backlash, and epic discontent with Congress and elected officials.

Rather than an activist government to deal with the nation’s top problems, the public now wants government reformed and growing numbers want its power curtailed. With the exception of greater regulation of major financial institutions, there is less of an appetite for government solutions to the nation’s problems – including more government control over the economy – than there was when Barack Obama first took office.

The public’s hostility toward government seems likely to be an important election issue favoring the Republicans this fall. However, the Democrats can take some solace in the fact that neither party can be confident that they have the advantage among such a disillusioned electorate. Favorable ratings for both major parties, as well as for Congress, have reached record lows while o pposition to congressional incumbents, already approaching an all-time high, continues to climb.

The Tea Party movement, which has a small but fervent anti-government constituency, could be a wild card in this election. On one hand, its sympathizers are highly energized and inclined to vote Republican this fall. On the other, many Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say the Tea Party represents their point of view better than does the GOP.

These are the principal findings from a series of surveys that provide a detailed picture of the public’s opinions about government. The main survey, conducted March 11-21 among 2,505 adults, was informed by surveys in 1997 and 1998 that explored many of the same questions and issues. While a majority also distrusted the federal government in those surveys, criticism of government had declined from earlier in the decade. And the public’s desire for government services and activism was holding steady.

This is not the case today. Just 22% say they can trust the government in Washington almost always or most of the time, among the lowest measures in half a century. About the same percentage (19%) says they are “basically content” with the federal government, which is largely unchanged from 2006 and 2007, but lower than a decade ago.

Opinions about elected officials are particularly poor. In a follow-up survey in early April, just 25% expressed a favorable opinion of Congress, which was virtually unchanged from March (26%), prior to passage of the health care reform bill. This is the lowest favorable rating for Congress in a quarter century of Pew Research Center surveys. Over the last year, favorable opinions of Congress have declined by half – from 50% to 25%.

While job ratings for the Obama administration are mostly negative, they are much more positive than the ratings for Congress; 40% say the administration does an excellent or good job while just 17% say the same about Congress.

Federal agencies and institutions also are viewed much more positively than is Congress. Nonetheless, favorable ratings have fallen significantly since 1997-1998 for seven of 13 federal agencies included in the survey. The declines have been particularly large for the Department of Education, the FDA, the Social Security Administration, as well as the EPA, NASA and the CDC. In terms of job performance, majorities give positive ratings to just six of 15 agencies or institutions tested, including the military (80% good/excellent) and the Postal Service (70%).

As was the case in the 1997 study of attitudes about government, more people say the bigger problem with government is that it runs its programs inefficiently (50%) than that it has the wrong priorities (38%). But the percentage saying government has the wrong priorities has increased sharply since 1997 – from 29% to 38%.

Perhaps related to this trend, the survey also finds a rise in the percentage saying the federal government has a negative effect on their day-to-day lives. In October 1997, 50% said the federal government had a positive effect on their daily lives, compared with 31% who said its impact was negative. Currently, 38% see the federal government’s personal impact as positive while slightly more (43%) see it as negative.

Rising criticism about government’s personal impact is not limited to the federal government. Just 42% say their state government has a positive effect on their daily lives, down from 62% in October 1997. There is a similar pattern in opinions about the impact of local government – 51% now see the impact of their local government as positive, down from 64% in 1997.

Despite the attention captured by demonstrations and other expressions of anti-government sentiment, Americans’ feelings about the federal government run more toward frustration rather than anger. In the current survey, 56% say they are frustrated with the federal government, 21% say they are angry and 19% say they are basically content. Since October 1997, majorities have expressed frustration with the federal government, with a single notable exception; in November 2001, two months after the 9/11 attacks, just 34% said they were frustrated with the federal government.

And despite the frustration most Americans feel with government, a majority of the public (56%) says that if they had a child just getting out of school they would like to see him or her pursue a career in government; and 70% say the government is a good place to work, unchanged from October 1997.

