According to Rasmussen, 47% of likely voters say they are more worried government will do “too much” in reacting to the nation’s economic problems; 44% are more worried government will do too little.
According to Ipsos/Reuters, 49% off Americans would prefer to extend all the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts; 31% would only extend the tax cuts for people earning less than $200,000; and 15% would allow all of the tax cuts to expire.
According to Rasmussen, 38% of likely voters say last year’s stimulus helped the economy. 36% now say it hurt the economy. 21% say it had no impact.
How do we tell Washington how we feel? We show them. We sifted through the top public opinion polls, compiled the results most representative of the nation, prettied them up, and set them to compelling music. We’re trying to get as many people as possible to send the video to Congress. Lawmakers must be shown what the nation thinks of them and their many years of policies that are bankrupting America. Watch the video now send it to your congressman.
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Just so you don’t think we’re cherry picking polls, here are the polls featured in the video and many more showing similar public opinion:
“6 out of 10 Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction – Reuters, July 2010”
FACTS:
According to a July Reuters Reuters poll 60% of Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction.
The RealClearPolitics average for recent polls (as of August 20) has 61.2% saying the country is headed in the wrong direction.
According to a Pollster.Com average (as of August 20), 57.9% of Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction.
“43% have a favorable view of the Democratic Party. 36% for the Republican Party. – Gallup, May 2010”
FACTS:
According to a Gallup survey in May, 36% of Americans have a favorable view of the Republican Party, down from 42% in March. 43% have a favorable view of the Democrats, up from 41% in March.
According to a June survey by NBC and The Wall Street Journal only 30% of Americans have a positive view of the Republican party. 42% have a negative view.
According to a July survey by Zogby, 37% of likely voters approve of the job Democrats in Congress are doing. Only 25% approve of the job Republicans are doing.
“Congress’s approval rating has been under 29% consistently for since 2005. — Gallup, 2005-2010”
FACTS:
Of the 60 polls taken by Gallup on Congressional approval since 2005, only 11 have Congressional approval above 29%.
“The same as OJ Simpson’s approval rating a year after his trial. – Gallup, 1995”
FACTS:
The Washington Post: “Three in 10 — 29 percent — of all Americans had a favorable view of Simpson in an October, 1995 Gallup poll.”
“Congress’s approval rating today…19% — Gallup, Aug 2010”
FACTS:
According to a Gallup poll taken August 5-8, only 19% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing.
According to a Pollster.Com average (as of August 20), 17.1% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing.
The current RealClearPolitics congressional approval average (as of August 20) is just slightly higher at 20.8%.
The most recent Economist poll (August 14-17) has Congressional approval at 11.4%.
“Nearly half of likely voters think a random selection of people from the phone book would do better than Congress. – Rasmussen, January 2010”
FACTS:
A January 2010 Rasmussen poll found 45% of Americans think random collection of people would do a better job addressing the nation’s problems than Congress.
That question was up 12 points from a survey taken by Rasmussen just 15 months earlier.
“86% of Americans say the system of government is broken. – CNN/Opinion Research Corp, February 2010”
FACTS:
According to a February CNN survey, 86% of Americans believe our system of government is broken.
According to a Fox News poll, 63% of registered voters believe the government is so big that it is hurting the country.
In July, the Economist also asked about voters’ trust in government. Only 11.6% of all registered voters trust government to do what is right “all” or “most” of the time. 80.6% of registered voters said the trust government only “some” of the time or never.
Americans are increasingly “angry” at government. According to a poll of adults by ABC News and The Washington Post in June only 2% are enthusiastic about the way government works; 28% are satisfied; 45% are dissatisfied; and 25% are angry.
“The two most important issues to Americans are: jobs [and] the budget deficit — Pew and the National Journal, July 2010”
FACTS:
In July, Pew and The National Journal asked voters how important certain issues are for Congress to tackle. 70% of adults said it was “very” important to tackle the budget deficit – the only issue that received a higher number was the jobs situation (80%).
Pew and The National Journal saw a dramatic shift over the last five months in the number of Americans that would make cutting the budget deficit a higher priority than spending more to stimulate the economy. In February, 47% said they would make cutting the deficit a priority — the same number said they would make spending more to stimulate the economy a priority. In a poll taken in mid-July 51% would give the budget deficit priority while only 40% would make stimulative spending priority.
