# 86% of Voters Support the Founding Principles, 2/3rds Say We're not  Living Up to Them | The State

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-center-square-daily-6742680/86-of-voters-support-the-founding-principles-2-3rds-say-we-re-not-living-up-to-them-the-state
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-center-square-daily-6742680/86-of-voters-support-the-founding-principles-2-3rds-say-we-re-not-living-up-to-them-the-state.md
Podcast: [The States](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-center-square-daily-6742680)
Published: 2026-07-02T20:32:33+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/americas-talking-network4
Audio file: https://afp-444292-injected.calisto.simplecastaudio.com/8b02661e-96f3-4975-81b1-e2aa11528098/episodes/ac3c2907-588d-4d6a-9a37-9969ba3616fe/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=8b02661e-96f3-4975-81b1-e2aa11528098&awEpisodeId=ac3c2907-588d-4d6a-9a37-9969ba3616fe&feed=yyj8m_Dh
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-center-square-daily-6742680/episodes/86-of-voters-support-the-founding-principles-2-3rds-say-we-re-not-living-up-to-them-the-state
Duration seconds: 2861

## Resource

We mark America's 250th birthday with a look at the Declaration of Independence's origins, the economics of the 4th of July, state independence rankings, and a new poll on how Americans view the country's founding principles today. Hillsdale College professor Richard Samuelson breaks down what really drove the Declaration of Independence — it wasn't just about tea taxes, but the fight for self-government. Samuelson also connects liberty to responsibility and makes the case for federalism, noting that freedom comes with the risk of failure. A new Center Square/Noble Predictive Insights poll finds 86% of voters across party and demographic lines support America's founding principles — but nearly two-thirds say the country isn't living up to them, with broad agreement across party lines. Also in this episode: Ph.D. Economist Orphe Divounguy breaks down the cost of Independence Day and how your barbeque is being impacted by inflation. WalletHub ranks the most and least independent states for 2026: Idaho, Utah, and Hawaii come out on top for financial and social self-reliance, while Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi land at the bottom. The Supreme Court agrees to hear challenges to Illinois' and Connecticut's assault weapons bans, setting up a major Second Amendment fight, while the DOJ sues California and Virginia over new gun restrictions targeting Glocks and semi-automatic rifles. Pennsylvania blows through its budget deadline for the fifth year running, passing a university funding bill amid a $6 billion gap still unresolved. Georgia's new law puts school speed camera programs to a local vote, requiring referendums and adding limits on when and how tickets can be issued. The Trump administration's America250 civics push aims to boost historical literacy as new data s…

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-center-square-daily-6742680/episodes/86-of-voters-support-the-founding-principles-2-3rds-say-we-re-not-living-up-to-them-the-state/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-center-square-daily-6742680/86-of-voters-support-the-founding-principles-2-3rds-say-we-re-not-living-up-to-them-the-state.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.