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Polling The Electorate

      Much to no one’s surprise, a front page story yesterday proclaimed “No Faith In Government.” The latest Pew Research Poll shows that Americans’ faith in government at all levels is at its lowest point in the last half-century. The March poll indicated that only 22% of Americans trust the Federal Government, compared to lows of 29% during the administrations of Jimmie Carter and Bill Clinton. Only 12% of Republicans trust the government, and although their party is presently in office, only 33% of Democrats trust the government.
      52% think the political system is just fine; it’s the politicians, particularly members of Congress, who are receiving most of the blame for the poor numbers.
      People’s reasons for their feelings vary; when questioned, one tea party member said, “Politicians make promises to get elected, and when they get elected, they don’t follow through.” But this is not new – politicians have been lying ever since the beginning of the republic.
      A majority of voters say the government has grown too big. Although many want a smaller government, 50% say that present services should be maintained.
      Several events seem to be contributing to the current voter dissatisfaction:
1) The recent plunge in satisfaction started during the financial crisis in 2008; voters felt that the government had not handled it well.

2) The usual dissatisfaction of the party not in office has been whipped to new frenzies by conservative talk-radio hosts.

3) The poll showed that Independents at this time have moved further to the right than they have in the past.

4) Bit the biggest factor has been widespread anger over the actions or inactions of members of Congress.
      Normally elections occurring in the middle of a presidential election favor the party not in power. Because of the strong emotions at this time, things look even more grim than usual for the Democrats.
      But things are not always as they appear. Although many disgruntled members of the tea party are Republicans, not all the aims of the movement coincide with those of the Republican party; as a result, it is possible that there may be a defection in the Republican party’s ranks. If they vote against the incumbents, or don’t vote at all, all bets on the outcome of the election are off.
      I predict that the Republican party will gain some strength in the forthcoming election, but not as much as they are hoping for.
      Time will tell. As someone, perhaps Yogi Berra, said, “Predicting is hard, especially about the future.”
******
      Without the introduction of seeds, all the nutrients, sunshine, water, etc., would remain dormant forever. And . . . without the nutrients the seeds would just remain seeds forever.
      This begs the question: why should there be an interaction? Why do not seeds just remain seeds, nitrogen just remains nitrogen . . . water just remains water, etc.? What invisible creative action causes these apparently unrelated entities to transcend and transform themselves into producing something that is more than just the sum of its parts: a brand new plant? Some invisible creative activity must be at work.
      Introduction – The Spirit Runs Through It

      To read more excerpts from the book, click here
      Also available on Kindle

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