“Fifty-eight percent of those polled by The Washington Post recently claimed they preferred smaller government with fewer services, with only 38 percent favoring a larger government with more services (and, yes, it is a terrific struggle not to place ironic quotations marks around the word “services”).”
“This is the highest number for the “smaller government” category since 2002. And a full year into President Barack Obama’s term, most polls and state elections tell us that the electorate is walking—maybe sprinting?—back from the progressive economic policies that now dominate Washington.”
David Harsanyi looks at How the Democrats misjudged the American People @ http://reason.com/archives/2010/01/20/the-idea-is-the-problem
of course, most people will say they want a smaller government with less services. but it would be better to ask specifics, which services will they give up. no Transportation Departments? Toll roads?
No Education Departments? Private Schools?
What about Social Security? when Bush tried to allow individual private accounts, look at the uproar. Then, in a Washington Post poll 56% disapproved of his approach. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35231-2005Mar14.html
It would be good to find out how people rate current government programs, and which ones they would support eliminating.
Toll roads are commonly run by governments, so having government own the roads does not make them free. Many who support good public schools favor eliminating the federal role, and abolishing the Department of Education.
As for Social Security, many have paid into it for years, and could not afford to pay taxes and save other money for retirement, so they are afraid when people talk about tinkering with it. A very real dependence on government makes people afraid, and all the propaganda from government employees unions won’t change that to enthusiastic approval of government.