Scott Rasmussen ‎86% want limits on federal government.

Just 9% Want No Limits on What Federal Government Can Do
Friday, August 06, 2010
http://tinyurl.com/RR1872

Eighty-six percent (86%) of voters nationwide say there should be “limits on what the federal government can do.” A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only nine percent (9%) believe the federal government should be allowed to do most anything in this country.

These views are overwhelming shared across virtually all partisan and demographic lines.

The only exception is America’s Political Class. By a 54% to 43% margin, the Political Class believes the federal government should be allowed to do most anything. Mainstream voters reject that view by a 94% to three percent (3%) margin.

At a July 24 Town Hall meeting, Democratic Congressman Pete Stark of California may have inadvertently articulated the Political Class view. In responding to questions about whether or not the recently passed health care law is unconstitutional, Stark said, “I think that there are very few constitutional limits that would prevent the federal government from rules that could affect your private life." In response to a follow-up, he added, "The federal government, yes, can do most anything in this country."

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on August 3-4, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

The gap between the Political Class and Mainstream voters is seen in other data as well. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of Political Class voters believe the United States is generally heading in the right direction. However, among Mainstream Voters, 84% say the country has gotten off on the wrong track.

In his new book, Scott Rasmussen says, “The gap between Americans who want to govern themselves and politicians who want to rule over them may be as big today as the gap between the colonies and England during the 18^th century.”

In Search of Self-Governance is available at Rasmussen Reports and Amazon.com.

Stark was responding to questions about a provision in the health care law that would require every American to buy or obtain health insurance. Most voters nationwide are opposed to that requirement for an individual mandate. Again there is a huge gap. While 72% of Mainstream voters oppose the health insurance mandate, 83% of the Political Class think it’s a good idea.

Most voters nationwide continue to favor repeal of the health care law.

Mark Tapscott has a good column in The Washington Examiner citing Rasmussen Reports data on the growing gulf between the Political Class and most Americans.

In his book, Rasmussen notes, “Following Barack Obama’s election, Democrats and liberals believed that voters were looking to be governed from the left side of the political center. The only question for Democrats was how far left the center had moved.

“Republicans and conservatives vehemently disagreed and claimed that the U.S. was still a center-right nation. Especially after the votes were counted in November, 2009, they debated whether Americans wanted to be governed from the center or by conservative values.

“Both perspectives are wrong. The American people don’t want to be governed from the left, the right, or the center.

“The American people want to govern themselves.

“In fact, they have been governing themselves for hundreds of years, continue to do so today, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

“That’s true regardless of whether Republicans or Democrats are running the show in Washington, DC."