Despite all the noise coming from the Occupy Wall Street crowd–and the rhetoric coming from President Barack Obama–it turns out that it’s not big business that most Americans fear, but big government. Gallup reports:
The 64% of Americans who say big government will be the biggest threat to the country is just one percentage point shy of the record high, while the 26% who say big business is down from the 32% recorded during the recession.
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Not surprisingly, 82 percent of Republicans view big government as the biggest threat, but even Democrats — who have historically supported policies that lead to an expansion of the role and size of the federal government — now see big government as a big threat, as well:
Almost half of Democrats now say big government is the biggest threat to the nation, more than say so about big business, and far more than were concerned about big government in March 2009. The 32% of Democrats concerned about big government at that time — shortly after President Obama took office — was down significantly from a reading in 2006, when George W. Bush was president.
Interestingly, across party lines, fewer Americans are fearing big business, too. But those sentiments are a sharp contrast from those being voiced from Zuccotti Park in New York City, to the port protests on the West Coast, to President Obama’s speech in Osawatomie, Kansas.
