Fox News poll: Founding Fathers would be frowning this Fourth of July: As Independence Day approaches, most Americans think the Founding Fathers would have had a sad celebration this year. A Fox News poll asks voters what the Founding Fathers would think of Washington these days: Fully 82 percent think they would be unhappy with how things are going there. That includes 96 percent of those who identify with the Tea Party movement, 95 percent of Republicans, 88 percent of independents and 68 percent of Democrats. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...g-fathers-would-be-frowning-this-fourth-july/
I don't think they'd be happy either - though it concerns me a bit that the Fox News poll did not include any stats on why respondents answered as they did, and also whether they think the Founding Founders' hypothetical opinions on the government today are important. The thread isn't seeing as much activity as I expected so maybe it'd be interesting to add our own input on the questions. Personally, I would have replied to the questions as follows: 1Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing as president? 1A. Disapprove 2Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Congress is doing? 2A. Approve 3Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing on the economy? 3A. Disapprove 4Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing on the federal deficit? 4A. Disapprove 5Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing on foreign policy? 5A. Disapprove 6Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing on gun control? 6A. Approve 7Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing on health care? 7A. Disapprove 8Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing on immigration? 8A. Approve 9Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing on terrorism? 9A. Disapprove 10Q. Do you approve or disapprove of how Barack Obama is handling the governments classified surveillance program that collects the phone and Internet records of U.S. citizens? 10A. Disapprove 11Q. Do you approve or disapprove of how Barack Obama is handling the situation surrounding the IRS targeting of conservative groups? 11A. Don't know 12Q. Please tell me whether you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of Hillary Clinton? 1A. Favorable 13Q. Please tell me whether you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of Barack Obama? 13A. Favorable 14Q. Please tell me whether you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of Chris Christie? 14A. Favorable 15Q. Please tell me whether you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of Joe Biden? 15A. Favorable 16Q. Please tell me whether you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of Rand Paul? 16A. Unfavorable 17Q. Please tell me whether you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of Jeb Bush? 17A. Can't Say 18Q. Please tell me whether you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of Marco Rubio? 18A. Unfavorable 19Q. Please tell me whether you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of Andrew Cuomo? 19A. Can't say 20Q. Overall, would you say you generally trust the federal government, or not? 20A. Yes 21Q. Do you think the government in Washington has too much power, or not? 21A. Too much 22Q. Do you think the Founding Fathers would approve or disapprove of how things are going in Washington these days? 22A. Disapprove 23Q. Do you believe the United States would be a better country if we followed the ideas of the Founding Fathers and the Constitution more closely -- or not? 23A. No 24Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the Obama administrations decision to start sending military aid such as small arms and anti-tank weapons directly to the anti-government rebels in Syria? 24A. Approve 25Q. How involved do you think the United States should get in Syria? Should the United States: 1. Provide weapons directly to the anti-government rebels, 2. Go back to providing only humanitarian aid and other non-military assistance, 3. Get out of the conflict completely 4. Put U.S. troops on the ground, 5. Dont know 25A. Arm rebels 26Q. Thinking about the National Security Agencys surveillance program that collects the phone and Internet records of millions of Americans -- do think the governments surveillance of U.S. citizens is more likely: To help catch terrorists and protect Americans from future attacks, or to hurt law-abiding Americans by using private information improperly. 26A. To hurt law-abiding Americans 27Q. How concerned are you that the government is using surveillance and monitoring technologies to get private information about you? 27A. Somewhat concerned 28Q. How concerned are you that private companies are using surveillance and monitoring technologies to get private information about you? 28A. Somewhat concerned 29Q. Do you personally think the government is listening to your phone conversations? 29A. No 30Q. Do you personally think the government is reading your emails? 30A. No 31Q. Which of the following best describes the former government contractor who leaked the classified information on the National Security Agencys surveillance program that collects the phone and Internet records of millions of Americans -- is he a hero, a misguided criminal, or was he a spy for China? 31A. Hero 32Q. The Internal Revenue Service admitted it targeted Tea Party and conservative groups for extra scrutiny. How concerned are you that the governments surveillance program designed to track terrorists using phone and Internet records will be used in the same way to target specific groups and individuals that may disagree with an administrations policies? 32A. Somewhat concerned 33Q. If private Internet companies cooperate with the government and, as a result, damaging information is released about individual Americans, do you think the private companies should -- or should not -- be prosecuted and held legally responsible? 33A. Should 34Q. On the night of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya that killed four Americans, do you think President Obama should have ordered a military response to help the Americans at the consulate there, or not? 34A. No 35Q. Should Congress continue to investigate: The IRS targeting of hundreds of conservative and Tea Party groups for special scrutiny? 35A. Don't know 36Q. Should Congress continue to investigate: The Justice Department monitoring of certain journalists as part of its leak investigations? 36A. Yes 37Q. Should Congress continue to investigate: The Obama administrations handling of the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya that resulted in the deaths of four Americans? 37A. No 38Q. Should Congress continue to investigate: The governments National Security Agency collecting the phone and Internet records of millions of Americans under a classified surveillance program? 38A. Yes 39Q. Has the IRS targeting of hundreds of conservative and Tea Party groups for special scrutiny weakened your faith in the federal government, or not? 39A. No 40Q. Has the Justice Department monitoring of certain journalists as part of its leak investigations weakened your faith in the federal government, or not? 40A. A little 41Q. Has the Obama administrations handling of the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya that resulted in the deaths of four Americans weakened your faith in the federal government, or not? 41A. No 42Q. Has the governments National Security Agency collecting the phone and Internet records of millions of Americans under a classified surveillance program weakened your faith in the federal government, or not? 42A. A little 43Q. Which one of the following comes closest to what you would like to see lawmakers do with the new health care law -- would you like lawmakers to repeal the law entirely, repeal parts of the law, expand the law, or leave it as is? 43A. Repeal parts o the law 44Q. Thinking about the new health care law, do you feel more reassured or worried about your personal health care in the future? 44A. Reassured 45Q. Under the new health care law, do you think your health care costs will increase, decrease or stay about the same? 45A. Stay the same 46Q. What kind of changes do you think should be made to the IRS?: 1. It should be abolished and a new agency should be built from scratch, 2. It needs major reorganizing, but shouldnt be abolished, 3. It only needs minor changes, 4. It doesnt need any changes at all, 5. Dont know 46A. Don't know 47Q. Which would you fear more -- a knock on your front door from the local police or the IRS? 47A. Neither POLITICAL IDENTIFICATION: When you think about politics, do you think of yourself as a Democrat or a Republican? 48A. Independent/Other
Very true. The Founding Fathers, George Washington in particular who owned slaves, would not be happy with todays' Independence Days. If George could see today's America, he wouldn't be happy with the knowledge that masters have become the slaves.
