Four Out of Five Americans Distrust Gov’t

Here’s a dose of pessimism for your Monday afternoon: Four out of five Americans don’t trust the federal government and have little faith Washington will solve the country’s problems, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center. The poll results bring public confidence to one of the lowest points in half a century and illustrate the struggle President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party face not only to fix America’s woes, but also gain their trust. Twenty-two percent said they can trust Washington, 19 percent said they were content with it, but nearly half said the government negatively affects their day to day lives. The public, however, is split between whether the government should take charge and deal with critical problems, or be scaled back for less regulation, making the road to gaining trust divided.