Gallop Poll: Federal Government is an Immediate Threat to Rights and Liberty

Gallop published a poll stating that nearly half of the American people believe the federal government is an immediate threat to their rights and liberties.  This is understandable considering the current administration has expanded the administrative state at an alarming rate. 

Never before in American history has the federal government intruded upon our lives as of now.  We’ve witnessed various agencies harass political opponents with impunity.  Recently, an elected official in Kentucky was arrested for exercising her religious beliefs, a direct violation of her First Amendment rights.  That maybe a first since the founding of our republic.

Gallop, of course, mitigated their findings with the following explanation:

The fact that almost half of Americans see the federal government as an immediate threat to their lives and freedoms may appear alarming at first, perhaps conjuring an image of Americans worrying that the government will be breaking down their doors and engaging in random arrests of private citizens.

 But two findings mitigate against this type of more dramatic interpretation. First, the fact that Democrats and Republicans have flipped in their probability of holding these views when the administration changed in 2009 shows that these attitudes reflect more of a response to the president and disagreement with his policies than a fundamental feeling about the federal government in general

A change in president and policies will not reduce the size of government.  These bureaucracies will continue to expand their powers.  And let’s not forget the Supreme Court.  They are just as much of a threat as any federal bureaucrat.

 Source:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/185720/half-continue-say-gov-immediate-threat.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_content=morelink&utm_campaign=syndication