According to the most recent data from Pew Research Center, National Election Studies, Gallup, ABC/The Washington Post, CBS/New York Times and CNN polls, only one-fifth of Americans say they trust the federal government to do what is right. The June 12 headline from a NBC News article sums it up: “Americans agree on one thing: DC isn’t getting the job done.”
Thanks to tainted social media, prejudice-laden cable news, biased left- and right-wing think tanks and the disinformation and misinformation provided by politicians and their parties, one can only surmise Americans are greatly divided.
The surprising reality is Democrats, Republicans and independents agree on more issues — about 150 — than they disagree.
Here are some examples:
Abortion: Sixty-one percent of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases (Pew Research Center, June 13).
Gender issues: Gallup notes in a 2022 report that 71% of Americans support marriage between people of the same sex.
Gun control: Background checks are favored by 89% of the public. Banning assault weapons has 63% support, while 64% want to ban high-capacity magazines and 60% want a nationwide database to track gun sales (ABC News, May 27).
Immigration: Sixty-two percent of Americans feel immigrants strengthen the country; a complete reversal of the position expressed in 1994 (Pew Research Center, Jan. 31, 2019).
Voting: Data for Progress reveals 66% of voters want to prevent state lawmakers from overturning elections, while 60% support universal vote-by-mail and a majority want to make it easier to vote (Sept. 24, 2021).
Health care: Providing Medicare for all Americans to ensure everyone has health care coverage garners 69% support (The Hill, Apr. 24, 2020).
Cannabis: NORML reveals from its Apr. 8 research that 69% of Americans support legalizing cannabis plus 60% favor expunging cannabis-related convictions.
Racial justice: Eighty-six percent of citizens agree that racism is a problem and 87% believe books that discuss race or slavery should never be banned (CBS News, Feb. 22).
Taxes: An Oct. 16, 2021, Vox article notes 71% of voters support raising taxes on the wealthiest 2% of Americans.
The Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland released an Aug. 7, 2020, report identifying nearly 150 issues on which the majority of Republicans and Democrats agree, including:
Social Security: Raising the cap on income subject to the payroll tax to $215,000 or more.
