Gallup Explains Trump: "A Staggering 75% Of Americans Believe In Widespread Government Corruption"

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Back in July, when the HuffPo was covering Donald Trump's campaign in its "Entertainment Section" (they are not laughing now), and when not a single political pundit thought Trump had any chance of winning the GOP primary (now most of them do), we said that "Donald Trump's Soaring Popularity "Is The Country's Collective Middle Finger To Washington."

Here is what we said:

Donald Trump’s ascendance as the early GOP front-runner is symbolic of a greater global trend: growing pushback against institutional political and economic power.

 

To many centrist politicians and mainstream political observers, Donald Trump is a boastful, insensitive egomaniac spouting populist rhetoric. Whether such a characterization is true is not worthy of debate, which may explain why the rantings of enraged career political pundits have no impact on Mr. Trump’s popularity among Republican voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, and across America. It seems no amount of ink or air time spent tarring and feathering Trump’s reputation sticks; in fact it seems to help Teflon Don in the polls, where he leads a crowded field of career politicians.

 

Donald Trump is a threat not only to the nattering nabobs in the press corps and the Republican Party. His day in the sun may be symbolic of a broader dynamic: the declining power held by historically powerful institutions. Ask yourself if Trump’s campaign is making a mockery of the political process or exposing the mockery that the political process has become. A not-insignificant percentage of Americans away from the coasts, are looking past his utter lack of decorum and political savvy to hitch their wagons to his outrage.

Six months later, virtually everyone recognizes and admits that this is the case: a vote for Trump is not "a vote for Trump", it is a vote against the broken, corrupt, crony-capitalist model.

Which explains why increasingly more are terrified he just may win.

But what explains America's revulsion with the existing system? The answer comes from the latest Gallup article: "Explaining Trump: Widespread Government Corruption" in which it finds that once the silent majority of the population can identify the object of their distrust and anger - in this case Congress and the political status quo - and once they can subsequently identify an object that represents its opposite, the latter object's distance to the Oval Office becomes considerably shorter.

From Gallup:

Explaining Trump: Widespread Government Corruption

It's been fashionable to make jokes about Congress' historically low approval ratings, unbelievable incompetence in the government and now, unfortunately, the perception of widespread government corruption. Pundits and talk-radio hosts have a field day with this. So do late-night comics.

It's not funny anymore.

A staggering 75% of the American public believe corruption is "widespread" in the U.S. government. Not incompetence, but corruption. This alarming figure has held steady since 2010, up from 66% in 2009.

This sense of corruption probably contributes to much of the extreme anxiety and unrest we see today - including protests, lower voter turnout and increased interest in guns.

Guns -- a symbol of freedom from government tyranny to many people -- are now a key voting issue. A quarter of U.S. voters say the presidential candidate they vote for must share their view on guns.

Protests are growing in cities and campuses all around the country. Students and citizens generally have lost faith in their national institutions -- the biggest and most powerful of which is, of course, the federal government.

The last presidential election had an estimated 5 million fewer voters than turned out in 2008, and the 2014 midterm elections saw the lowest turnout in 72 years (36.3%). At alarming levels, citizens -- when invited to participate directly in their own democracy -- are taking a pass and staying home. Or taking their frustrations to the streets.

The perception that there's widespread corruption in the national government could be a symptom of citizen disengagement and anger. Or it could be a cause -- we don't know. But it's very possible this is a big, dark cloud that hangs over this country's progress. And it might be fueling the rise of an unlikely, non-traditional leading Republican candidate for the presidency, Donald Trump.

To make matters worse, that dark cloud appears to be hanging over the growth of small business, which is where virtually all new GDP growth and good jobs originate. Simply put, startups and shootups (small businesses that grow larger) have been in a death spiral. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the total number of business startups and business closures per year crossed for the first time in 2008.

And the economy isn't growing nearly fast enough -- it's been running at an average rate of 2% since the 2008 financial collapse and the Great Recession. Just to compare, following the recession of 1981-1982, GDP grew for six years at 4.5% -- one of our greatest economic eras in history.

Jobs haven't come back. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the percentage of the total adult population that has a full-time job has been hovering around 48% since 2010 -- the lowest full-time employment level since 1983. This is why the middle class has been dangerously shrinking.

You don't have to connect too many dots to conclude that if a government has an alarmingly high appearance of widespread corruption -- and that same government creates regulations that businesses cite as a leading barrier to growth -- then entrepreneurs might be reluctant to stick their necks out to start a business. Or to boom the businesses they already have.

