Gallup Explains Trump: "A Staggering 75% Of Americans Believe In Widespread Government Corruption"
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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"to describe what our political system has become."
Fixed it.
Other than that, I share your sentiment. Self centered indulgence and abrogating our civic responsibility has gotten us where we are. Sure, we can blame those that came before us, but then that only indemnifies us further for our lack of vigilance and action when the problems of criminality in Govt. go unaddressed and unpunished.
Would you allow an employee to act towards you as your representatives in Govt. treat you?
Time for some layoff notices to be handed out again and to remind the new hires that they're under new management and results will be forthcoming or their services will no longer be needed.
Do your fucking job or take a hike.
Some of the great houses of England had the same problem when the hired help started controlling the Estate and helping themselves to the fortunes of their benefactors without regard to the destruction they would leave in their wake.
Americans may finally wake up penniless and destitute in their mortgaged estate because they were to busy tending the roses to watch the help while they were stealing them blind. We are no different than the feckless aristocracy too self absorbed to tend to our responsibilities and the reality of our condition while leaving our fortunes open to those we trust to secure them.
All that we have left to our name will be the excuses we will have to give to our heirs of how we squandered their birthright, but in our hearts we will know it was by indifference and sloth.
Can I get an Amen?
In 1913 the Republic as founded officially ended with the 17th and the official end to state sovereignty. The Federal Reserve robbed our money and the 16th made us slaves.
With the end of the constitutional state regulated militias the Constitution had no protection.
Today we are a Oligarchy Fascist state.
Lets all agree, that the Sunni terrorists, funded by ? need to be knocked down a notch, right after Israhell is cut off from favored nation status.
What "Natural Resources" does Israel have?
Obama is so completely out of control... Out of his element.
if the possibility of electing trump scares .gov then trump it is. it is simple as that.
also, no matter how much you think you like your elected local leader always vote for the nonincumbent. if that catches on they will all be running around in circles and the people will be safe.
In the words of Socrates: "Once your Justice Department and Supreme Court are corrupted... you are fucked."
The basement babies are out tonight.
i bet the cunt herself is reading this thread as are rubio the rube and the cruzan canadian.
Who cares? That Master Baterof his universe clown, is pretty funny.
The fact that you need a poll to tell you what everyone knows...Honestly, what this proves is that at least 25% of Americans are absolute idiots, or more likely benefit from government corruption.
When Israel, Wall Street, Hollywood, Media, MIC all control your government, what else but corruption would you expect?
When Israel, Wall Street, Hollywood, Media, MIC ...
Now there's a distinction without a difference!
Here Americans are idiots:
I hear the media and Donald Trump TALK about how the media does not like Trump, but that's all I ever hear, talk. I don't see in-depth reporting on his business dealings or other activities. The point is, its just a smoke screen, if the media really did not like Trump, they would be going after him and not just talking about it. With enemies like the corporate/zionist media, who needs friends?
For the record, if the election was today I would vote for Trump, what choice would I have, Cruze, Rubio, Clinton?
Both Cruz and Rubio are not natural born citizens.... just sayin'. But, I guess that doesn't mean shit anymore.
The Major Causes for the Fall of the Roman Empire
Lead poisoning.
Taxes
Sequestration of my wallet by digital bandits
Health insurance
Life insurance
Property insurance
Retirement income
Bank Bail-outs
Bank Bail-ins
And-its-gone retirement outcome
Banks in General
FED ... a private snakes shit-nest which pretends to be a national central bank
Casino 'market' place (and no BLTs or cow arse steaks in sight!).
Mark to model make believe
People who think gold will save them, but can't buy you shit without abstract paper/digit as a credit.
Electricity bills from govt funded 'renewable' power that no one but a kook wants.
Smart spy phones that rape your wallet.
Manhole covers that make loud clap-clang sounds at 2 AM as a car hits it.
And rice-cream! WTF?!
The demise of handkerchiefs in left brest pockets.
The demise of left brest pockets!
The rise of the cooking show ... fer fucks sake!!
Tooth brushes with soft bristles!!! ... fuck me!!! ... UNBELIEVABLE!!
Little fucking stickers on fruit.
Chinese ceiling fans with three position switches that are all the wrong speed!! ... I shit you not!
Look at Obamacare. It was *supposed* to be a multi-trillion dollar giveaway to the *insurance* industry, it made no sense for consumers or for doctors! There was some higgledy-piggledy mumbo-jumbo academic ideas about improved results out the other end, but at best that presumed the structure itself was honorable, not a thirteen-digit theft.
But it was a bungled hold-up and now not even the insurance companies really want anything to do with it. It will be a mercy when anybody competent gets into office in DC and fixes it in any direction, up down or sideways. Meanwhile, yes, it's corruption, in your face - and endorsed by the supreme (sic) court.
