Forty-five percent (45%) of Americans say the rest of the new government spending authorized in the $787-billion economic stimulus plan should now be canceled. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 36% disagree and 20% are not sure.
Forty-one percent (41%) of Americans expect the quality of General Motors cars to get worse now that the federal government is the majority owner of the bankrupt automaker.
Wal-Mart’s still number one, and Costco has a way to go to catch up.
Only 42% of those who currently own a General Motors car are even somewhat likely to buy a GM product for their next car. That figure includes just 30% who are Very Likely to do so.
With two of the nation’s Big Three automakers in bankruptcy and the economy still a mess, Americans continue to view corporate chief executive officers as the lowest of the low.
Twenty-six percent (26%) of American adults believe it was a good idea for the federal government to take ownership of General Motors as the auto giant was on the verge of collapse. Nearly as many--17%--say that Americans should protest the bailout by boycotting GM and refusing to buy its cars. Most Americans are somewhere in between.
The Rasmussen Employment Index, a monthly measure of U.S. worker confidence in the employment market, rose for the third straight month in May.
General Motors for decades has been the symbol of U.S. industrial might. “What’s good for General Motors is good for the country” is a quotation that has lingered in the popular imagination since it was first said over 50 years ago. And the truth is, at its high point in 1962, GM had 51 percent of the car and truck market to itself.
Thirty-one percent (31%) of U.S. voters believe the economic stimulus package passed earlier this year has helped the economy. That's down from 34% who thought it would help in late February and 38% who held that view when it first passed earlier in the month.
Only 21% of voters nationwide support a plan for the government to bail out General Motors as part of a structured bankruptcy plan to keep the troubled auto giant in business.
Forty-two percent (42%) of Americans now say it will take more than three years for housing prices to recover. That’s up slightly from 40% a month ago.
To raise additional money for the government, just 18% of Americans nationwide favor a national sales tax. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 68% oppose such a tax.
President Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner both said this week that they see optimistic signs in the U.S. economy, but the short-term and long-term perspectives of most Americans remain unchanged over the past month.
With Chrysler in a government-supervised bankruptcy and General Motors expected to follow suit any day now, Ford is stretching its lead as the most highly regarded of the Big Three automakers.
Eighty-three percent (83%) of Americans say it’s likely there will still be a need for the U.S. Postal Service in 10 years, even as increasing numbers pay their bills and send personal letters via the Internet. Fifty-one percent (51%) say it is Very Likely there will be such a need.
Most Americans think the Ford Motor Company, the one Big Three automaker who won’t be run by the federal government, has the best chance of staying in business, but they also suspect the government won’t make it easy.
As if their business worries weren’t enough, small business owners are now getting even less time off, thanks to the country’s continuing economic problems.
Seventy-four percent (74%) of Americans say it is at least somewhat likely that the price of a first class postage stamp will be $1 or more within the next 10 years. Forty-six percent (46%) say it’s Very Likely.
Forty-six percent (46%) of Americans say military veterans should be given preferential treatment in hiring, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Twenty-four percent (24%) of voters nationwide favor federal bailout funds for states like California that are encountering “serious financial problems.” The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 59% are opposed to such bailouts.