Why would they start or boom a business if they think a corrupt government is creating rules and regulations that don't serve their interests -- but rather rules that serve the interests of corrupt officials, corrupt politicians, corrupt insiders and corrupt special interest groups?

Any wonder why so many Americans want a candidate who's outside of that system?

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Wed, 01/06/2016 - 19:41 | 7007684 sgorem
sgorem's picture

<TRUMP IN 2016

<TRUMP IN 2016

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 19:45 | 7007707 Escrava Isaura
Escrava Isaura's picture

 

 

You remind me the people that voted for Obama because of “Change you can believe.”

I did not vote, so you know.


 

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 19:55 | 7007762 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Probably because you can't vote, Brazilian national, right? But it doesn't stop you from suckling like a little piglet around the DC Beltway does it?

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:00 | 7007779 GhostOfDiogenes
GhostOfDiogenes's picture

You blame everyone for the problems of this country-except the actual peopke who cause the problems of this country.

Complete chutzpah.

Complete disinformation.

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:08 | 7007815 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Wut?

You sayin Escarva here is not a Brazilian national and therefore ineligible (legally...lol) to vote?

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:11 | 7007827 GhostOfDiogenes
GhostOfDiogenes's picture

Nope.

I was talking about YOU asshole, nmen, the disinfo expert who has no integrity for truth, and just looks for others to agree with him.

So estrogenic.

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:23 | 7007898 nmewn
nmewn's picture

I was under the impression that the federal government is the problem, you seem to disagree and want to turn the discussion "elsewhere"...for some reason.

Dual citizen voting perhaps?

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:30 | 7007935 GhostOfDiogenes
GhostOfDiogenes's picture

"I was under the impression that the federal government is the problem"

Nothing but lies.

You blame muzlims for everything.

I bet you blame the 11 still living saudis for getting over israeli secured airports taking airplanes with box cutters crashing them in the most millitarily secure airspace on the planet.

You make me physically ill.

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:37 | 7007983 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Pretty sure I made no mention of muslims (yep, just looked, nope). You ok, you seem...a little over wrought and sweaty?

Just don't let the red wire go to ground ;-)

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:45 | 7008028 GhostOfDiogenes
GhostOfDiogenes's picture

Still lying.

When you stop posting, is when you will stop lying.

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:50 | 7008061 nmewn
nmewn's picture

I can find no mention of muslims here...

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-06/gallup-explains-trump-staggerin...

...can you?

Now who's lying troll?

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 06:16 | 7009711 GhostOfDiogenes
GhostOfDiogenes's picture

Uh, it was on another thread, troll boy.

You are still posting.

That means....still lying.

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 21:52 | 7008418 crossroaddemon
crossroaddemon's picture

For the love of god god would you please shut the fuck up?!

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 06:15 | 7009709 GhostOfDiogenes
GhostOfDiogenes's picture

Sorry. I don't do requests.

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:38 | 7007990 Element
Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:48 | 7008044 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Can't figure out if he's pullin the ole spittle flying good-ahab/bad-ahab routine, the derail the thread ObamaBot-HuffPo routine or the just-shut-up-about-the.gov-anyways routine.

Truly a piece of work tho ;-)

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 21:45 | 7008377 Ms No
Ms No's picture

I think he is just an asshole that can't get laid.  Once he starts trolling you he is like a barnacle downvoting every comment he can find.  He does it to me too I'm going to start trolling him back, only I wont screw up entire threads like he always does.

I think he might be DutchBoy but I'm not sure. 

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:16 | 7007857 Escrava Isaura
Escrava Isaura's picture

 

 

I have dual citizenship. I have Brazilian and American passports. I can vote in both nations. In Brazil I must vote or I pay a fine. Anyway, I either have to vote at the Brazilian embassy or write a letter saying something like I was traveling or sick. I hate it. So when in Brazil, I just pay an agent to fix it for me.

 

I love the way it is in America because I don’t have to deal with all the unnecessary bureaucracy that turns into corruption that is a common practice in Brazil.

 

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:19 | 7007874 nmewn
nmewn's picture

"I love the way it is in America..."

Yeah, I bet.

And thanks for the honest reply ;-)

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:21 | 7007886 Escrava Isaura
Escrava Isaura's picture

 

 

My pleasure.

 

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:39 | 7007992 Yen Cross
Yen Cross's picture

  You must feel special?   Sitting in that coffee shop with all your underlings, spouting progressional'isms, without the slightest inkling, of the ramifications of your actions.

