Something else we can (almost) all agree on - We don't trust the government:
Bottom Line: This is a not-so-good news story that actually makes me feel pretty good. Not out of indigence but healthy skepticism. Once upon a time Americans overwhelming trusted the federal government. According to the Pew Research Center through the mid 1960's over 70% of Americans trusted the federal government!
By the mid-1990's that number broke south of 20% for the first time. Pretty incredible turnaround right? Save a short window of time after 9-11 in which trust briefly moved above 50% - We've been back below 20% trust since 2006. Where are we today?
- 28% of Republicans trust the federal government
- 15% of Democrats do as well
Right at 20% of Americans trust the government overall. So this is a uniting statistic - even if it doesn't speak highly of our government overall. It's instructive because regardless of our political preferences and who's in power - we need to hold them accountable to us. Healthy skepticism is helpful and critical to reforming the government to work for us rather than ruling over us with our money.