Gallup: Most Americans Believe Government is Too Powerful

A new Gallup poll finds a record percentage of Americans believe that government is now too powerful in our lives.

PRINCETON, NJ — Six in 10 Americans (60%) believe the federal government has too much power, one percentage point above the previous high recorded in September 2010. At least half of Americans since 2005 have said the government has too much power. Thirty-two percent now say the government has the right amount of power. Few say it has too little power.

That number saying that government has too little power is just 7 percent. Yet that belief clearly animates the Democratic Party at every level. Progressives see no limit to the power government should hold. Meanwhile, Republicans have 60% of the people on their side, yet are able to do very little with that at the national level. The fights over Obamacare, the debt ceiling, and the debate between the blue state model of governance and the red state model of governance are really theaters in the one great battle over the size and scope of government. Republicans ought to be winning these battles — well, if those whom Gallup polled are telling the truth, anyway.