Americans think 51% of every tax dollar is wasted http://t.co/HKnyEvyqxm pic.twitter.com/vmH8UyYgHQ

— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 19, 2014

What to make of that poll?

For starters, people began seeing more and more waste at the federal level during the Bush administration (rising from about 45% to 50%, but it’s held steady under the Obama Administration (bouncing between 50 and 51%).

In other words, the concern has pretty much peaked. But what could possibly account for all the “waste” that people are so concerned with? A huge new bureaucracy that largely came into existence after 2001 might have something to do with it - DHS. Or actual waste revealed during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the tune of tens of billions of dollars.

Or it’s the GOP playing up waste and inefficiency, but despite all those claims during the current administration, the numbers haven’t budged.

Guess which one with the GOP will likely play up.