Survey: 77% of Americans don’t trust politicians

The report also revealed that:

64% of Americans believe that corporate misconduct was a significant factor in bringing about the current economic crisis;
81% of Americans do not believe the government has done enough to stop corporate wrongdoing;
61% of Americans will significantly factor a candidate’s commitment to rooting out corporate wrongdoing in their voting decision in November;
63% of Americans believe government should allocate more dollars to financial regulators and law enforcement to combat corporate wrongdoing;
84% of Americans have a positive perception of whistleblowers that report illegal or unethical conduct;
The survey was conducted by market research company, ORC International, for the U.S. law firm Labaton Sucharow LLP and polled 1,015 people between the 16th and 19th of August.

The 77% of Americans who believe politicians have more interest in corporate interests do so with good reason, as corporate donations frequently run into the millions – on both sides of the coin.

Both parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, benefit from obscene corporate donations.

Take Goldman Sachs for example, which donated over $39 million since 1989, and holds the record for the most contributions during any single political campaign, breaking the record twice; in 2004 and 2008.

That’s money well spent, as the company received billions of dollars from taxpayers to help it survive the economic crisis, not to mention the amount of high ranking government officials who’ve worked for the company, including the Gregory Craig, who was appointed as White House Counsel.

Can anybody else see something very wrong with this picture?

With information about sordid corporate / government relationships now reaching the mainstream, it’s no wonder that so many people feel distrustful and let down by politicians.

Of course corporate interest in politics is nothing new. In 1905 President Theodore Roosevelt successfully, albeit temporarily, banned corporate contributions, famously stating; “All contributions by corporations to any political committee or for any political purpose should be forbidden by law.”