In July Bloomberg asked adults what is the most important issue facing the country right now. 41% said unemployment/jobs; the deficit and government spending was second with 26%.
“Unemployment has nearly doubled since the end of 2007. — Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 2010”
FACTS:
According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment has increased from 5% in December 2007 to 9.5% in July 2010.
“53% think we’d be better off without the stimulus. — Time, July 2010”
FACTS:
According to Time, 53% of adults think the U.S. would be better off if the federal government had not spent the money. Only 38% said the country is better off with the stimulus.
Most Americans don’t believe the stimulus has helped the economy. In July, the Economist found only 28.9% of registered voters believed the stimulus had helped the economy; 51.9% of registered voters said it had not.
According to a July Fox News poll, 43% of registered voters believe the economy would be the same if the stimulus had not been passed.
According to a July poll by Rasmussen, 43% of likely voters believe the stimulus hurt the economy; 29% say it helped.
“67% oppose a new stimulus. — Time, July 2010”
FACTS:
Also according to Time, two-thirds of voters oppose a new stimulus.
“66% believe government wastes “a lot” of our tax dollars. — Center for American Progress, August 2010”
FACTS:
According to a July poll of adults by the Center for American Progress, 66% of Americans believe the federal government wastes “a lot” of what Americans pay in taxes.
“A majority believes we should [cut spending to stimulate the economy]. — Democracy Corps, June 2010
FACTS:
In June, Democracy Corps asked likely voters about the policies they thought would best stimulate the economy and create jobs. 50% agreed the best way to get the economy moving again and create jobs was to “cut” government spending and taxes.
According to Pew Research and The National Journal34% of Americans believe cutting the budget deficit would help the U.S. jobs situation “a lot”; 39% said it would help “a little.”
According to the Associated Press, 54% of adults are “very” worried about the effect the federal debt will have on their children’s and grandchildren’s financial future; 26% are “somewhat” worried; 10% are “not too” worried; and 9% are “not at all” worried.
Each week, the Economist asks Americans what they think is the most important issue facing the country.
According to the Associated Press, 45% said they would continue all of the tax cuts; 38% said they would continue only those for households earning less than $250,000 a year; and only 14% said they would let the all of the tax cuts expire.
Democracy Corps recently conducted a poll in which they asked the relative importance of cutting the budget deficit to economic growth: 51% of likely voters said reducing the budget deficit is so important to the nation’s future that we should consider “bold” spending cuts; 42% would focus on new spending to develop new skills and industries.
According to a Fox News poll, 63% of registered voters believe the government is so big that it is hurting the country. 32% (25% of Independents) said the size of the federal government was not hurting the country.
According to a poll by the Pew Research Center, 69% of registered voters say the budget deficit is “very” important to their vote this year. That’s behind the economy (90%), jobs (88%), health care (78%) and terrorism (71%) in terms of intensity.
According to a poll by the Center for American Progress, 66% of adults believe the federal government wastes “a lot” of what Americans pay in taxes.
Also according to the Center for American Progress, 56% of Americans believe they pay “too much” in taxes for what they get from the government. Only 41% said they don’t mind paying what they pay in taxes when they consider what they get.
The Pew Research Center asked adults what course Congress should take on the 2001 and 2003 tax laws. 30% said all of the tax laws should be extended (up from 25% in mid-October 2008); 27% said Congress should extend all but the tax cuts for the “wealthy” (down from 37% nearly two years ago); and 31% said Congress should let all of the 2001 and 2003 tax laws expire (up from 25% in mid-October 2008).
Pew and National Journal saw a dramatic shift over the last five months in the number of Americans who would make cutting the budget deficit a higher priority than spending more in attempt to stimulate the economy.
In February, 47% called cutting the budget deficit a priority; today, that number has risen to 51%. But while 47% also called attempting to stimulate the economy a priority back in February; today that number has fallen to just 40%.
Each week the Economist asks registered voters what they think is the most important issue facing Congress and federal policymakers. This week the economy ranks as the number one concern, health care is second, and social security is third.
