With the health care debate raging in Washington, D.C., there’s one change Americans clearly believe in: Members of Congress have now surpassed corporate CEOs to hold the least favorably regarded profession in the country.
A new government report concludes that taxpayers are unlikely ever to be repaid for much of the bailout money already given to General Motors, but 57% of Americans believe it’s likely the government will have to provide even more bailout funding to keep GM in business. That figure includes 23% who say an additional funding request is very likely.
President Obama in a speech on Wall Street this week repeated his call for greater oversight of the U.S. financial system, but opposition to more government regulation in that area of the economy has now risen to 53%.
Both consumers and investors are less confident about the economy than they were a year ago when the Lehman Brothers financial firm collapsed and Wall Street's woes became front-page news.
General Motors is now promising a 60-day money-back guarantee to all purchasers of its cars and trucks, and 14% of Americans say they are more likely to buy a GM vehicle because of it.
Forty-five percent (45%) of Americans believe that labor unions make our country weaker, while just 26% say unions make the nation stronger.
Economic confidence among small business owners jumped to its highest level in 18 months in August as more owners expressed faith that the U.S. economy is on the rise and gave signs that they are more willing to invest in advertising and new inventory, according to the latest Discover (R) Small Business Watch (SM). The index rose to 89.8, up 7.7 points from July and the highest level since 90.9 in February 2008.
Sixty percent (60%) of likely voters now say tax increases hurt the economy, up six points from last month. While this is the highest total measured in over a year, the result has remained fairly consistent for over a decade.
Despite their reservations about the government bailout of the financial industry, Americans are clearly less worried about their own money in the bank.
Sixty-two percent (62%) of Americans say it’s always better to cut taxes than increase government spending because taxpayers, not bureaucrats, are the best judges of how to spend their own money.
New government data suggests the housing market may be slowly beginning to revive, but for most Americans, short-term and long-term views of that market remain basically unchanged.
A government job looks less attractive to Americans than it did at the beginning of the year, but it remains the top employment choice in today’s economic environment.
Nearly eight-of-10 American adults (79%) know someone who is out of work and looking for a job. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that only 14% do not know an unemployed person looking for work.
Thirty-five percent (35%) of American adults say the federal "cash for clunkers" program was good for the U.S. economy. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 23% say the program hurt the economy, and 27% say it had no impact. Another 15% are not sure.
Confidence in the $787-billion economic stimulus plan proposed by President Obama and passed by Congress in February has rebounded a bit this month.
Eighty-two percent (82%) of Americans believe their bank account information is at least somewhat secure online, which helps to explain why an increasing number of people are sending personal financial information over the Internet for banking and shopping transactions.
Just six percent (6%) of voters nationwide now expect their own taxes to go down during the Obama years. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 42% expect their taxes to go up while 40% expect little change. Another 12% are not sure.
As General Motors experiments with selling new cars on E-Bay, 20% of American adults say they would buy a new car online. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 68% would not.
Members of Congress have expressed concern that economic stimulus funds are not being properly directed to major infrastructure projects, and it seems most Americans also lack confidence that the money will be correctly used.
Fifty-four percent (54%) of U.S. voters say tax cuts for the middle class are more important than new spending for health care reform, even as President Obama’s top economic advisers signal that tax hikes may be necessary.
