Thursday, May 15, 2014

Fox News Poll: Trust in government down 44 percent among GOP in last decade


When it comes to Washington controversies, most American voters think Benghazi, the IRS and the government’s electronic surveillance program are serious matters. A Fox News poll also finds that less than four in 10 voters trust the federal government.
The new poll, released Thursday, finds 37 percent of voters answer “yes” when asked: “would you say you generally trust the federal government?” Six in 10 say they don’t trust the government, down a touch from a high of 62 percent (June 2013 and July 2011).
CLICK HERE TO READ THE POLL RESULTS
One thing that is sure to erode trust is a scandal, and 78 percent of voters consider the Obama administration’s handling of the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi a serious matter, including 52 percent who say “very serious.” Just over half (53 percent) see government surveillance of everyday Americans as “very serious” and 44 percent feel that way about the IRS targeting conservative groups.
Partisanship also shapes views on trustworthiness. In 2002, the first time this question was asked on a Fox News poll, 47 percent of Democrats said yes, they trust the government. That increased to 53 percent in February 2009, about a month after President Obama was inaugurated, and it stands at 55 percent in the new poll. The trend is reversed and more dramatic among Republicans: 63 percent trusted the government in 2002, while 32 percent felt that way in 2009 and just 19 percent trust Uncle Sam today.
For independents, trust was 53 percent in 2002, 35 percent in 2009 and 31 percent now.
In all, that’s an increase in trust of eight percentage points among Democrats from the days of the George W. Bush administration, and a decrease of 44 points among Republicans and 22 points among independents.
Only about a quarter of voters think the Obama administration has lived up to the promise of being the most transparent White House in history.
About a third of voters think the Obama administration has been less open and transparent than previous administrations (34 percent). That’s up nine points since early in Obama’s presidency when 25 percent felt that way (August 2010).
The poll finds 27 percent of voters agree with the president that this White House is more open than others, down from a high of 32 percent (2010 and 2012). Comparing sentiment today to that early in the Obama administration, the decline in those saying this White House is more open than others comes mostly from Democrats (-10 points) and independents (-11 points).
Overall, the largest number of voters -- 38 percent -- believes the transparency of the Obama White House is about the same as previous administrations. And 40 percent felt that way in 2010.
The Fox News poll is based on landline and cell phone interviews with 1,025 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from May 10, 12-13, 2014. The full poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

'DANGED IF I KNOW' Rice seems to scoff at Benghazi probe question




National Security Adviser Susan Rice, at a foreign policy lunch on Wednesday, seemed to scoff at a question on whether a select committee investigation on Benghazi would reveal new evidence.
"Danged if I know," Rice said, to audience laughter. "I mean honestly, the administration has produced, I think, 25,000 pages of documents. ... It's hard to imagine what further will come of yet another committee. What I think about and focus on as the national security adviser is what we must do with Congress to increase our security of our embassies and facilities around the world."
She was addressing the decision last week by the House to establish a select committee investigation. Rice on Wednesday steered away from the issue of her national TV appearances in 2012 in which she wrongly linked an anti-Islam video to the terrorist attack.
"What is lost in all of this discussion about Sunday shows and talking points is that we lost four brave Americans on that day, " Rice said.
Without referring directly to the Benghazi attack, and the recent appointment of the congressional select committee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also discussed foreign policy on Wednesday before the American Jewish Committee, a Jewish advocacy group. She said making policy is a balancing act.
"There are always choices that we later regret, consequences we do not foresee, alternative paths we wish we had taken but hopefully we get it more right than wrong," she said.  
At a separate event, Bill Clinton offered a strong defense of his wife: "In my opinion, Hillary did what she should have done."
But the former president didn't mention that the State Department Benghazi investigation -- led by retired Adm. Mike Mullen and former U.S. diplomat Thomas Pickering -- never interviewed Mrs. Clinton.
"They looked into what was wrong," Bill Clinton explained. "They gave 29 recommendations. She took 'em and started implementing them. "
Despite the growing threat in Benghazi, well-documented by the U.S. intelligence community, the former president suggested little could have been done to prevent the attack. "No one had advance notice that this would happen as nearly as I can tell, so I just think we should let the report speak for itself."
In an interview with the Fusion cable network, current CIA director John Brennan seemed to choose his words carefully.
"Finally on Benghazi, did you know, director, from the beginning that it was a terrorist attack?" anchor Jorge Ramos asked.
"You know, in the heat of an event such as Benghazi, there are a lot of different bits and pieces of information that you try to piece together. I think clearly, early on it was seen as an assault, and it was seen as a very dangerous one that was putting the lives of our diplomats at risk,"  Brennan said. 
"So whether or not you call it a terrorist attack or an assault or a violent confrontation that unfortunately led to the death of four Americans, it is something that we need to make sure that we are able to get to the bottom of and as you say, bring the people responsible for that to justice. it."
Catherine Herridge is an award-winning Chief Intelligence correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC) based in Washington, D.C. She covers intelligence, the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security. Herridge joined FNC in 1996 as a London-based correspondent.

