Knowing as we all do the caliber of most of those individuals
currently under the employ of our federal government, as well as our state and
local governments, do we really need a poll pointing out our government’s less
than stellar problem solving abilities?
Personally, I would argue that we most certainly do not. But, be that as it may, there was apparently someone,
in their infinite wisdom, who thought that just such a poll was indeed
needed. And as most of us likely
expected, as the first voting nears in this the 2016 presidential contest, it
seems that most Americans have little or no confidence in the federal
government’s ability to confront what they see as being the country's most
important priorities.
So it was then than this past December ‘The
Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research’ conducted such a poll
in an effort to essentially confirm that which the vast majority of Americans
were already convinced of. And what the
poll found out was that more than 6 in 10 respondents expressed only slight
confidence — or none at all — that the federal government can make any amount
of progress when it comes to any of the more problems facing the nation in
2016. Terrorism edged health care as the issue most often mentioned — each by
about one-third of those questioned — when people were asked to volunteer the
issues they believe Washington should address this election year.
The polling would at least seem to suggest an
electorate that is more focused on the economy and domestic affairs than on foreign
policy. Two-thirds of respondents included an economic issue on their priority
list, and about 4 in 5 named a domestic policy other than the economy. In addition to those who mentioned terrorism,
nearly half added another foreign policy matter, and immigration was the next
most frequent topic raised. And perhaps
most vexing for the dozen or so candidates vying to succeed Barry “Almighty”,
the poll indicates widespread skepticism about the government's ability to
solve problems, with no significant difference in the outlook between
Republicans and Democrats.
There were those who took part in this poll that
were of the opinion that members of Congress are essentially unable to pass
anything of importance, or that isn’t grossly self-serving, and were therefore not
at all confident about seeing any solutions coming about in 2016. And there were some who while they admitted
to possessing some level of confidence in our government’s problem solving
ability, bemoaned a system of lobbyists paid thousands upon thousands of
dollars to get Congress to do what they want instead of what the people want. And some described the executive branch as a
bureaucratic behemoth and the legislative branch as an endlessly partisan
wrangle saying that’s why government can't get anything done.
Along with terrorism and health care, respondents
were most likely to cite immigration, education and unemployment as
priorities. Democrats and Republicans
were about equally likely to mention unemployment, though there was a racial
disparity, with more blacks mentioning the issue than whites. Also, Republicans were more likely than
Democrats to cite terrorism as a priority, and Immigration was mentioned by twice
as many Republicans as Democrats.
One-fifth of Republicans mentioned the federal budget deficit, compared
with less than a one-tenth of Democrats.
Democrats were more likely to consider guns as public policy priority,
along with education, crime, racial problems, the environment and climate
change.
Many of those breakdowns reflect the separate
debates now playing out in the presidential race. The GOP field, led by rather vocal candidates
like Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, characterizes Barry “Almighty” as being an
irresponsible, profligate manager of taxpayer resources, and unable to ensure
national security and protect U.S. interests amid international threats and
strife. The leading Democrat candidates, Hitlery Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders,
are focused more directly on economic matters, both framing themselves as supposed
defenders of the middle class. Sanders
rails against the disproportionate economic and political power of the nation's
wealthiest individuals and corporations.
While the candidates may work to reflect the
priorities of their respective bases, many if the respondents taking part this
poll said they really haven't heard much of anything that improves their
outlook when it comes to those things of most concern to them actually being
addressed. And there was some level of
agreement in that Trump or Sanders would offer what was described as being
"the most radical change" from the status quo, but there were many
who didn’t particularly like what either of these men has been saying. And many admitted, exhibiting some level of
frustration, that it was extremely likely that 95 percent of Congress will get
re-elected anyway. An assessment that is
very likely to prove pretty accurate.
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