Poll: Americans Growing More Pessimistic about the Economy

Topics: Economy ,; Polling

CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto.

Americans are more pessimistic about the country's economy than they were last month, a new CBS News poll reveals.

Thirty-four percent now say the economy is getting worse, up from 26 percent last month. Only 20 percent now say the economy is getting better, according to the poll, conducted Aug. 20 - 24. The last time views were this pessimistic was April of 2009.

Additionally, Americans' overall rating of the economy has been stagnant this summer. Over eight in 10 say the economy is in bad shape, and that negativity hasn't budged. Just 17 percent of Americans describe the nation's economy as being in good shape.

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This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,082 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone August 20-24, 2010. Phone numbers were dialed from random digit dial samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.

This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

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by disgruntled_american August 26, 2010 5:39 PM EDT: Lets see where did the banking collapse start with all those sub prime loans being made?

http://clinton5.nara.gov/WH/Accomplishments/eightyears-03.html

300 Trade Agreements: President Clinton has opened markets for U.S. exports abroad and created American jobs through nearly 300 free and fair trade agreements.
Good for a while but when they could take our jobs out of the country and make the products for much cheaper labor goodbye to those jobs.

1.4 Million More Jobs due to Exports: Jobs supported by American exports grew by 1.4 million between 1994 and 1998, with jobs supported by exports paying about 13 percent to 16 percent above the U.S. national average. Jobs related to goods exports pay, on average, 13 to 16 percent higher than other jobs.
This did not survive long term as manufacturing in the US has become noncompetitive with other countries that don?t have our wage or environmental guidelines.

Won Ratification of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993
Now you can get an orange from Mexico cheaper than from the orchard down the street. Goodbye orchard.

Won Approval of Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China.
Can you read made in China on anything at Wal-Mart? Good by American producers, they moved to China to make there products with child labor.

Fought for the First-Ever African and the Caribbean Basin Trade Bills.
Saw oranges rotting on the trees on my way to the grocery that had oranges marked product of South Africa. Goodbye orchard.

Created Community Development Financial Institutions. In September 1994, the President signed legislation creating the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, a Clinton campaign proposal to support specialized financial institutions serving often-overlooked customers and communities. The Fund has certified over 400 CDFIs. It has provided over $427 million to match investments in CDFIs and to encourage traditional financial institutions to increase their lending, investment and services in under-served markets.

The start of the bank failures we just did not know it then. It'll be the next guys fault (Bush).

Strengthened the Community Reinvestment Act. In 1995, the Administration updated the Community Reinvestment Act regulations to focus on banks? actual service delivery, rather than on compliance efforts. From 1993 to 1998, lenders subject to the law increased mortgage lending to low- and moderate-income families by 80 percent?more than twice the rate they increased mortgage lending to other income groups.
I remember Hillary on TV saying something to the effect every American should own a home, and then it seemed if you could hold a cardboard sign on the street corner you qualified for a loan. Can you say sub prime?

Encouraged Investment in America?s New Markets. In 1999, the President went on two historic "New Markets" trips to highlight the continuing need to bring investment to impoverished inner cities, rural communities and Native American tribal lands. In 2000, the President and Congress worked together to pass this bipartisan initiative to stimulate new private capital investments in economically distressed communities and build network of private investment institutions to funnel credit, equity and technical assistance to businesses in America?s new markets.
Can you say more Sub prime? Can you see bank failure because those guys that stand on the street corner holding a cardboard sign saying ?will work for food? aren?t going to pay their loans?

I guess these great things that started toppling banks a decade later are all Bush's fault cause he was in office when the cards began to tumble.

