[PEN-L:28134] big biz vs. big govt

["Devine, James" <jdevine@xxxxxxx>]

Title: big biz vs. big govt

Hot off the laser-printer, the newest edition of LEFT BUSINESS OBSERVER shows an interesting graph: in recent decades, the Gallup poll shows that (I assume) US citizens have steadily seen "big government" as the biggest threat (reaching about 65% a couple of years ago), with those seeing "big business" as the biggest threat staying at about 20%. The percentage seeing "big labor" as the threat has slowly declined, along with labor's power and influence.

What's interesting is that the percentage seeing big government as the biggest threat fell significantly during the last two years (going back to a level seen in about 1985. Simultaneously, the percent seeing big biz as the big threat jumped upward.

Should progressives see this as a good thing? or should we remember that big biz and big gummint are usually in bed together? 

Jim Devine jdevine@xxxxxxx &  http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine