In the middle of the holiday season, when Americans for more focused on travel plans and gift giving than politics, Gallup released powerful new survey data showing Americans are far more concerned about the threat posed by “big government,” compared to business or labor.
In liberalism’s heyday of the 1960’s, fewer than half of Americans considered big government to be biggest threat to America’s future. Today, it’s an astonishing 72%. To reach such a peak, Americans across the board are concerned about the size, scope and intrusiveness of government, not just Republicans or libertarians (although Republicans are the most concerned).
Not surprisingly, Americans have grown significantly more skeptical of government as it has expanded during the Administration of Democrat Barack Obama. The 2009 stimulus package, Dodd-Frank regulation of finance, Obamacare and revelations concerning NSA surveillance programs all contribute to rising concern about the role of government.
While 92% of Republicans say they see big government as the greatest threat to the country’s future, even a majority of Democrats (56%) say they’re concerned as well. Predictably, independents fall between the two, with 71% seeing big government as the top threat.
In their report on the data, Gallup noted, “Americans have consistently viewed big government as a greater threat to the United States than either big business or big labor, but never more than they do now.”
