Most Americans believe that the federal government is now doing too much, a new poll shows.
Fifty-two percent of respondents in the Gallup survey, released Thursday, said that the government was too involved in things that should be left to individuals or private businesses, while 43% said that the government should involve itself more in trying to fix the country’s problems.
The poll differs sharply from a similar survey released a year ago, wherein 54% of Americans said that the government was not doing enough while just 41% said the opposite. That poll, however, came before coronavirus vaccines were widely available and millions of Americans faced unprecedented economic hardship, and amid hundreds of protests over racial injustice, several of which turned violent.
The latest survey comes as Democrats in Congress try to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill and their sweeping social spending package which would invest billions in child care, education, climate change and more by raising taxes on corporations and Americans earning over $400,000 a year. (RELATED: Democrats Are All-In On The Largest Budget In History. Its Passage Is Far From Certain)
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer walk down the steps of the Capitol Monday to mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The biggest swing in opinion came from Independents, 57% of whom said recently that the government is “trying to do too many things.” Last year, just 38% said the same, while 56% said that the government should be doing more.
There was also a large divide between Democrats and Republicans. While 18% of Democrats said this year that they thought the government was doing too much, 80% of Republicans said it was.
The poll also found that half of respondents preferred lower taxes even if that means fewer government services, while 19% said the opposite and 29% said they wanted to keep taxes and services where they are at now.
The survey was conducted from Sept. 1-17 among 1,005 American adults, and has a margin of error of 4 points.
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