By Covering Business March 15, 2012
The national debate over whether to raise the federal debt limit last year highlighted the extent to which the country does not approve of how the government spends its resources.
A Gallup poll taken shortly after the debt ceiling was raised suggests that, on average, Americans believe that the government wastes 51 cents of every dollar it spends, up from 50 cents in 2009, and the most since Gallup first asked the question in 1979.
Conservatives were more critical of federal spending. They said the federal government wasted 56 cents on the dollar. Liberals said it wasted 44 cents. The party divide was similar, and more educated respondents reported the government wasted less.
The poll also points to greater disapproval with federal spending than with state and local spending. Respondents said that state governments waste 42 cents of every dollar they spend and local governments waste 38 cents.
Read the full report here.
