Power

"Half of Americans say there is too much government regulation of business and industry, by one percentage point the highest in Gallup's history of asking this question, dating to 1993. Americans were least likely to say the government regulated business too much in February of 2002, just months after 9/11 and at a time when President Bush and Congress were involved in efforts to combat terrorism and had high approval ratings. The "too much regulation" attitude held in the 30% range for most of the rest of the last decade, but jumped after President Obama took office in 2009." - Frank Newport (Gallup Politics)

This passage tackles the American population's view on government regulation of business. According to the poll conducted by Gallup half of the population believes there is too much government involvement in relation to the regulation of business. In comparison to previous polling done specifically in February of 2002 shortly after the attacks on 9/11,  Americans were least likely to believe the government was too involved in business. In fact President Bush had high approval ratings and along with Congress was extremely occupied with fighting terrorism. Opinions about too much business regulation remained in the 30% range but has increased greatly since Obama became president.

I chose this passage because I find it to be highly intriguing for a number of reasons, the first being that the American population seems most untied and on board with government decisions during times of war. Strong opinions for or against the regulation of business don't formulate until times of relative peace, or in this case until there is a change in leadership. It is also important to keep in mind that opinions shift according to which political party is in office. Mainly negative opinions arise about a Democratic president on behalf of Republicans and vice versa. However another interesting point is that even during the times of war I felt that there was not enough regulation of business and industry. Large corporations always have and will continue to receive tax breaks, the buying out of small businesses and creation of huge chain stores (for example Walmart) occur on a daily basis. To me whether or not our country is at war does not affect my opinion, support and pride in one's country should not cloud the judgement of cold hard facts and it surprised me to see that the American population is easily distracted when more than one thing is taking place at a time. Disagreeing with government actions does not make someone unpatriotic or un-American in my opinion, if anything it makes you a assertive individual who pays attention to its government's actions. I believe that this is still an issue even though Obama is a democrat and in office, in the sense that many Americans believe that because of him business and industry is being too controlled. In the end it should be about the benefit of the country and its people as a whole, these two go hand in hand and instead of putting one ahead of the other both should be upheld.