Poll Finds Americans Lack Confidence In Government's Ability To Protect Them

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

By By JILL COLVIN and JENNIFER AGIESTA
Posted: 10/05/2014 8:20 am EDT Updated: 3 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans lack confidence in the government's ability to protect their personal safety and economic security, a sign that their widespread unease about the state of the nation extends far beyond politics, according to the latest Associated Press-GfK poll.

With Election Day about a month away, more than half those in the survey said Washington can do little to effectively lessen threats such as climate change, mass shootings, racial tensions, economic uncertainty and an unstable job market.

"I think what we've got going on here in America is the perfect storm of not good things," said Joe Teasdale, 59, who lives in southwest Wisconsin and works as an assistant engineer at a casino.

For many of those questioned in the poll, conducted before doctors in Texas diagnosed a Liberian man with the Ebola virus, the concern starts with the economy.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/05/poll-government-safety_n_5934306.html

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. The GOPers will tell you it's not the government's job to protect you.

A government that's been drowned in the bathtub like they want, can't protect you. You're on your own. Take personal responsibility for your situation. The nanny state isn't there to protect you, you slacker loser 47-percenter.

If the government isn't protecting us it's because the GOPers and Libertarians and Objectivists and the like wanted it that way.

[yurbud]

2. and the 53-percenters are such winners, we have to give them trillions in bailouts

so they don't accidentally joint the 47 percent who have to work for a living instead of running multi-billion dollar three card monte schemes.

[logosoco]

3. I can't really say that I expect the gov't to protect me from terrorist or even

"run of the mill crazy people". But I do expect them to protect me from people who want to pollute the water supply for me or any of my fellow citizens. That I think they are perfectly capable of, except for the influence of money in congress.

[yurbud]

4. on the economic front, they aren't even trying. On defense, Washington actively makes us LESS SAFE

trying to stir up a new Cold War with Russia and possibly China, solely so our bankers and oil companies can have uncontested control of the world's economy puts us in unnecessary danger of a nuclear war.

Likewise, while terrorists will never take over the US, the chance of some kind of attack increase every time we bomb innocent people to overturn a government not sufficiently compliant to our business interests.

[ronnie624]

11. Very well said.

Your comments are on the mark.

[sakabatou]

5. Gee, I wonder why

[cheapdate]

6. Fox News and the GOP...Winning!

[AlbertCat]

7. Protect us

The DoD....y'know...defense.... aren't they, along with intelligence agencies, supposed to protect us from terrorist types of threats?

What? Do they not have enough money? Enough employees?

I wonder if people think about how bucking up the home front is a great way to get protected. Y'know, good roads and bridges and levees and dams and a super fast and reliable communications and power grid. The government can surly do something about that, if only some bills would get passed. I wonder how such projects would impact jobs and the economy. Couldn't some DoD contractors still making stuff to fight the USSR be reassigned to do some infrastructure instead? Or something....?

It's not that government CAN'T do anything, it's that there is much obstruction coming from...somewhere...I wonder....

Don't people get that yet?

[moondust]

8. GOP: Shut it down!

Any entity repeatedly sabotaged, obstructed, and crippled by its members is likely to run into problems doing its job.

[blkmusclmachine]

9. GOP to America: "It's not our job. Go pull yourselves up by your bootstraps. We got some 1% hiney to

kiss."

DEMS to America: "We're ready to compromise with the GOP. But they won't return our phone calls!!!"


America, you're between a rock and a hard place...

[Aerows]

10. More news from the

department of "Duh".

[C Moon]

12. 1% feels confident, though.