And then there's The Hildabeast and Bubba, .... OMG.
Yabut,
You now get free birth control.
Given what I see coming out of the schools today, that can only be a good thing. Anything to slow the leftward shift in the bellcurve.
Yeah, I know. Hoping for a new Age of Enlightenment to arise is something of a longshot but when that's all you got, you have to go with it.
Hey, don't get ahead of yourself, we're only about 20 years into the New Dark Ages, it'll be a century or six or sixteen, before we get a New Enlightenment.
I again point out replies that I posted under
How Corrupt Is the American Government?
Donald Trump does not come remotely close to the intellectual scientific revolutions which would be necessary to cope with the political problems that develop through globalized electronic frauds, backed by atomic bombs. Similarly, several of the other recently published articles on Zero Hedge concerning the topic of "revolution" were way too superficial.
Jimmi Carter could pull it off!
For me, that is the pure Genius of the Obama administration.
Those incompetent sheep fuckers make the Carter administration look good by comparison.
Mind boggling.
I guess the other 25% are government employees.
Indeed. The only staggering thing about the 75% figure is that it is too low. Based on two important statistics, I think the real number is more like 80%
Statistic # 1: 1 in 5 Americans have some form of mental illness.
Statistic # 2: 20% of the population are self-proclaimed liberals.
And damned dumb ones at that !!!!!!!!!!!
There's a real difference between local corruption and systemic corruption. People in the US don't even know what local corruption looks like - they wouldn't know how to bribe an official with an instruction book. In its implementation and execution, in the day-to-day administration of policy, the US gov't is as squeeky clean as any gov't in history. Retail corruption essentially doesn't exist in the US.
But that's about implementing the policies as they exist. How those policies get made is the topic of systemic corruption. Legalized purchase of votes (or legislators, lock stock and barrel) by lobbyists and campaign contributors, influence on rule-makings through lobbying and manipulation of process, bail-outs of TBTF banks, etc. These are a deep rot in the heart of the US. The oligarchs and multinationals that have access to these levers of power are sucking dry the goose and its golden eggs.
So just to drive home my point - the retail-level bureaucrats in US gov't are an astonishingly incorruptible group of folks. In large part, they're trying hard to do the job they were hired for, and implement the rules as they're presented. The politicians and political appointees that set the rules, procedures, and goals of the government - they are bought and paid for in a system so thoroughly corrupt that it locks out any attempts at honest governance.
There's a real difference between local corruption and systemic corruption. People in the US don't even know what local corruption looks like - they wouldn't know how to bribe an official with an instruction book. In its implementation and execution, in the day-to-day administration of policy, the US gov't is as squeeky clean as any gov't in history. Retail corruption essentially doesn't exist in the US.
But that's about implementing the policies as they exist. How those policies get made is the topic of systemic corruption. Legalized purchase of votes (or legislators, lock stock and barrel) by lobbyists and campaign contributors, influence on rule-makings through lobbying and manipulation of process, bail-outs of TBTF banks, etc. These are a deep rot in the heart of the US. The oligarchs and multinationals that have access to these levers of power are sucking dry the goose and its golden eggs.
So just to drive home my point - the retail-level bureaucrats in US gov't are an astonishingly incorruptible group of folks. In large part, they're trying hard to do the job they were hired for, and implement the rules as they're presented. The politicians and political appointees that set the rules, procedures, and goals of the government - they are bought and paid for in a system so thoroughly corrupt that it locks out any attempts at honest governance.
Fed up with liars, corruption and politicians beholden to corporations, special interest groups, Wall Street, super pacs, and not us the hard working, tax paying citizens.
Fed up with career politicians like John McCain sitting in Congress 20, 30 or more years that DON'T represent the people and want war, war and more war!
Fed up with neocon warmongers deeply entrenched in both parties that are pushing US foreign policy and NATO towards WWIII.
Fed up with our leaders consistently feeding us climate change bullshit as though any of this will matter during the 20,000 year long nuclear winter caused by the neocon's senseless war with Russia.
Fed up with anything "politically correct" and our spineless, dickless politicians that are too afraid to tell the truth and say what they really feel. Fed up with trillions of our hard earned taxpayer dollars going to countries that hate us. Like hundreds of millions of dollars going to so-called moderate maggots that will "next week" give this money to Al Qaeda or ISIS when they switch alliances. These same politicians giving away our money to maggots don't give a shit about homeless veterans, our crumbling infrastructure and the Social Security fund that will be bankrupt for baby boomers.
Fed up with politicians that feel they are "dynastically entitled" to be president. Clinton and Bush!
Fed up with business as usual in Washington, DC.