Joe Biden, as I've written before, is a radical president. Especially when it comes to the role government can and should play in the lives of everyday Americans.
Biden's policy agenda -- from the $1 trillion "hard" infrastructure bill to the as-yet-unpriced social safety net package -- would, if passed, fundamentally alter the relationship we have with the government.
In short: The era of small government (such as it ever existed) would be over. The era of expansive government would begin.
Except that a majority of Americans don't want more government in their lives, according to new data from Gallup.
In the poll, just 43% said they wanted the government to "do more to solve the country's problems," while 54% said they thought that the government "is doing too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses."
That's a MAJOR shift in public opinion from where we were just one year ago when 54% -- a record high in Gallup polling -- said they wanted the government to do more to solve the country's problems.
That reaction, quite clearly, was the result of the Covid-19 pandemic -- and a general desire for the federal government to do whatever it could to get the country through the worst of it.
As Gallup's Jeffrey M. Jones notes:
"Last year marked only the second time in Gallup's 29-year trend that at least half of Americans endorsed an active role for the government on this item. The other pro-government response came in the weeks after the 9/11 terror attacks amid heightened concern about terrorism and a surge in trust in government."
With the virus -- finally -- appearing to recede after the latest wave caused by the Delta variant, people have returned to their past desire to have a government in their lives less rather than more.
Much of the shift from 2020 to 2021 comes among independents. In 2020, 56% of unaffiliated voters said they wanted the government to do more to solve the problems facing the country. This year? Just 38% said the same.
That swing away from more government involvement -- especially among independents -- has to be a major concern for Biden and his party as they a) work to push through these two giant pieces of government-growing legislation and b) seek to hold their House and Senate majorities in November 2022.
The Point: Biden made a big bet on big government. Right now it's not looking so great.
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