Shinseki faces bipartisan criticism during Hill hearing on vet health care scandal



Lawmakers accused Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki of failing to act on repeated warnings about problems with the veterans health care system, as the embattled secretary vowed to take "all actions necessary" to fix the problems during a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill. 
"Any allegation, any adverse incident like this makes me mad as hell," Shinseki said Thursday. 
He addressed lawmakers in his first testimony on Capitol Hill since allegations that delayed health care led to patient deaths were made public. Early in the hearing, he faced heated bipartisan criticism that his department is falling down on its vital obligation to care for America's veterans. 
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. -- who represents the state where the scandal broke -- said the problems have created a "crisis of confidence." 
"We should all be ashamed," said McCain, a Vietnam veteran. 
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., who has called for the secretary's resignation, accused Shinseki of being in "damage control" and not taking the action that is necessary to correct the system. 
The scandal at the Phoenix division involved an off-the-books list allegedly kept to conceal long wait times as up to 40 veterans died waiting to get an appointment. Officials were accused of cooking the books to hide the fact that veterans were waiting more than 14 days, the target window. 
VA facilities in South Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Washington state have also been linked to delays in patient care or poor oversight. An internal probe of a Colorado clinic found that staff had been instructed to falsify records to cover up delayed care at a Fort Collins facility. 
Shinseki has urged officials to wait until an inspector general report is completed, as he orders a separate review, but lawmakers voiced concern that this would only lead to further delays. 
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., called the allegations "deeply disturbing." "We need more than good intentions," she said, calling for "decisive action." 
A top Republican also questioned when senior leaders at the Department of Veterans Affairs learned that lower-level workers were "manipulating wait times" for veterans' health care. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., ranking Republican on the panel, said that the allegations have been surfacing for a while, and information on the problems was available to the secretary a year and a half ago. 
"Why were the national audits and statements of concern from the VA only made this month?" he asked, adding that the delayed health care has resulted in "patient harm and patient death." 
Shinseki's testimony is the first since the burgeoning scandal broke on allegedly deadly health care delays in the VA system. He is facing calls for his resignation as well as demands that the VA immediately improve the way it treats America's vets. 
Shinseki said the controversy "saddens" him. In his written statement, he said the department "must do better." 
Under questioning from senators, Shinseki still defended the overall management of the VA, calling it a "good system" and claiming that cases where workers were manipulating wait times "isolated." 
Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in his opening statement, urged Shinseki's critics to wait until more details are known, acknowledging the VA health care system has "serious problems" but questioning whether it even has enough resources. 
"There has been a little bit of a rush to judgment," he said. 
Meanwhile, the chief watchdog for the VA will testify Thursday that it must immediately focus on delivering quality health care in order to save lives.
In prepared remarks obtained by Fox News from a congressional source, VA’s acting Inspector General Richard J. Griffin said: “The unexpected deaths that the OIG continues to report on at VA facilities could be avoided if VA would focus first on its core mission to deliver quality health care.” 
The two officials, along with representatives from a host of veteran advocacy groups -- including The American Legion, which has called for Shinseki's resignation -- were testifying before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. The scandal started with allegations of patient deaths due to long wait times at a Phoenix VA medical center, but new reports are emerging almost daily of problems elsewhere. 
Shinseki stresses that he has already placed three employees at the Phoenix VA center on leave over the allegations that as many as 40 veterans may have died because of delayed treatment at that hospital. Further, he ordered an inspector general investigation into the matter and a nationwide review into scheduling policy.
Griffin is expected to cite deep flaws in the organizational structure of the VA that need to be fixed. In his prepared remarks, Griffin cites seven recent reports that demonstrate problems hindering the VA’s ability to provide quality health care coverage.
Examples include a September 2013 report on a VA hospital in Columbia, S.C., which found thousands of patients had their appointments for colon cancer screenings delayed. He says it found that more than 50 patients had a delayed diagnosis of colon cancer, and some later died. Another report from October 2013 discusses a facility in Memphis, Tenn., where three patients died due to improper emergency room care.
Griffin will say a review of these and other examples concluded that the VA needs to improve its system for implementing standards nationwide, saying the VA has become a network of hospitals that differ greatly from each other while attempting to accomplish the same goal.
“It is difficult to implement national directives when there are no standard position descriptions or areas of responsibility across the system,” Griffin plans to say.
Griffin says it is time for the VA to conduct a review of its systems to determine if there are changes that can be made to improve.
In discussing the current state of VA health care, Shinseki cites numerous examples of ways he says the VA has improved care over the past five years, including improving and expanding care access, working to end veteran homelessness and improving access to mental health services. He says the VA is actively working to improve patient wait times. 
The White House has stood behind Shinseki amid calls for him to resign. President Obama announced Wednesday he is assigning his close adviser Rob Nabors to the VA to work on a review focused on policies for patient safety rules and the scheduling of patient appointments.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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