New Poll Highlights Lack of Trust in Leaders by American Public

The good folks over at Zogby have managed to put together a poll that is remarkable more for what it has accomplished than for what it has proven. It has managed to unite Americans of all social classes, ethnicities and geographic backgrounds, a state of affairs that is typically the result of a particularly honorable undertaking or a common celebration brought on by the holiday season, a famous sporting victory or great national achievement. Unfortunately, no such noble unifier exists here. What has brought together nearly 85% of Americans is a common mistrust of publicly elected officials. This lack of trust manifests itself here as a belief that legislators make bills long in order to hide pork and as an attempt by party leaders to push party faithful into the 'yea' camp without so much as a look at the convoluted language of the prospective law of the land. 

While slightly disturbing, the negative feelings toward politicians are not surprising. Regardless of party affiliation, pols have been creating monstrous legislation since the expense of vellum was dispensed with. However, public ire has recently been stoked by bills whose controversial aspects and impacts have put them more in the spotlight than the run of the mill budget bill. Included in this category are the stimulus bill from earlier in the year and the truly mindboggling 2,000 page sister bills on health care currently at various stages of completion in the House and Senate. Stories that have been leaked to the press in recent days regarding the back-room dealing needed to get the Senate version of the bill as far as Democratic leadership has have certainly not helped either. Finally the admissions of many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle that they don't read bills because they are too long and complicated provide any nails in the coffin of public trust that other factors had not.

It would unfortunately be naive to think that the practice of purposefully making bills impossible to interpret for typical Americans, as well as lawmakers, will end any time soon. However, even politicians listen when issues get to a tipping point. Despite years of indifference, the nation recently showed that it still cares when voter turnout spiked in November of 2008. Other recent events, such as teaparties, have shown that, even in a non-election cycle, people can be motivated to seek action when their concerns are great enough. Hopefully the fact that nearly all Americans of every imaginable background have become fed up with the legislative process will signal lawmakers that change is needed. Otherwise, the likelihood that bad bills noone understands will be passed will remain higher than the alternative, a scary thought indeed.