That's what TAKERS do. They deflect needs away from productivity! Typical Socialist>?>>Trash

 When you rebut, remember who you're talking to. [The People]

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 22:49 | 7008783 Escrava Isaura
Escrava Isaura's picture

 

 

Obviously the you don’t read my posts. I have a bleak view of the future once oil/condensate liquids goes down below  70 million barrels a day. Right now is over 80 million barrels.

I am not a socialist neither a libertarian. Can’t stand either. I am a liberal. The function of a liberal is to keep private power and government in check. Do not let them grow otherwise we will be facing fascism/communism.

 

Hope that clarifies where I stand.

 

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:48 | 7008033 Ness.
Ness.'s picture

If you start banging a girl from Chicago you can vote 10, maybe, 12 times every year.  If you just have a few kids you can collect $$ when others are paying their taxes.  

But don't register your gun.  Only 'snitches' and 'rats' register their guns.

But trust me.  You'll need one.

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 21:26 | 7008270 you know they a...
you know they are lying because they are talking's picture

Self deleted my stupid post. Never Mind

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 22:54 | 7008811 Escrava Isaura
Escrava Isaura's picture

 

 

Good for you. Let’s hope you set a new standard for all of us: Do some research before writing.

  

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:09 | 7007809 Escrava Isaura
Escrava Isaura's picture

 

 

I meant that I did not vote in sgorem post because he might only get 1 vote down and I don’t want to leave the impression, because of my post, that 1 vote down was mine. That’s why I said I didn’t vote.

 

And you are right, I didn’t vote when I lived in DC. And I have never voted while living in Maryland. Wonder why?

Both locations vote Democrats by a huge margin.

Second, there’s no Democracy because both Parties work for the same boss.

 

 

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:10 | 7007822 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Well fine, lets settle something for my six week old troll above...

Are you a Brazilian national?

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:20 | 7007879 Escrava Isaura
Escrava Isaura's picture

 

 

Brazilian National?

What does it mean?

A Brazilian that watches soccer? Hell no. But the stadium above belongs to Botafogo, a team that I was a fan growing up in Brazil.

 

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 11:00 | 7011072 sgorem
sgorem's picture

oh fuck escrava, go drink a bottle of Guandu River water and then go and shit what little bit of that Brazil Nut brain you have left, OUT. thanks in advance...

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 19:42 | 7007695 seek
seek's picture

I think the core issue behind this is that that the vast majority of the corrupt government literally don't see themselves as corrupt in any way. While Hillary is the poster child of this, most of the house and senate are people voting on bills for and by lobbyists that favor wealthy corporate interests, and they see absolutely nothing wrong in this.

So we literally have a government that is all but blind to its own faults. Big shocker there's a disconnect between the people at large and the paid-for governing class.

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 19:46 | 7007716 The Spanish Amb...
The Spanish Ambassador's picture

If thats correct then this is France 1789. deja vu all over again.

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 19:57 | 7007769 dirtscratcher
dirtscratcher's picture

Well, that is correct so: should we go long guillotines?

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:03 | 7007791 lincolnsteffens
lincolnsteffens's picture

Treason is a capitol offense.

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:04 | 7007795 The Spanish Amb...
The Spanish Ambassador's picture

Whats the symbol for guillotines ?  Better ask the smart guys about your investing . 

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 19:49 | 7007734 overmedicatedun...
overmedicatedundersexed's picture

hank paulson, ex gov and senator j corzine, rob rubin, e holder esq, all think the idea that: .gov is the mafia on steroids, is greatly overblown.

the news networks must get to work correcting this error.

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 19:55 | 7007760 knukles
knukles's picture

News?  You mean the Propaganda Mechanism?

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:44 | 7008026 Vendetta
Vendetta's picture

Can I send you bonus points for stating the facts?  I can only uprate once

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 21:13 | 7008160 shovelhead
shovelhead's picture

They're just happy you're not voting for anyone who would introduce legislation that would limit political contributions to INDIVIDUAL VOTERS.

Simply bypass the fiction that corporations, organizations and unions are "people". You can't vote, you can't contribute.

Let them make a legal argument otherwise. It would fail because it's a nonsensical fiction. Let them lobby their own members to steer money to favored candidates instead of writing checks directly to Congressmen.

Maybe your employer might give you a "vacation" bonus with the understanding that you contribute it to a favored candidate. Fine. How much of that money would end up in the candidates hand if contributions are private information? Chances are, you would have a fine vacation instead.

1 person, 1 vote, 1 limit on contributions. Simple.

If the only source of funding comes from their constituents, maybe Congress would be inclined to listen to the people who hired them in the first place instead of the highest bidder.

