(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The majority of people in the United States think Barack Obama has not yet developed a plan to deal with a growing budget deficit, according to a poll by the New York Times and CBS News. 60 per cent of respondents share this point of view, while 30 per cent believe the president does have a plan.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The majority of people in the United States think Barack Obama has not yet developed a plan to deal with a growing budget deficit, according to a poll by the New York Times and CBS News. 60 per cent of respondents share this point of view, while 30 per cent believe the president does have a plan.
On the other hand, 52 per cent of respondents think the government should be focusing right now on reducing the deficit, while 41 per cent think it should be spending more money to stimulate the economy.
Since 2007, defaults on so-called subprime mortgages—credit given to high-risk borrowers—in the U.S. caused volatility in domestic and global financial markets and ultimately pushed the U.S. economy into a recession. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. The crisis has affected the global financial and credit systems, and triggered layoffs in companies around the world.
Last year, the federal government—then under the leadership of U.S. president George W. Bush—took control of mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Other financial institutions—including Bear Stearns, Merril Lynch, Lehman Brothers, American International Group (AIG), IndyMac Bancorp and Washington Mutual—have been sold, placed under bankruptcy protection, or received emergency loans from the Federal Reserve.
On Jul. 2, Obama expressed optimism on the country’s economic recovery—despite citing what he called "sobering" job loss data—declaring, "While the average loss this quarter is less devastating than the 700,000 per month that we lost in the previous quarter, and while there are continuing signs that the recession is slowing, obviously this is little comfort to all those Americans who have lost their jobs." Obama added that he is "absolutely confident" that things are getting better.
Polling Data
Which comes closer to your own view? The federal government should spend money to stimulate the national economy, even if it means increasing the budget deficit; or, The federal government should not spend money to stimulate the national economy and should instead focus on reducing the budget deficit.
|
Stimulate Economy
|
41%
|
|
Reduce Deficit
|
52%
|
|
Unsure
|
7%
|
So far, do you think the Obama administration has developed a clear plan for dealing with the current budget deficit, or hasn’t it developed one yet?
|
Has a plan
|
30%
|
|
Does not have a plan yet
|
60%
|
|
Unsure
|
10%
|
Source: New York Times / CBS News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 895 American adults, conducted from Jun. 12 to Jun. 16, 2009. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