Now that Americans and illegal immigrants don?t have a job because the farm they worked on along with many others went bankrupt because they cant afford to compete with the under-regulated environmental and under-regulated labor practices in South Africa, Mexico, China and other locations shipping to the US is BO going to do about it (other than bail out the banks which never should have given those loans out in the first place). The ?undocumented? immigrants should be deported; I volunteer to drive some to the boarder.; Reply to this comment


by chevyhotrod August 26, 2010 1:35 PM EDT: by starving1968-3 August 26, 2010 11:04 AM EDT
The wars are "self inflicted wounds" on our economy, and should be proof that the republicans should NEVER have control of Washington again.

_____

Please don't tell me that you are one of the people that believe that 911 was a "self inflicted wound"?

They are at war with us, the sooner you realize this the sooner we can end it. United we stand, divided we fall.

Maybe the Republicans should just let Al Quida kill as many Americans as possible?; Reply to this comment

by chevyhotrod August 26, 2010 1:24 PM EDT

by rodnacious August 26, 2010 1:06 PM EDT
What about a tax cut that amounted to a 'gift' to the rich that was not included in a balanced budget. Those tax cuts and the supplemental spending to fund to wars cost the American taxpayer over four trillion dollars over eight years.

If you do the math, the figures don't lie. Bush is on record as spending more money... eight trillion, than any other POTUS in history!

_______

you are a sheep and cannot think for yourself. The debt and deficits exploded when the Democrats took control in Jan. 2007.

Remember, the House of Reps controls all spending, the Senate and President just approve and the President can even be overruled or veto. These are the facts. Look them up, Google is a great thing.
1996 -107 Billion (DEM WH, GOP wins House & Senate)
1997 -21.9 Billion (DEM WH, GOP House & Senate)
1998 +69.3 Billion (DEM WH, GOP House & Senate)
1999 +125.6 Billion (DEM WH, GOP House & Senate)
2000 +236.2 Billion (GOP WH, GOP House & Senate)
2001 +128.2 Billion (GOP WH, GOP House & Senate , America was attacked)
2002 -157.8 Billion (GOP WH, GOP House & Senate, congress approves 2 wars)
2003 -377.6 Billion (GOP WH, GOP House & Senate)
2004 -412.7 Billion ((GOP WH, GOP House & Senate)
2005 -318.3 Billion (GOP WH, GOP House & Senate, Hurricane Katrina)
2006 -248.2 Billion (GOP WH, GOP House & Senate)
2007 -160.7 Billion (GOP WH, DEM wins House & Senate)
2008 -458.6 Billion (DEM WH, DEM House & Senate)
2009 -1.4 Trillion (DEM WH, DEM Senate & House, national debt explodes)
2010 -1.5 Trillion est. (DEM WH, DEM Senate & House)
2011 -1.3 Trillion est. (DEM WH, Senate? & House?)
2012 -830 Billion est. (DEM WH, Senate? & House ?)
2013 -730 Billion est. (??????)

"The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is."

Winston Churchill

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by chevyhotrod August 26, 2010 1:29 PM EDT: Also funny that you think that a tax cut or letting individuals keep more of THEIR money is a gift.

IT DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU TO GIVE AS A GIFT IN THE FIRST PLACE.


by rodnacious August 26, 2010 1:09 PM EDT: Glad to know that...; Reply to this comment

by johnpatrick1 August 26, 2010 12:26 PM EDT

Republican greed and God-bless-the-rich mentality along with their inept ability to wage war except as a boon to the piggish military-defense-corporate-contractors have turned much of America into a third world nation living on its reputation and mooning after the life of its oligarchic rich and phony (for the ignorant masses) celeberities. We are in decline and have been for the past 40 years. Much of America is economicaly and socialy an ugly place to be with a need for two incomes to survive, a desperate-despairing lower class and a avaricious uncaring rich class pigging out as ever since the Gilded Age of the 1880s.