If politicians knew that a vote for such a bill would be a litmus test for their future employment in Washington, it would become a reality instead of a thought exercise.

The trick is getting people engaged enough to DEMAND the law and resistance to the bill would result in future unemployment to those foolish enough to think they are immune to voters rejection.

They do what they do because we allow it by saying nothing and holding no one accountable for their actions.

Just a thought.

But it could grow with enough people, if they gave a damn about what they leave to their kids.

So far, I'm not too impressed at the job we're doing.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 00:13 | 7009094 Demdere
Demdere's picture

Much better, prohibit campaign spending entirely.

We have this think called an internet, makes communications cheap.  Limit them to a web site. Makes it easier to check their statements, also.

https://thinkpatriot.wordpress.com/2015/11/13/why-not-presidential-debat...

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 23:27 | 7008932 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

No one's forcing 'folks' to vote for Maxine Waters, yet here we are!

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 00:08 | 7009077 Demdere
Demdere's picture

No, any explanation for corruption has to deal with the entire situation.  That explanation fails to explain 9/11 FF not being acknowledged.

AIPAC owning Congress explains that.  Israeli-Neocons running the CIA, NSA (with all its blackmail and economic espionage info), foreign policy, the pentagon, and various assassination services explains that.

They know full well they are corrupt.  Nobody can be in DC and fail to know about the many kinds of corruption.  Chertoff selling scanners to TSA, for example.  Feinstein's husband's contract with the Post Office to sell their excess properties, which are only excess because the Post Office has to save a huge amount of $ because Congress made them account for ?pensions, I forget? differently and so they have a budget problem.

9/11 reveals a criminal organization which can plan operations over 30 years. Look how that played out, they got their guys into all the right positions, including the judges handling the various cases, ... and presto, they seized more power in the US and made a lot of $ while doing it.

Nato's Gladio is a criminal enterprize over 40 years and NATO handles Afghanistan's heroin into Europe. Sibel Edmonds BoilingFrog goes into all of that Gladio info.

That corruption goes everywhere, and they know it and compete for positions where they can rake in more loot.

The question is how many are clean?  There are very few willing to stand up to NSA or CIA or Israel, is one measure.

None willing to stand up on 9/11 FF another.

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 19:44 | 7007706 opport.knocks
opport.knocks's picture

Only 75% - are the other 25% in a coma?

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:12 | 7007834 boodles
boodles's picture

The other 25 percent work for the government.

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 19:47 | 7007722 TulsaTime
TulsaTime's picture

Hate corruption, so support the most corrupt figure in presidential politics, because he says he's great and he will fix things up. Gotta love them USSA, cuz nobody pulls the woll over our eye. More like the USSR every day, and just a matter of time before we cave in too.

 

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:23 | 7007902 Nanur
Nanur's picture

You hit the nail on the head with that comment!  

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 21:24 | 7008274 besnook
besnook's picture

the most corrupt person in presidential politics is the cunt by far.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 00:18 | 7009108 Demdere
Demdere's picture

Perhaps only the most obviously corrupt or most successfully corrupt at that scale?

Bill allied with the CIA early on, and the Clintons got income from that for a while.

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 19:47 | 7007723 Sanity Bear
Sanity Bear's picture

Trump never was "outside of that system", he's part and parcel of it. Someone outside the system doesn't have Hillary Clinton show up as a VIP at their wedding. He could not have been financially successful in his line of work without being expert at working the system.

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 19:55 | 7007759 overmedicatedun...
overmedicatedundersexed's picture

well here come the dump on trump crowd..never much behind the

ad hominems..while missing the main point: Trump is addressing these issues while bernie and hitlery never do or talk of the mass invasion as a good thing..

Wed, 01/06/2016 - 20:12 | 7007828 Sanity Bear
Sanity Bear's picture

I like a lot of what Trump is saying! I just don't believe a word of it, in no small part because he has said (and done) the opposite of what he's saying now, and often not too long ago.

 

For example... at the same time he's putting voice to just complaints about illegal immigration, labor dumping, NAFTA and China, he had his own signature clothing lines made in (you guessed it) Mexico and China, and businesses majority-owned by him were requesting a great many H2 visas (which are for essentially unskilled labor that any American could do). Today he bashes Hillary, but not long ago he was saying that she was great. Today he's a Republican, not too many years ago he was a Democrat.

 

This is the profile of an untrustworthy chameleon. You can like what he's saying today (and I do - a lot!) while still not getting suckered by him.

 

I can't be the only one who remembers George W. Bush campaigning on a platform of "no more nation-building" when Buchanan was a real threat to whoop his ass in the Y2k primaries.

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