Public Opinion on the Stimulus

[Epicurus]

Interesting numbers. Gives you an impression of the wide diversity of opinions about the stimulus bill. I normally find FOX's polling questions to be a little amateurish or slanted, but this time they seemed to ask the right questions to establish a good picture of why people support or oppose the bill.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,496546,00.html

FOX News Poll: Slim Majority Supports Stimulus

Just over half of Americans — 51 percent — support the economic stimulus and spending plan passed by Congress last week and 40 percent oppose it.

Moreover, 58 percent think legislation was necessary — that's 24 percentage points higher than the 34 percent who think the economy would have improved on its own without government intervention. Among those who think legislation was necessary, 23 percent oppose the plan that passed Congress.

Support for the bill breaks down along party lines, as 79 percent of Democrats support it and 70 percent of Republicans oppose it. Among independents, 45 percent support and 42 percent oppose.

For those supporting the stimulus bill, the top reason is because it was seen as the best option and we "have to do something" (37 percent). Other main reasons include the spending included in the bill (17 percent), belief in Barack Obama and the Democrats (14 percent), and simple belief the plan will work (11 percent).

Too much pork — that's what opponents say is the primary reason they dislike the plan. A third of opponents (32 percent) say pork is the problem, while others site the cost and amount of spending in the bill (21 percent). Some 17 percent oppose it because they don't think it will work, while another 9 percent because it is not the government's role and 3 percent because there are not enough tax cuts.

 

[cawacko]

Interesting. Like a lot of things in politics I would surmise those numbers will flucuate based on how well or how poorly the plan performs.

 

[Epicurus]

Definitely. They talk about that a little farther down.

While most agree the swift passage of the economic stimulus package is a victory for President Obama, Republican opponents of the plan scored in the communications battle by successfully branding the legislation as more spending than stimulus," says Chris Anderson, Opinion Dynamics vice president. "Of course the future health of the economy will provide the ultimate verdict on who was right about this historic piece of legislation."

Twice as many voters think President Obama sincerely tried to reach out to Republicans to make the stimulus plan bipartisan (66 percent) as think Republicans sincerely tried to help the president and be bipartisan (33 percent).

On the Goldilocks scale, nearly half of Americans (46 percent) think the stimulus plan is too large and 14 percent say it is too small, while about a third (30 percent) thinks it is about the right size. Among those who support the plan, 20 percent think it is too large, 20 percent say too small and 50 percent about right.

The big question though is will the plan work? Views are mixed — about half (49 percent) say it will help the nation's economy, while the other half think the plan will either hurt the economy (25 percent) or not make much of a difference (23 percent).

Even so, by 61 percent to 31 percent more Americans think a year from now the economy will be recovering rather than deeper in recession.