Gallup should start releasing its polls about "big government" with scary music

[ProSense]

Poll: 72 Percent Think Big Government Is Greatest Threat To US

Seventy-two percent of Americans believe that big government is the largest threat facing the country, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday.

Survey respondents also said that big givernment was a bigger threat than big business and big labor. Twenty-one percent said big business is the greatest threat, while only 5 percent said big labor is.

Americans have always viewed big government as the biggest threat, but this is a record high for the survey. The fear of big government has risen dramatically since 2009, when 55 percent believed it was the greatest threat to the country's future, according to Gallup.

Gallup attributed the rise in concern to Republicans, who historically view big government as a bigger threat than Democrats. Ninety-two percent of Republicans said that big goverment is the greatest threat to the country.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/poll

Inane! What the hell does "big government" mean? What possible value is there in a poll that shows 92 percent of Republicans oppose "big government"? Are they sure it isn't 100 percent? Isn't that a clue that this is talking-point driven? Do 92 percent of Republicans want to reduce the size of the military? What exactly do they see as the "threat"?

In any case, here's a more realistic poll, asking a specific question.

Poll: Americans want the government to fight inequality

by Laura Clawson

Third Way may say that economic populism is a no-good, bad, terrible idea, but the Wall Street influence group isn't in tune with mainstream Democratic voters, or even with independents. In the latest Washington Post/ABC poll a whopping 76 percent of Democrats, 58 percent of independents, and 57 percent of all those polled said they think the federal government should "pursue policies that try to reduce the gap between wealthy and less well-off Americans."

And Americans definitely don't think the government is trying to reduce inequality. Overall, 64 percent of those taking the poll said they think the federal government's policies do more to favor the wealthy than less well-off Americans. Predictably, Republicans are the furthest from reality on this, but even among Republicans, more say the government favors the wealthy.

Democrats like Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown are not only closer to the Democratic mainstream than Third Way, they're closer to the mainstream, period.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/18/1263613/-Poll-Americans-want-the-government-to-fight-inequality