RASMUSSEN: FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TOO BIG
Posted by Tim Bryce on November 4, 2015
BRYCE ON POLITICS
– 60% of Americans think their government is too big.
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I have been a follower of the Rasmussen Reports for quite some time. In particular, I study their “Right Direction or Wrong Track” poll which reflects how Americans perceive the direction of the country. According to Rasmussen, Americans believe we have been heading in the wrong direction since 2009.
Echoing this sentiment, Rasmussen recently produced another poll, “What America Thinks: Back Off, Feds!” (Sep 29, 2015) whereby they reported, “Most Americans feel the federal government plays too big a role in their lives and think, generally speaking, that there is too much government power and too little individual freedom.”
According to the study:
60% – thought the government was Too Big
08% – Too small
22% – About Right
Due to its size, the study showed, “Just 19% of voters trust the government to do the right thing all or most of the time.”
This analysis of the size of the government will be greeted as both good and bad news by people in this country. It will be welcomed by those who believe the American people are not smart enough to do what is best and require a massive government to regulate the populace. Those who support a larger government are likely to believe the government should take care of them, just as in a slave state. Fortunately, most Americans see the federal government as too intrusive in their lives and a genuine threat to fundamental liberty.
The fact we believe the federal bureaucracy has gotten too big, means we no longer think it can function productively to serve the citizens of this country, hence the 19% confidence vote as expressed by Rasmussen. Here’s the catch though, if we honestly believe the government is too big, why would we balk at cutting the federal budget to shrink it? The reality is, we still want most of the services and entitlements the federal government provides. Until such time as we get serious about cutting the budget, nothing will change and the government will remain massive. Then again, this may be the dependency our Congress and Executive branch want to preserve.
Back in the 1990’s Jack Welch embarked on a program to flatten corporate behemoth General Electric to rid the company of waste and get it to operate on a leaner and more productive level. This was done, in part, by slashing budgets, thereby forcing managers to make hard decisions as to what work and personnel were essential, and which were not. One by one he patiently waded through the many divisions of G.E. and flattened them down to size thereby earning him the nickname “Neutron Jack.”
Interestingly, Rasmussen concluded in their study, “Americans don’t believe the federal government of today is at all what the Founding Fathers had in mind.” No kidding!
I prefer President Calvin Coolidge’s interpretation of government when he said:
“I want the people of America to be able to work less for the government and more for themselves. I want them to have the rewards of their own industry. This is the chief meaning of freedom.
Until we can reestablish a condition under which the earnings of the people can be kept by the people, we are bound to suffer a very severe and distinct curtailment of our liberty.”
Related articles:
Is America Too Big to Succeed? – Sep 02, 2015
Enterprise Engineering the Federal Government – Apr 27, 2011
Flattening Government – Jan 05, 2011
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M&JB Investment Company (M&JB) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
For Tim’s columns, see: timbryce.com
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Copyright © 2015 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.
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Jnana Hodson said
And yet, despite their claims of “too big,” they continue to inflate its biggest element, the Pentagon. Only way to reduce the federal government and its spending is to make deep, deep cuts there. Look to action, then, rather than empty phrases.
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Tim Bryce said
A D.F. of Austin, Texas wrote…
“As long as the majority of the citizens follow the media, they will vote for the two major parties. As long as either of the two major parties remain in power the current situation will remain the same. There is rhetoric that people don’t want to waste their vote on a candidate who can’t win. It’s a media driven self fulfilling prophecy. Where is the idea that voting for a candidate or party you don’t approve of is the real waste of votes. When you chose between the lesser of two evils you still chose evil. Find a party that is fiscally conservative. No, not the one that claims it is and keeps voting in ever higher budgets. One that actually is fiscally conservative based on the track record of the few members of that party who have been elected to partisan positions. You may be able to find more than one such party. Some Libertarians are in state legislatures at all times. There may well be Constitutional party candidates in state governments. There are other small parties to be considered. None appear at all in most articles by the media.”
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Wayne Brown said
The American taxpayer today is paying taxes to meet the payroll that employs individuals in federal roles that have only one means of showing their productivity–they show up at a designated place each day. Otherwise, they accomplish nothing and are really not needed in the overall scheme. But once a new sector is created within the federal giant, no one ever does anything to change it. It is like they “grandfathered” into their job for life and the organization is there for eternity. The federal government grows simply at the whim of the elected officials but it is deemed incapable of being reduced in size for reducing it implies that the powers of those in elected office will be reduced as well–and ’round and ’round went that big friggin’ wheel…
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THE COUPON SHELL GAME « THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! said
[…] RASMUSSEN: FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TOO BIG […]
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2015 YEAR-END WRAP-UP « THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! said
[…] “Legislating Political Correctness” “Is America Too Big to Succeed?” “Rasmussen: Federal Government Too Big” “The Growing Political Polarity” “Our Growing Immigration Problem” […]
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