PIML 96051703 / Forwarded to Patriot Information Mailing List: ----------------------------------------- ADVISORY FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY News from the National LP headquarters for members & supporters of the Libertarian Party ----------------------------------------- Watergate Office Building 2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100 Washington DC 20037 Phone: (202) 333-0008 E-mail: 73163.3063@CompuServe.com For information about the party: (800) 682-1776 ----------------------------------------- May 15, 1996 ----------------------------------------- Survey: 17% of Americans have "no confidence" in any level of government WASHINGTON, DC -- When a Washington, DC research group asked Americans: "In general, do you have more confidence in local, state, or federal government?" -- the response stunned them. Almost one in five Americans -- black or white -- volunteered that they had no confidence in the government at any level. "We were surprised that 19% of blacks and 17% of whites said they have no confidence in any level of government," said Katherine McFate, Associate Director of Research at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. "This is a very high level of volunteered response. It seems clear that these attitudes on government are deeply felt and widespread." But the Libertarian Party said it was not surprised at the results. "Actually, it tracks very closely with the 20% of the population identified in a recent Gallup poll as politically libertarian," said party Chairman Steve Dasbach. "That 20% equals 50 million people who don't think the government should try to solve economic problems, or morality problems. And that makes sense. As this new survey shows, millions of Americans don't think government works, they don't trust it, and they have no confidence in it," he said. The JCPES is a non-partisan research organization. They conducted their poll in January. Dasbach said the JCPES results have been confirmed by two other recent surveys that show a distrust of government policies and promises. For example: * What has caused incomes for working Americans to remain stagnant for the past 15 years? Government, say a vast majority of Americans. In a survey taken February 23-26 by Louis Harris & Associates, 92% point a finger at "increased government spending," and 91% say "high taxes" are to blame for stagnant wages. * Do Americans want to "soak" the rich with more taxes? Not according to a survey from Grassroots Research. The group polled 1,000 voters March 4-7, and found that 51% believe families earning $200,000 pay too much in taxes. And a whopping 90% of Americans say that if politicians claim taxes are being increased only for the wealthy, then taxes will actually go up for most Americans. # # # * Patriot Information Mailing List * A service to help inform those who have an active interest in * returning our federal and state governments to limited, * constitutional government * Send messages for consideration and possible posting to * butterb@sagenet.net (Bill Utterback). * To subscribe or unsubscribe, send message with subject line * "subscribe patriot" or "unsubscribe patriot" * Forwarded messages sent on this mailing list are NOT verified. * See World's Smallest Political Quiz: www.self-gov.org/quiz.html * Libertarian is to LIBERTY as librarian is to library (DePena) * PIML grants permission to copy and repost this message * in its entirety with headers and trailers left intact.