The problem for the IRS, and for those who support its current level of intrusion in American lives (and its expanded one under Obamacare), is that this scandal is coming at a time when American distrust for government institutions is at incredibly high levels. Consider this poll: http://vlt.tc/vgs 68% of Americans answer “yes†to the question: “Does it feel like the federal government has gotten out of control and is threatening the basic civil liberties of Americans, or doesn’t it feel this way to you?†The sample is plurality Democratic; and the proportion of independents who agree that the federal government threatens civil liberties is a whopping 76%. While overall the IRS scandal is deemed the worst, Independents and Democrats think the White House attack on journalists is the most pressing of the scandals. The ultimate effect of Obama’s second term could be a crumbling faith in governmental institutions, which is only going to spread in an era when no one in government is trusted on civil liberties.
–Ben Domenech, in The Transom, 5/23/2013. Emphasis mine.
You’d have to be blind not to see that Big Government has gone too far, too fast in the USA. As the bulk of the world’s Socialist nations have agreed to make the impact of government smaller in some ways, to promote the global economy, the USA has gone the old October Revolution way, getting government into everybody’s face in every way possible.
That’s bound to ruffle some feathers.
Although I agree with the notion that big .gov is getting more and more intrusive, that poll question is leading, confusing, and very poorly written. What does a “Yes” answer actually mean – either clause could elicit a yes answer, almost guaranteeing that there won’t be many “No” answers.