A New Low for Trust Numbers

How many Americans trust the federal government to do the right thing? About one in 10, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll.

The survey found that an almost unfathomable 89 percent of Americans say they distrust government to do the right thing. Almost three fourths say the country is on the wrong track and 84 percent disapprove of Congress. President Obama's approval rating stands at 46 percent.

Those are dangerously low numbers. First and foremost, they are a reflection of the country's lousy and stagnant economic condition. The distrust is aimed mostly in the direction of politicians on both sides of the aisle.

But the poll results have major implications for the people who work in government, too. Members of the political class will work overtime to make "bureaucrats" the scapegoats for much of what the public perceives as the failures of government. Career officials will have fewer defenders, and support for the work they do in the form of budget and personnel resources will become harder and harder to come by.

Unless something changes dramatically in the country's economic and political condition, very dark days are ahead.