18% Think Every Great Idea in U.S. History Needed Government Help

Vice President Joe Biden made clear at a Democratic fundraiser last week that he thinks government has been the engine behind America’s progress. “Every single great idea that has marked the 21st century, the 20th century and the 19th century has required government vision and government incentive,” he declared.

But a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that most Likely U.S. Voters have a different take: Just 18% agree with Biden that every great idea in American history required government vision and government incentive.

Sixty-four percent (64%) disagree that government was essential, while another 18% are not sure.  (To see survey question wording, click here.)

In fact, most voters agree with the late President Reagan that “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”

Americans have consistently in surveys for years expressed reservations about too much government involvement in most aspects of their lives, from managing troubled auto companies to nationalizing health care.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely U.S. Voters was conducted on October 28-29, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.