50% Still Lack Confidence In U.S. Banks
One-out-of-two Americans (50%) still lack confidence in the U.S. banking system, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
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October 19, 2009
October 19, 2009
President Gets Mixed Reviews for Plan on Sending $250 to All Seniors
Time Magazine refers to it as the Obama administration's "stealth stimulus," pumping more government money into the economy without packaging it as a politically unpopular second economic stimulus plan. One of the new ideas is a proposed one-time $250 payment to seniors who for the first time in years won't be getting a cost of living increase in their Social Security checks because inflation's down.
October 15, 2009
56% Favor State Lotteries as Revenue Source
Most Americans like state lotteries and think they’re one thing that state governments should run them rather than the private sector.
October 14, 2009
Most Want Government To Sell Amtrak, GM and Chrysler
The British government is selling a number of things it owns to pay off its growing debt, but voters have mixed feelings about the U.S. government doing the same thing. Amtrak and the ownership stakes in General Motors and Chrysler can go, as far as voters are concerned, but don’t touch the government’s land and the U.S. Postal Service.
October 13, 2009
Confidence in Housing Values Jumps
Americans are more confident than they’ve been all year that housing values are going up and also are more likely to say their home is worth more than they owe on it. But they still don’t think it’s a good time to be selling.
October 8, 2009
62% Oppose Second Stimulus Package This Year
Some in Congress are considering a second stimulus plan to fight the country’s growing unemployment problem, but 62% of U.S. voters oppose the passage of another economic stimulus package this year.
October 8, 2009
67% Frown On National Sales Tax
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi floated the idea of a national sales tax in a recent television interview, but a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 67% oppose a national sales tax on all goods and services.
October 1, 2009
Americans Less Sure About Long-Term Strength of Economy
Forty-nine percent (49%) of American adults now say that the U.S. economy will be stronger in five years than it is today. That figure is down from 58% in July and 64% in March.
September 29, 2009
26% Say Their Firms Laying People Off, Lowest Since November
Twenty-six percent (26%) of American workers now say their employers are laying people off. That’s down from 28% a month ago and 30% two months ago. It’s the lowest number reporting layoffs since last November.
September 24, 2009
63% Say Housing Market Will Improve Only When Economy Does
Americans are slightly more confident that government action can help the housing market, but a sizable majority continues to believe that the market will only improve when the overall economy gets better.
September 23, 2009
36% Say Stimulus Plan Has Helped Economy
Confidence in the $787-billion economic stimulus package approved by Congress in February has reached a new high. Thirty-six percent (36%) of likely voters now say the package has helped the economy, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
September 23, 2009
Most Like Tax Credits for First-Time Home Buyers, But 47% Oppose Continuing Them
Most Americans favor the soon-to-expire program that provides first-time home buyers with tax credits of up to $8,000, at least until they hear how much it costs.
September 22, 2009
GM, Ford, Toyota Are Cars Americans Plan To Buy Next
Ask most Americans what car they definitely plan to buy next, and, perhaps surprisingly, General Motors edges Ford and Toyota. But Toyota is the one most folks are willing to at least consider.
September 21, 2009
Americans Now View Congress As Least Respected Job
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.
September 18, 2009
57% Say GM Will Need More Bailout Funds
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.
September 17, 2009
53% Oppose More Regulation of U.S. Financial System
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%.
September 14, 2009
Consumer, Investor Confidence Lower than Year Ago When Lehman Brothers Collapsed
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.
September 14, 2009
14% Are More Likely To Buy GM Because of Money-Back Guarantee
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.
September 8, 2009
45% Say Unions Weaken America, 26% Disagree
Forty-five percent (45%) of Americans believe that labor unions make our country weaker, while just 26% say unions make the nation stronger.
September 3, 2009
Discover (R) Small Business Watch (SM): Small Business Confidence Rises to Highest Level in 18 Months
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.
