Nearly 1 in 4 Americans now realize the government is your enemy ... Soon this number will be 2 out of 4

Monday, December 07, 2015 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: bad government, Uncle Sam, voter dissatisfaction

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(NaturalNews) Americans were told after the election of Barack Obama that our nation had turned a corner on a great many issues – racism, equal opportunity and political cooperation. But now, with just a year left in Obama's second and final term, more and more Americans are convinced that things are worse now in our country than they have ever been – at least in our lifetimes.

In fact, this belief is reflected in a series of public opinion polls, the latest of which was published recently by the Pew Research Center. According to the organization, more Americans now than perhaps at any time in our history – save the period before the Civil War – distrust or are worried about their own government.

"Since the late 1990s, the public's feelings about the federal government have tended more toward frustration than either anger or contentment. That remains the case today: 57% feel frustrated with the government, while smaller shares either feel angry (22%) or are basically content (18%)," Pew said in a recently-released report.

"Yet, while the public's sentiments about government have not changed dramatically, Americans increasingly believe the federal government is in need of sweeping reform. Fully 59% say the government needs 'very major reform,' up from 37% in 1997."

'We the people' are fed up

But perhaps more disturbing is this finding: The survey noted that fully one-in-four of us – or 27 percent of registered voters – believe the federal government under Obama has become their No. 1 enemy, and frankly, that's alarming because that figure is up 8 percent since 1996.

Pew noted that 35 percent of Republicans think the federal government is their enemy, while nearly an equal number of Independents (34 percent) said so. Not surprisingly, half of Democrats (50 percent), see government as their friend, while only 12 percent of them believe Uncle Sam is no friend.

"Other findings include that few think the government is run for the benefit of all the people and that it is viewed as wasteful and inefficient," CBS DC reported, citing the Pew survey. "About 3 in 4 Americans say the federal government is 'run by a few big interests' and 57 percent say the 'government is almost always wasteful and inefficient.'"

Those 75 percent of Americans who think the U.S. government is the best money can buy are exactly right. As noted by the Center for Responsive Politics, which published the OpenSecrets.org donation- and influence-peddling tracking site:

"The primary goal of much of the money that flows through U.S. politics is this: Influence. Corporations and industry groups, labor unions, single-issue organizations - together, they spend billions of dollars each year to gain access to decision-makers in government, all in an attempt to influence their thinking."

A huge part of the problem is that there is a "revolving door" between Washington elites serving in and out of Congress. Many lawmakers, when they leave Congress either because they were defeated in a general election (rare for an incumbent), or because they opt to retire, wind up working at a lobbying organization on K Street, so the milking of the general public is endless.

Yeah, the deck is stacked against us

Consider just a few of the most recent high-profile issues in which Americans differ dramatically from those they elected to "serve" them:

-- Immigration: This is probably one of the most divisive of all issues in America today, especially on the heels of ISIS-inspired terrorist attack in San Bernardino in recent days, and in light of the growing criminal alien problem, and President Obama's policy of bringing in Syrian refugees which a growing number of governors are opposing. But the establishment of both major parties want more immigrants – one for votes, the other for cheap labor.

-- Syrian refugees: As noted above, fears of additional terrorism are trumping the president's desire to flood the country with more refugees from a part of the world where ISIS operates and has promised to use the mass migration to infiltrate the West.

-- Obamacare: This invasive, unsuccessful law continues to be unpopular and is even unraveling, but Obama steadfastly refuses to sign any repeal.

Sources:

Washington.CBSLocal.com

People-Press.org

WND.com

NaturalNews.com

OpenSecrets.org