Who Do The People Blame For The Economy?
A new CBS poll asks who the blame should fall on for the economy and the numbers are very interesting (PDF): Has President Obama Made Real Progress Fixing the Economy? Total Rep. Dem. Ind. Yes 28% 9% 52% 23% No 68% 89% 42% 72% That question right there is rather loaded. I’m not sure […]
A new CBS poll asks who the blame should fall on for the economy and the numbers are very interesting (PDF):
| Has President Obama Made Real Progress Fixing the Economy? | ||||
| Total | Rep. | Dem. | Ind. | |
| Yes | 28% | 9% | 52% | 23% |
| No | 68% | 89% | 42% | 72% |
That question right there is rather loaded. I’m not sure what anyone would consider “real progress”. Is it bringing unemployment back down to the 5% level or is it preventing it from reaching the 11% level?
But this question does shed more light on the issue:
| Did President Obama’s Policies Prevent a Deeper Recession? | ||||
| Total | Rep. | Dem. | Ind. | |
| Yes | 37% | 20% | 57% | 34% |
| No | 49% | 71% | 30% | 50% |
Seeing that twice as many Republicans view that he helped prevent a deeper recession than the previous question indicates that a lot of people consider “real progress” as not getting unemployment down to the 5% level.
Now that can also be further explained by the even more interesting numbers:
| Who Do You Blame for Gridlock in Washington? | ||||
| Total | Rep. | Dem. | Ind. | |
| Republicans | 42% | 9% | 76% | 39% |
| Obama and Democrats | 26% | 59% | 7% | 20% |
| Both | 22% | 26% | 10% | 28% |
I find it really interesting that the Democrats blame the Republicans more so than Republicans blame Democrats. Like I said, interesting. But something I find even more interesting is that Independents by an almost 2-1 margin blame the Republicans. That’s a pivotal number for the 2012 elections and one that looks good for the Democrats.
And if that doesn’t convince you enough, have a look at who the people really blame for the economic problems:
| Who do you think is mostly to blame for the current state of the nation’s economy–the Bush administration, the Obama administration, Wall Street and financial institutions, Congress, or someone else? | ||||
| Total | Rep. | Dem. | Ind. | |
| Bush | 22% | 6% | 39% | 21% |
| Obama | 12% | 26% | 2% | 11% |
| Wall St. | 12% | 9% | 14% | 12% |
| Congress | 16% | 19% | 14% | 16% |
| Someone else | 7% | 7% | 4% | 10% |
| All the above | 12% | 15% | 7% | 14% |
| Combination | 12% | 11% | 12% | 13% |
| Don’t know/No Answer | 7% | 7% | 8% | 3% |
The top two rows are the most telling. Republicans blame Bush over Democrats blaming Obama by 3-1, while Bush still gets almost double the blame. I only bring that up because there is a funny notion by many on the right that when you remind them this economic collapse started during the Bush years they instantly accuse you of “blaming Bush”. Yes it is blame towards Bush, but it is blame he deserves. President Obama was handed the worst economy since the Great Depression and has been met with unprecedented opposition by Republicans in Congress. There isn’t much he could do, as the President only has so much power in our system of government.
Now I’m not saying this absolved President Obama of any wrong on the economy. Actually he does deserve a lot of blame. I showed my anger over the summer when he finally decided that unemployment needed addressing and then made the people wait another month to release his plan. It showed one of the biggest disconnects with the American people by a President that I can even remember.
But even more so than that is what the Republicans have done since Obama released his plan. They have blocked everything. This should come as no shock given the childish behavior of the Republicans since January 2009.
Remember when Republicans said Democrats filibustering was wrong and wanted to get rid of it? Yeah – funny how things have changed since then.
This constant blockade by the GOP has tied the President’s hands in being able to handle the recovery. Like I said, a President can only do so much without Congress. The people apparently see this as being the biggest obstacle when it comes to getting America back on the right track and that is very bad news for the GOP next year.
Now if only the Democrats can seize on that and not screw this up, but that is something for my next post.
