[PJMedia.com]

By Brian Preston

April 26, 2012

In the past few weeks, Americans have learned just how wasteful that obscure and well regarded government agencies can be. From the GSA’s lavish spending to send interns to Palm Springs, to the Secret Service’s hooker ho-downs in Third World Countries, from the oppressive TSA to the crucifying EPA, government is increasingly becoming more than just the enemy of small government advocates. If you run a business, fly anywhere, own a farm or just want to be free, big government has become a big enemy, period.

Barack Obama, meanwhile, is oblivious to all this. He keeps on pushing government as the be all end all solution to everything. A new poll out suggests that this attitude is going to catch up with him.

Today, just one in three has a favorable view of the federal government — the lowest level in 15 years, according to a Pew survey. The majority of Americans remain satisfied with their local and state governments — 61 percent and 52 percent, respectively — but only 33 percent feel likewise about the federal government.

In 2002, nearly double that figure, 64 percent, viewed the federal government favorably, and Americans held their local and state governments in similar esteem, at 67 percent and 62 percent, respectively.

There’s the expected partisan gap: A majority of Democrats, 51 percent, view the Obama-led government favorably, compared to 27 percent of independents and 20 percent of Republicans. During the Bush presidency, a majority of Republicans viewed the federal government favorably, while support for it faded among Democrats.

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