Economy Alarm: Poll: Majority of Americans Say Stimulus Did Not Help

Poll: Majority of Americans Say Stimulus Did Not Help
More Americans Lose Trust in Stimulus as Democrats’ Empty Promises Become Harder to Fulfill

Democrats Claim the Stimulus ‘Saved or Created’ Up to 2 Million Jobs Last Year and Promise to Reach 3.5 Million Jobs By the End of 2010

“The Obama administration, offering evidence that its much-maligned efforts to spur economic recovery have begun to take hold, said Tuesday that the $787-billion stimulus program saved or created 1.5 million to 2 million jobs last year… [Chairwoman of the White House Council of Economic Advisors Christina Romer] expressed confidence that the package of tax cuts and government spending — the largest of its kind in U.S. history — ultimately would fulfill President Obama’s promise of boosting employment by 3.5 million jobs by the end of this year.”  (Don Lee and Jim Tankersley, “White House credits stimulus,” Los Angeles Times, 1/13/2010)

Credibility Crash: Pew Research Poll Shows Nearly Two-Thirds of Americans Don’t Believe Democrats’ $787 Billion Stimulus Has Helped Create Jobs

Nearly two-thirds of Americans do not believe the $787 billion stimulus package the president passed last year has helped create jobs, according to a new Pew Research Poll.

Sixty-two percent of those polled said the stimulus hasn’t contributed to job creation while 33 percent said the package has.

Only a slight majority, 51 percent, of Democrats think the stimulus helped create jobs, 42 percent said it has not. Seventy-nine percent of self-identified Republicans said the stimulus didn’t aide job growth while 18 percent think it did.

The survey also showed that voters are mixed on whether the Troubled Asset Relief Program was effective in staving off a deeper financial crisis.

Forty-nine percent said TARP did not prevent a more severe crisis compared to 42 percent who said it did.

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The poll was based on interviews with 1,546 adults nationwide conducted April 21-26 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. (Andy Barr, “Poll: Stimulus didn’t help,” Politico, 4/29/2010)

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