Fox News Poll: Government is broken!

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Congress rolls out massive government funding bill

Doug McKelway reports from Washington, D.C.

“It’s broken.”  That’s how American voters feel about the federal government these days.

The latest Fox News poll finds 66 percent feel that way, about the same as last year.  Over the last five years, this sentiment has been as low as 58 percent in 2010 and as high as 71 percent in 2013.

Another 25 percent says Uncle Sam’s performance is “just okay.”  Only seven percent describe the government as functioning “pretty well.”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE POLL RESULTS

The “broken” appraisal is found among most groups:  majorities of men (70 percent) and women (63 percent) feel that way, as do those living in lower (63 percent) and higher (70 percent) income households -- as well as voters of all ages.

Republicans (80 percent) and independents (75 percent) are among those most likely to think Washington needs to be fixed.  That sentiment is up six and five percentage points, respectively, since December 2014.

Democrats have mostly held steady since last year, with just over half (51 percent) saying the government is broken.  Another 34 percent of Democrats think the government is “just okay.”  The biggest change comes in the “pretty well” department with 13 percent saying so -- that’s up six points since last year.

Despite the overall feeling that Washington is broken, a 56-percent majority of voters says 2015 was a good year for them and their family.  Democrats (68 percent) are more likely than Republicans (45 percent) to feel that way.

The Fox News poll is based on landline and cellphone interviews with 1,013 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from December 16-17, 2015. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for all registered voters.