However, along with the frustrated majority, which has remained fairly steady over the years, the survey also identifies a small but growing segment of the public that holds intense anti-government views. The proportion saying that they are angry with the federal government has doubled since 2000 and matches the high reached in October 2006 (20%).

Over this period, a larger minority of the public also has come to view the federal government as a major threat to their personal freedom – 30% feel this way, up from 18% in a 2003 ABC News/Washington Post survey. Intense anti-government sentiment is highly concentrated among certain groups – Republicans, independents and others who lean Republican, and those who agree with the Tea Party movement.

For example, 43% of Republicans say the federal government presents a major threat to their personal freedom, as do 50% of independents who lean Republican and fully 57% of those who agree with the Tea Party movement. That compares with just 18% of Democrats, 21% of independents who lean Democratic and just 9% of those who disagree with the Tea Party movement.

http://people-press.org/report/606/trust-in-government

If you look at all organizations or groups that spout hatred of the government because mistrust is not what they teach, you will find that they have ulterior motives. They are racists, terrorists, etc... There are really no legitimate groups who are "mistrustful of the government" to my knowledge. All you have to do is let them talk for a while. It doesn't take long and you will see their ulterior motive for their pushing mistrust of the government.

Now those who are realists and know we have the responsibility to monitor and act on our government by voting and petitioning, etc... to make the government serve us they way it is suppose to, the way we pay it to, those are admirable intelligent humans.

If you look at all organizations or groups that spout hatred of the government because mistrust is not what they teach, you will find that they have ulterior motives. They are racists, terrorists, etc... There are really no legitimate groups who are "mistrustful of the government" to my knowledge. All you have to do is let them talk for a while. It doesn't take long and you will see their ulterior motive for their pushing mistrust of the government.

Now those who are realists and know we have the responsibility to monitor and act on our government by voting and petitioning, etc... to make the government serve us they way it is suppose to, the way we pay it to, those are admirable intelligent humans.

The Goldman Sachs scandal that is emerging isn't going to help the situation.

How much faith can someone have that the government is going to do anything about Goldman's fraudulent actions after you look at this chart?

Obama got almost $1 million in campaign contributions during the 2008 presidential election cycle...

Cycle Total Democrats Republicans
2008 $5,934,089 $4,463,788 $1,459,961 75% 25%
2006 $3,495,866 $2,185,461 $1,276,455 63%
2004 $6,411,038 $3,956,253 $2,436,285 62%
2002 $3,487,835 $2,292,040 $1,194,795 66%
2000 $4,431,977 $2,763,185 $1,662,292 62%
1998 $1,938,166 $1,225,252 $683,914 63%
1996 $1,816,563 $997,747 $816,316 55%
1994 $1,026,235 $562,760 $462,675 55%
1992 $1,659,310 $908,295 $750,515 55%
1990 $717,621 $473,716 $243,905 66%
TOTAL $31,612,375 $20,304,872 $11,204,413 64%

http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000085

http://images.opensecrets.org/obama_top_contribs.htm?cycle=2008&cid=N00009638

Protest or debate government policies, not the government itself. To do the latter might label you an extremist.

Prime example, one fellow, the US leader of the nation of Islam, wants to witness and has looked for terrorists to fund the downfall of the U.S.

There are plenty of organizations that distrust the government without being hateful. Young Americans for Liberty and the Mises Institute are a few that come to mind.

The government doesn't deserve to be trusted, for they are merely a gang of thugs.

The naive, condescending, statist tone of your post leads me to think that you won't be persuaded by logic and facts, so I'll leave it there and let you read about this for yourself.

try living in Italy or Japan,, their debt to gdp ratios are much higher ... I actually wouldnt mind living in Italy,,lol

I believe that the idea of wealth is regarding the gdp,, our per capita income is amongst the highest,,,,

Now if this isn't a good reason to go on like it is , I have never seen one . Stupid is as stupid does .