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.
Fifty-four percent (54%) of Americans oppose any further funding for the federal “cash for clunkers” program which encourages the owners of older cars to trade them in for newer, more fuel-efficient ones.
Just 16% of U.S. voters believe that tax increases help the economy. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds most voters (54%) say tax increases hurt the economy, a number that has been fairly consistent for more than a decade. Fourteen percent (14%) say tax increases have no impact, and 16% are not sure.
A Rasmussen Reports survey conducted in mid-June showed that 17% of Americans were Very Likely to take advantage of the “Cash for Clunkers” program. Another 18% said they were Somewhat Like to do so.
So much for the ongoing secrecy of the nation’s independent central banking system. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 75% of Americans favor auditing the Federal Reserve and making the results available to the public.
Fifty-four percent (54%) of Americans now say interest rates will be higher a year from now, a 20-point jump from April.
Confidence in the U.S. banking system has fallen again despite billions in federal bailout funds and record profits being declared by two of Wall Street’s top financial firms.
Most Americans still have a much higher opinion of the one Big Three automaker who didn’t ask for a government bailout, while views of the two companies that did get bailed out continue to go down.
Public opposition to the auto bailouts may translating into consumer buying decisions, with 46% of Americans now saying they are more likely to buy a car from Ford because it did not take government money to stay in business.
Confidence in the $787-billion economic stimulus plan proposed by President Obama and passed by Congress in February continues to fall.
Six percent (6%) of American workers expect to have a new employer within a year. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 17% expect to work for the same company for more than a year, but less than five. A plurality, 44% of workers, expect to have the same employer for more than five years.
After a brief burst of optimism in the spring, job confidence has fallen back to first-of-the-year levels.
Eighty percent (80%) of Americans now say Wall Street benefited more from the bailout of the financial industry than the average U.S. taxpayer.
Homeowners are slightly more pessimistic about the housing market in the short term, but expectations for full recovery in five years are holding relatively steady.
Forty-eight percent (48%) of Americans have at least a somewhat favorable opinion of labor unions, while 42% view them at least somewhat unfavorably.
Americans are slightly more confident that the economy will be better one year from today, while hopes for its long-term recovery hold steady.
Thirty percent (30%) of Americans say it is fair to form a union without having a secret ballot vote if a majority of a company’s workers sign a card saying they want to unionize.
Seventy-one percent (71%) of Americans say the U.S. housing market will only improve when the overall economy gets better, an eight-point increase from February when President Obama first announced his $275-billion national mortgage assistance plan.
President Obama is expanding his original federal mortgage assistance program to let more people participate, but 43% of Americans say the program should be ended instead.
