Public Confidence In Stimulus Package's Effectiveness Ebbs, Poll Finds

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.

Read the whole story: Washington Post

Comments

[lastams]

When it comes to health care or stimulus spending, the cry on the Hill has been “how can we afford this?” Yet Congress seems quite capable of spending tax dollars with impunity whenever it suits their needs.

This is what your tax dollars purchased this week.
For the low low price of only 106 billion, which comes to about $919.01 for each and every American, Congress overwhelmingly passed the final version of HR 2346.

This bill provides $106 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for ONLY three and a half months.

The bill also provides funding for the IMF, and earmarks specified funds from the Agricultural Credit Insurance Fund for direct farm ownership loans, direct operating loans, and unsubsidized guaranteed operating loans for big Agra.
Lebanon gets a nice chunk of the pie and your 900 dollars helped provide a long-range air traffic control and safety system for the Kyrgyz Republic.
Such a deal!

In the Senate, the vote was 91 yeas to 5 nays, showing once again that bi-partisanship is alive and well in the Congress, so long as the pie is big enough for all concerned.

Voting against the bill were (big surprise) Bernie Sanders and Russ Feingold, joined by 3 Republicans who managed to find a conscience lurking amongst their political ambitions.

[AnnfromCA]

I agree. I've been saying this. The stimulus bill will kill healthcare.

Shame on O.

[AnnfromCA]

yup......t­he stimulus bill paid off cronies and blew healthcare for the rest of us.

[lastams]

Although I know that the only spending being reported by MSM is stimulus and healthcare, my point here is that money is ozzing out of Congress, virtually unnoticed, that has nothing to do with either.
This is a hundred BILLION dollars for THREE MONTHS OF WAR and special interests and no one is questioning where the money is coming from.
My point is that we can afford to spend untold sums on Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, and even the Kyrgzy Republic but we cannot afford to invest in our own country or our own people.

[inorbit]

It's very hard to spend that kind of money quickly and be accountable. The problem is they are trying to be accountable. It will get spent - it will just take awhile.

[burt2009]

WOW, politicians finding it hard to spend money quickly? That's a new one.

[Grunty1]

If Obama was a Rushpublican, I'm sure it all would have vanished into the ether by now.

[ekoorb]

Much different than Dubya just sending bags of cash to Iraq.

[dwright]

http://www.recovery.org/

[MaxBob]

The lemmings that lept off the cliff for Obamanomics are now swimming back ashore and are NOT PLEASED. Polls show growing discontent for his policies and pronouncements and are pointing to his ownership of the crisis. Wait until unemployment peaks next year in the double digits. Discontent will be the nicest thing one could say about our attitudes.

[NedroidPrime]

I wonder of the rightie lemmings will return to shore of reason....

I know, it's a pipe dream
/sarcasm

[Gretel1or2]

Those same polls also show that the Republican party approval is at an all time low. The truth is, NO ONE has better ideas, so instead of jumping on every criticism bandwagon after 6 months, when people sat for 8 years and said nothing why not use your brain instead of letting the media do your thinking.

[AnnfromCA]

Well, there is no surprise on this result. The stimulus plan was poorly designed, didn't really do what it said it would do.

You can't fool people with tricks.

[dwright]

Rush *teleprompter*

[Gretel1or2]

No one said that the stimulus would be effective in June 2009. Most economists predicted that we would begin to see some effects around the end of this year or early next year. It's amazing how people just gobbled up this media-driven sensation about a premature poll. And while people are all over this thread saying what should and shouldn't have been done, because it's the easiest thing to do, NO ONE really has any better ideas.

[cheforacle]

You cannot seriously suggest anyone expected the consequences of the stimulus to be felt this quickly. Certainly the administration did not advertise it as such. You are taking a cheap shot because that is what you do. No serious person expected the stimulus money to be in the hands of its recipients this quickly.

[AnnfromCA]

I remember he had to have it RIGHT NOW. Couldn't even wait for discussion.

That most certainly was false advertising.

[Yurdelite]

You mean like the tricks your republican­.t party played on the American people?

[MaxBob]

The ineffectiveness of this PORKULUS Bill is clearly evident. 5 month into it and less than 10% has been spent. Unemployme­nt., a direct indicator, is now almost 2% above ROSEY PROJECTIONS going in. Now, I hear PresBO wants the recipients of the CASH to count the jobs being directly paid by it. You know, so he can actually add meat to the bones of JOBS SAVED B.S. Not that the recipients would misrepresent the numbers in anyway, shape or form. Not that they just take the FREE MONEY and spend it and SAVE their own money to NOT pay workers. Naaaaaah, never happen. It's a SHAM. A RUSE.

