Federal government; we actually like it big

March 5, 3:41 PMProgressive Politics ExaminerJay McDonough

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The federal government is huge.  HUGE.  In 2006, it employed nearly 15 million Americans, up from 12.1 million in 2002.  Conservative pundits caution us routinely, repeatedly, that we mustn't let the government continue to grow.  Grover Norquist, noted conservative thinker, advocated the goal of reducting government "to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."

The conservative mantra: Big government is very, very bad

And a new FOX poll demonstrates Americans are concerned about the size of the government, particularly given President Obama's new budget proposals to spend money on education, health care reform and environmental protections.

How do Americans feel about the role of government? A 56 percent majority thinks the federal government is too big today. And by a 20 percentage point margin -- 55 percent to 35 percent -- the poll finds Americans would rather pay lower taxes and have a smaller government rather than pay higher taxes for larger government. (Link)

Surprised?  Of course not.  After 25 years of President Reagan's "government isn't the answer, it's the problem" claims, Grover Norquist's "kill the beast" threats and the oft repeated equation that an active government is a socialist government, it's not a big surprise polling data would suggest Americans believe their government is too big.

Well, guess what?  Dig a bit deeper and you'll find some rather large contradictions.  Some points of data:

  -  On infrastrure: Of the 800 adults surveyed in an online poll, 94 percent said they are concerned about the nation's infrastructure and 81 percent said they're prepared to pay 1 percent more in taxes to rebuild infrastructure. (Link)

  -  On health care reform: Despite the fact that economic news has continued to worsen over the past several months, the proportion of Americans who say that the country’s economic problems make it more important than ever to take on health care reform has remained remarkably stable at roughly six in ten. The partisan divide of opinion here also remains large: a substantial majority of Democrats (79 percent) say reform is more important than ever, while most Republicans (58 percent) say the nation cannot afford to tackle health care at this point. Independents tilt the balance by being in favor of shorter term reform, 57 percent to 37 percent who think the bad economy means reform should wait. (Link)

  -  On environmental protections: Americans are growing increasingly concerned about what could be considered competing concerns – maintaining a healthy natural environment and cheap available energy - and would like to see the federal government take a more aggressive stance on both, according to the latest Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll.  If there is conflict, and most Americans do not believe that safeguarding the environment automatically conflicts with economic growth, most would pick the green alternative. (Link)

  -  On food safety: “The Consumer Reports poll shows that Americans overwhelmingly expect the government to do much more to protect the public from contaminated food,” said Urvashi Rangan, Ph.D., Senior Scientist and Policy Analyst at Consumers Union. “Consumers want to know that the food they buy meets the standards they expect—our poll shows that right now, that is not the case. Whether that means that ‘organic’ fish eat 100% organic feed without contamination, or that people know which meat and dairy products come from cloned or genetically engineered animals—consumers want the government to ensure safety, quality and meaning in the food marketplace. The American public wants to know more about their food, where it comes from, how safe it is, and will vote with their dollars to support highly meaningful labels.”  (Link)

  -  On drug safety: In general, the survey found consumers support the government taking whatever steps necessary to ensure the safety of prescription drugs – 84 percent agree that the government should “have the authority to take any action necessary” to ensure drug safety, with 50 percent strongly agreeing.Also, more than 60 percent of Americans agree that the Food and Drug Administration and Congress have failed to adequately protect consumers from harmful prescription drugs.  (Link)

And some research on national priorities from the University of Chicago:

(The note indicates the 2008 data was taken prior to the economic crisis and infrastructure investment became a more prominent investment option.)

It may be politically correct to gripe about the size of the federal government but, when push comes to shove, Americans want even more from their federal government, not less.