Rasmussen
What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls
Saturday, June 21, 2014

Americans are more unhappy about the overall economy despite signs that the housing industry is recovering at last. Is government spending at least partially to blame?

Sixty-seven percent (67%) of Likely Voters now believe that the U.S. economy is unfair to the middle class, and 61% say it’s unfair to all Americans. Both are at their highest levels in a year-and-a-half.

This takes on added significance when you consider that 83% of working Americans consider themselves middle class.

The economy and health care continue to be the top issues on voters’ minds as they head into the upcoming elections, but government spending has now worked its way into the top three on the list of 15 major issues regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports.

Voters still believe that cutting spending – and taxes – will do more to help the economy than raising them will.

Only 24% think the federal government should increase spending in reacting to the nation's economic problems. Sixty-three percent (63%) believe the government should cut spending instead. Fifty-six percent (56%) think thoughtful spending cuts should be considered in every program of the federal government.

But most (55%) also still expect government spending to increase under President Obama, and only nine percent (9%) expect their taxes to go down.

This helps explain why the president’s daily job approval ratings continue to bump along at the negative levels seen for much of his presidency.

Still, while consumer and investor confidence this week fell further from recent highs, they remain well ahead of where they’ve been for the past several years.

There also are increasing signs that the housing bust may be behind us. Forty-four percent (44%) of Americans now say it’s a good time for someone in their area to be selling a house. This is the first time this number has broken the 40% mark in over five years of regular surveying.

Thirty-nine percent (39%) of homeowners expect their home’s value to go up over the next year, the highest level of short-term confidence in five years of regular tracking. Fifty-five percent (55%) expect their home’s value to go up over the next five years.

Americans continue to frown on government help for the housing market, though. Only 21% believe that if someone cannot afford to make increased mortgage payments, the government should assist them. Most (63%) still think people in that situation should sell their home and find a less expensive one.

Other economic indicators are less reassuring...

Read the rest of the article at Rasmussen