[Hollywooddeed]

Since the TARP bailout under BUSH went so well, maybe we should have gone with that detailed plan the Re.pubes came out with. Oh wait...

[joecoolconservative]

Bush screwed up. Not doubt about it. He spent money like a bunch of drunken democrats. However, I will give him credit for his tax cuts - they worked and will work every time.

[Grunty1]

[PORKULUS ]

We haven't seen RushL's nickname for a while.

[drbillybob]

Wanna see a scary graph ...

http://www.cbo.gov/

Check out the projected gap in of revenues to expenditures for 2009. Easily twice as big as any gap since 1969, and triple the biggest deficit under Bush.

Also, for those of you complaining about supply-side, look at what the rate cuts on investment income (mid 2003) did for federal revenues from mid 2003 to mid 2007.

[dwright]

This is scarier and the topic that the Media will never talk about:

The top 200 wealthiest people in the world control more wealth than the bottom 4 billion. But what is more striking to many is a close look at the economic inequality in the homeland of the "American Dream." The United States is the most economically stratified society in the western world. As THE WALL STREET JOURNAL reported, a recent study found that the top .01% or 14,000 American families hold 22.2% of wealth — the bottom 90%, or over 133 million families, just 4% of the nation's wealth.

[ekoorb]

And what happened in 2007?

[drbillybob]

Early in 2008 the financial industries started showing severe signs of stress and the markets reacted with a sharp downturn.

It had nothing to do with Bush's tax policy, just like the tech sector collapse had nothing to do with Clinton in 2000.

[joecoolconservative]

Looks like more trouble ahead in Obama land - seems that company insiders are selling shares at a pace not seen since June 2007. This means they have little if any confidence that the stock rally is real and lasting. http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2009/06/23/insiders-getting-out/

[dwright]

what you probably don't know is that those same "company insiders" are probably buying them back at cheaper prices under a different name or corporation.

[joecoolconservative]

You're right. They will wait until another major correction occurs to buy and then repeat the cycle.

[Marie62866]

Apparently you live and breathe by the stock market! The stock market is being manipulated so rich people can make money quick! The stock market was overinflated witha bunch of junk! Now everything has to go back to normal!

[joecoolconservative]

LOL - No I live and breathe conservatism.

[harriscrl3]

I'm sure the left must be LOVING this but to tell you the truth the stimulus was NOT designed to take the place of Private hiring. Thats where the numbers are down. Private industries are not hiring and Banks are not giving credit. Not to mention having to pay LARGE amounts of money for a little thing called health insurance for employees. Thats just more people who could have been hired having to be passed on because employers have to ask themselves healthcare for employees or hiring other employees.

That tarp money that they are recieving should be going to the small banks. THey must do something about healthcare for this economy to recover. And all these NARROW specific issues that have suddenly taken over the debate is NOT going to fix the unemployment. President Obama's concern should be the economy and healthcare everything else could have waited but we are just too impatient and caught up in small things rather than the big picture.

He needs to get back to focus on the economy PERIOD. Its not about being able to juggle more than one things its about somethings suddenly becoming the most important WHEN THEY ARE NOT and its premature to put them above the economy.

[dwright]

the economy is tied directly to health care and both must be worked on together.

[Samalabear]

As long as health care is tied to employment we're going to have a problem creating jobs and being competitive. Neither Obama nor Congress seem to get this. We need single-payer. And whoever wants private health insurance can still go that route. Single-payer is stimulus.

[CAP6]

It seems to me we must come to the realization we as a country have made some critically fundamental mistakes over the last 30 years or so and begin to reset our economy on the foundations on which to build long-term sustainable economic growth. We have exported most of our manufacturing and industrial infrastructures, a huge portion of the science and technology sectors, and are now becoming a significant importer of the the most critical commodity of all, food. Now we are sitting back and waiting on the government to provide the answers for a crisis the government is largely responsible for creating and worse, we are looking for solutions from the very individuals some say are principally culpable for helping to create this crisis. We can choose to continue down the path our leaders have chosen for us and that is to continue spending and borrowing our way to economic ruin while the unemployment rate soars past 10% on it's way to some dangerous & historical high or we can learn to EARN our way out of this crisis. We must invest in ourselves by investing our limited resources into our remaining manufacturing and industrial infrastructures, while striving to expand both. Think about it, China has become our banker on the back of it's manufacturing infrastructure and exports. Time to return to economics 101 and make our best effort not to fail this time. This is not about Democrats or Republicans, it's about us, Americans all.

