Wishing It Were So
October 15, 2010 by Bob Livingston
Elected elites have been subverting the Constitution and encroaching into our affairs for decades.
The majority of the electorate — long content to occupy itself with earning a living, raising families and considering politics for only a short period of time (typically between Labor Day and the election) has finally awakened to the reality of a bloated and overbearing government. A poll released this week bears this out.
The Gallup/USA Today poll shows that a growing percentage of Americans are coming to view the government as too intrusive and powerful. The poll, conducted Sept. 13-16, shows that 59 percent of the country believes the government has too much power, compared to 33 percent who think it has the right amount. In 2002, only 39 percent believed the government was too powerful while 52 percent said it wielded the right amount of power.
A growing majority, 58 percent, believe the government is trying to do too many things that should be left up to individuals. Only 36 percent believe government should do more. Two more things the poll revealed: 49 percent believe there is too much government regulation, 27 percent believe there is too little government regulation and 21 percent believe we currently have the right amount; and 46 percent believe the government poses an immediate threat to the freedoms of ordinary citizens and 51 percent believe it does not. However, that 46 percent number is up from 30 percent in 2003.
These numbers are reflected in the rise in the Tea Party movement.
But, according to the administration of President Barack Obama, it’s not a concern about an ever-growing government that’s behind the growth of the Tea Party and decline in the popularity of incumbent politicians — particularly Democrats and Republicans in Name Only (RINOs). No, the administration just thinks the electorate is dumb… and it’s saying so.
Democrats aren’t running on the administration’s accomplishments like healthcare and financial-regulatory overhaul and the stimulus because “it’s just too hard to explain,” Vice President Joe Biden told Bloomberg News.
“The 24-hour news cycle is just so lightning fast and the attention span I think is so short that sometimes it’s difficult to keep everybody focused on the long term,” Obama told a crowd at George Washington University.
The truth is that explaining how a healthcare bill that costs more, benefits fewer and eliminates choices is a good bill is difficult. Explaining how trillion dollar bailouts for big banks and Wall Street are beneficial while Americans see their way of life destroyed is difficult. Biden is correct on that count.
It’s a difficult sell because Americans are smart and they’ve seen through the charade. But I would be surprised if the electorate’s attention span is so short — as Obama believes — that it’s going to forget by Nov. 2 what the elected elites have done these last 20-plus months. The elites just wish it were so.
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