Almost half feel worse than a year ago, same number favor spending cuts alone for economy, The Hill Poll May 2011

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5/16/11, "THE HILL POLL: Voters find recession blues difficult to shake," The Hill, Niall Stanage

"Forty-six percent of voters say they feel worse off than they did a year ago, almost three times as many as the 16 percent who feel more affluent. Around one-third of voters — 36 percent — say their economic situation has remained essentially unchanged from 12 months ago....

Almost half of voters — 45 percent — support spending cuts alone, the poll indicates. By contrast, only 13 percent favor an even split between cutting spending and raising revenue through tax increases.

By a margin of two-to-one, respondents also said they would be unwilling to see any increase in their own tax rates even if this helped reduce the debt and deficits. Only 28 percent said they would be prepared to pay higher taxes, while 56 percent said they would not....

Voters are evenly divided on which party is more trustworthy on economic matters. The Democratic Party and the GOP were favored by an identical proportion of voters – 43 percent – when asked which party would be better at creating a strong economy....

These findings are striking at a time when President Obama’s handling of the economy continues to weigh on his overall popularity.

Earlier this month, a New York Times/CBS News poll found that, even as Obama’s approval rating soared in the wake of Osama bin Laden’s killing, voters

• disapproved of his handling of the economy 55-34 percent.

The Hill Poll also suggested that the idea of spurring the economy through new tax cuts for businesses was supported by voters, though hardly overwhelmingly. Forty-five percent said they favored such cuts, while 39 percent were opposed, a difference that split along predictable ideological lines. The national survey of 1,000 likely voters by Pulse Opinion Research was conducted on May 11, 2011, and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points."

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Half the country does not pay federal income tax. How many of those were respondents in this poll? How many were registered democrats vs republicans? The Hill frames the story by saying the 'recession' has been over for two years--which people outside the Beltway know is a joke. Yet this of all statistics is what they choose to soften up readers. They tell us it's just "the blues," poor Obama has to deal with irrational "feelings" wacky voters have. The Hill should be concerned with protecting voters from government lies rather than making it easier for lies to continue. Including that Boehner and the GOP are feared by no one, certainly not the democrats. If The Hill wanted to be of service, it could do some reports on federal government agencies that should be closed down. ed.

via Hot Air