The American people are growing ever more skeptical about the
Obama economic agenda.
Reports the Washington Post:
Barely half of Americans are now confident that President
Obama's $787 billion stimulus measure will boost the economy,
and the rapid rise in optimism about the state of the nation
that followed the 2008 election has abated, according to a new
Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Overall, 52 percent now say the stimulus package has succeeded
or will succeed in restoring the economy, compared with 59
percent two months ago. The falloff in confidence has been
sharpest in the hard-hit Midwest, where fewer than half now see
the government spending as succeeding. In April, six in 10
Midwesterners said the federal program had worked or would do
so.
The tempered public outlook has not significantly affected
Obama's overall approval rating, which at 65 percent in the new
survey outpaces the ratings of Presidents George W. Bush and
Bill Clinton at similar points in their tenures. But new
questions about the stimulus package's effectiveness underscore
the stakes for the Obama administration in the months ahead as
it pushes for big reforms in health care and energy at the same
time it attempts to revive the nation's flagging economy.
Let's hope the trend continues. There still might be time
to save the U.S. from bankruptcy!
About the Author
Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and the Senior Fellow in International Religious Persecution at the Institute on Religion and Public Policy. A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is author of Beyond Good Intentions: A Biblical View of Politics (Crossway).
