Ian Donnis tweeted, in October, some poll results from the University of Rhode Island that raise an perennially interesting point:

Note that “most respondents favor increased state-level spending on education, housing, infrastructure, and aid to the poor.  73% want government “investment” in “blue economy initiatives like offshore wind.”  Yet, those with “a great deal” or “a lot” of trust in government range only from 10% for the feds to 14% for the locals, with state government at 11%.

Why do people want to give filter more money and power through a government that they don’t trust? I’d say it’s evidence that our education system is not teaching critical thinking, at the same time our culture is depriving people of the opportunity to develop common sense.  Meanwhile, the news media won’t allow progressive policies to become the subject of scandal, so the public is simply misinformed.