CNN Poll Government Threat: Majority says government a threat to citizens' rights

Have you noticed that polls are a lot more interesting these days? That's because pertinent questions are being asked. A new CNN/Opinion Research poll says a majority of Americans believe our government is a threat to citizens' rights.

Fifty-six percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday say they think the federal government's become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens. 

Forty-four percent of those polled disagree.

The survey indicates a partisan divide on the question: only 37 percent of Democrats, 63 percent of Independents and nearly 7 in 10 Republicans say the federal government poses a threat to the rights of Americans.

A separate CNN poll released Sunday says Americans overwhelmingly think that the U.S. government is broken.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted February 12-15, with 1,023 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the overall survey.