The latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll showing Donald Trump with a falling job approval rating — 54 percent disapprove to 40 percent approve — has gotten wide print and broadcast coverage. But most of the coverage has been on how Trump’s numbers have been trending, down from February, and how he compares with previous presidents as this point in his presidency, not so very well.
Digging down to some other non-Trump-related numbers in the poll, conservatives, or anyone else who wishes to “make America great again,” will find even worse news. The poll found that 57 percent of respondents, including 28 percent of Republicans, say that government should be doing more to solve problems and help people. MORE!
Please take a moment to let the sheer awfulness of this one sink in. If this poll is truly representative, then close on to two thirds of Americans — in a nation that has bankrupted itself, largely on social spending of very dubious results — think government should waste more and micro-manage our lives even more than it already does in the name of “solving problems.” (Name the last three problems the government has solved. OK, name one.)
Only a bit more than a third of respondents — 39 percent — are nimble enough to see that government is already doing things that should be the responsibility of the private sector, including individuals. If nearly 60 percent of Americans can’t yet see that government at most levels, but particularly the federals, can’t organize a two-car funeral, even with 50 overpaid bureaucrats on the job, then our future is very bleak indeed.