[dwright]

After we stabilize the first order of business should be to bust all the trusts, break up the huge conglomerates and monopolies.

[CAP6]

Add to that by banning all lobbyists and special interests from the Halls of Congress. These groups have bought both sides of the aisle, democrats and republicans alike have been bought and paid for. The tobacco industry, health insurance, banks, and Wall Street lobbyists own the senators and representatives that we elect to serve OUR interests. Unless and until we the people clean the greed and corruption from the halls of shame on Pennsylvania Avenue, we are unlikely to see any meaningful change in Washington.

[mjtaylor22]

Citizens have a constitutional right to lobby the govt, it is embedded in our laws, more of the prob is that corporations are considered citizens and actually have e the money to send reps to lobby on their behalf.
The regular working people really cannot do that unless they are focused and organized, into a Union, or something like that..get it........­.....
So one possible solution would be to eliminate or restrict the citizenship status or corporations
Therefore we can eliminate corporate lobbyist by saying it give unfair advantage to business over regular citizens.

[boogiewoman]

THe economy has been awful for 8 years. It's going to take time to dig out of the hole Bush and the rethugs dug for us. This just didn't start last September. But when all you do is listen to Rush, and Faux news you think it started Jan. 20.

[tre]

Didn't we try to tell Americans that we can't spend our way to prosperity? Maybe next time they'll listen to us!

[CAP6]

You are correct. We cannot spend or borrow our way to economic prosperity, we must do it the old fashioned way, we must earn it. We have all heard that cliche at some point in our lives and it is a cliche that holds the key to our economic success.

[Hollywooddeed]

Doubtful.

[Grunty1]

Proving that Rushpublicans don't knoiw the first thing about money management.

[itsjustanillusion]

To make money, you have to spend money. Dang!!!!

[Anni-Frid]

Gee, I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that they said if the stimulus passed unemployment would not go above 8%?

[dwright]

And Bush said there were WMD's in Iraq. Give it a rest - it was an estimate.

[tripper69z]

...and don't forget rolling trucks that can shoot poison gas in 45 min. None of those either.

Bush was late on 9/11 (7 min deer in headlights), late on Katrina, and late on taking steps to avoid economic disaster.

[drbillybob]

No, it was a promise intended to gain political support for a bloated stimulus bill.

[Anni-Frid]

And Bush isn't the Prez anymore. Give it a rest.

[rollingdivision]

Obama's stimulus have been completely effective. His goal was to significantly move the USA economy toward socialism with the government controlling more and more of the economy. With the stimulus spending, the government proportion of GDP will rise from about 35% to about 40% and with health care “reform” it will go soaring into the mid-forties, bringing us to parity with Germany en route to France! His goal was never to stimulate the economy. His goal was to expand government spending and he used the recession as an excuse to do so. And, by this standard, he is a raging success.

[dwright]

Dear Rush *teleprompter* Reagan led the largest expansion in government in the last half century.

[damilitantone]

Go back to sleep. You have no idea what you are talking about.

[rollingdivision]

Obama's followers whole heartedly support increasing the size and scope of government. They support single payer health care, increasing government control over all of the finance industries, banking, investment, mortgage, etc; they support controlling all industry and all transportation via energy legislation; controlling individuals by limiting personal choices, limiting freedom of speech via regulations on broadcasting and "hate crimes" laws and on and on. Yet, they deny in anyway wanting to expand the size and scope of government!

[Grunty1]

It NEVER does know what its talking about.

[nestormcdade]

What would be wrong if we were more like Germany or France? Have you ever been there, they both have happier people and healthcare and better economies than the U.S.

[ranchomerced]

Yeah, I have been there many times and recently; and you are wrong on both counts..

[rollingdivision]

I prefer individual and economic freedom.

[rollingdivision]

Happier people and better economies, proof?

[wanked]

Lil Timmy and Larry's friends' confidence is higher than EVER ! http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jun/21/goldman-sachs-bonus-payments

[tripper69z]

The biggest portion of the money spent so far has been for helping the States and a TAX CUT. Ironic criticism. Trickle down doesn't work (again). The rest has just begun to roll out. VA just started 71 projects for example. I hope project #72 goes to the shut-the-h­ell-up-Can­tor fund.