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by votedforobama August 26, 2010 5:41 PM EDT: Dude, You have obviously never been to a thrid world country. Why don't you visit it one and gain a broader perspective ... and while you're at it, you can just stay there.


by abbe91 August 26, 2010 11:52 AM EDT: "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

I didn't realize at the time that it had to be taken literally.; Reply to this comment

by BAoxymoron August 26, 2010 11:49 AM EDT

Why is it Americans are too ignorant to realize that it isn't Bush's or Obama's fault nor is it The Democrat's or The Republican's fault. Basic rule of life/economics/physics/everything what goes up must come down. If you don't believe me look up the business cycle, ask a professor about the business cycle, and if you still don't believe my try talking to a senior in high school they'll know more about it than you do. But I guess we should also talk about psychology and how humans feel it has to be someone's fault. So if you are one of those people(aka almost all of you) then blame the person who is closest to being at fault. YOU. Everyone of you who borrowed when they shouldn't have; all of you who have maxed out credit cards; all of you who out of control debt. You are the catalyst for the recession. Yes it was inevitable but you are the ones to blame for the length and severity of it. So grow up and get educated.

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by votedforobama August 26, 2010 5:37 PM EDT: Amen brother! One of the best posts I've read in the last 2 years.

by starving1968-3 August 26, 2010 11:04 AM EDT

by chevyhotrod August 26, 2010 10:27 AM EDT
The Democrats took control of the House and Senate in Jan. 2007. Look what has happened since then.

Then look at the economy from 2002 to 2006, which included a resession, two wars and Katrina.

The wars are "self inflicted wounds" on our economy, and should be proof that the republicans should NEVER have control of Washington again.

And yes the economy started to implode in 2007, but that was primarily caused by the "teaser rates" in those garbage mortgages, blowing up the housing market. Those garbage mortgages were written from 2001 - 2007. Also, which group decided to DENY regulation regarding "derivatives" -- dems or reps?

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by rodnacious August 26, 2010 1:06 PM EDT: What about a tax cut that amounted to a 'gift' to the rich that was not included in a balanced budget. Those tax cuts and the supplemental spending to fund to wars cost the American taxpayer over four trillion dollars over eight years.

If you do the math, the figures don't lie. Bush is on record as spending more money... eight trillion, than any other POTUS in history!


by chevyhotrod August 26, 2010 1:17 PM EDT: You should talk to Barny Frank and Chris Dodd about garbage mortgages and blowing up the housing market. They were both chairman of the housing and banking industries/committees from Jan. 2007 and on, 18 months after they took over our economy collapsed.

The individuals who denied regulation regarding the housing industry can been seen on Youtube, just type Fannie and Freddie and you will find the truth. The truth shall set you free.

Fannie and Freddie continue their bad loan practices to this day and are bleeding billions and billions every month while people like you deny what they are actually doing.

Both parties are to blame, both dems and reps. Keep your head in the sand and wait and see what happens to our economy, it is not over, it has just begun.

Teaser rates and arm loans are availible today and 95% of all morgages today are bought by Fannie and Freddie.

They continue to do what got us into the problem in the first place and were not included into the financial reform for a reason.

Think, do not act stupid.


by starving1968-3 August 26, 2010 10:53 AM EDT: by ken1dall August 26, 2010 10:27 AM EDT
Obama must get rid of the professional academic socialist left he has surrounded himself with. The majority of these people have never had productive employment in their lives and have no idea how wealth and employment are created. Government is not the solution, rather it is the problem. Obama will be remembered as the worst one-term president in our history.

Here we go: the brilliance of the right.

"Academia is destroying America!!!!"

Only looney tunes extremists would decry "education". No wonder Texas wants to re-write it's history books.; Reply to this comment


by coftx August 26, 2010 10:50 AM EDT: We need agovernment that realizes that we are in a global economy. We need a government that sees that you have to make it profitable for business to locate in the U.S. We need a government that is willing to back up start up and expansion loans for small business. We need a government that understands that attacking wealth just drives wealth away. Basically, we need a government that is willing to do more than pander to the jealous lower economic class for votes at the expense of economic well being.; Reply to this comment