Details Matter

New data from Pew:

In general, more Americans say that government regulation of business is harmful than say it is necessary to protect the public. At the same time, when asked about regulations in specific areas, such as food safety and environmental protection, there is broad support for strengthening regulations or keeping current regulations as they are now rather than reducing regulations.

Got it? American’s are against “regulations” as such, but they support specific regulatory policies. We saw the same thing during the health care debate. Polling data showed that Americans were opposed to “Obamacare” but they mostly supported the specific policies that it encompassed.

And as I pointed out last night, Americans are against “deficits” and “debt”, but support the specific policies and priorities that primarily drive them.

We get exactly the government we want.

Advertisement