Poll: Americans Unconvinced Economy on Rebound

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

Updated 10 a.m. ET

A new CBS News Poll shows President Obama's overall job approval rating is at 48 percent, almost unchanged from last month, but Americans are far less impressed by claims that the economy is on the rebound.

CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante reports that, according to the new poll numbers, Americans have a rather pessimistic view of the chances for economic recovery, with 57 percent say they simply don't believe the National Bureau of Economic Research's assertion that the recession is over and things are already improving.

Only 37 percent of those polled backed the assessment, which has been repeated by the Obama administration.

In the new poll, 41 percent of people said they disapproved of the way Mr. Obama is handling his job as president.  Last month, he had an approval rating of 49 percent and a disapproval rating of 39 percent.

Plante reports that the president's projected deficit reductions, outlined Tuesday in his proposed 2012 budget, contradict the people's opinion -- his plan is based, in part, on assumptions that the economy will continue to improve.

"If we're going to walk the walk when it comes to fiscal discipline, these kinds of cuts will be necessary," Mr. Obama said on Monday.

Explainer: The Deficit vs. the Debt
Video: GOP Battles Dems, Tea Party Over Budget
Video: Obama Talks 2012 Budget Cuts, Investments

The poll also asked about whether Americans expect they will have to feel some personal pain in order to reduce the deficit. Forty-nine percent said they think the government will have to cut programs that benefit them in order to lower the deficit, while 41 percent think that won't be necessary. Both Republicans and independents said they expected that will be needed, while most Democrats do not.

On taxes, just 37 percent think it will be necessary to increase taxes on people like themselves (59 percent said they didn't think so). Those expectations rise along with income -- 62 percent of Americans with incomes of $100,000 or more said they do expect it will be necessary for them to pay higher taxes in order to lower the deficit (and 36 percent do not).

Among those making less than $50,000 per year, 30 percent think it will be necessary for the government to raise their taxes versus 66 percent who do not.  For those making between $50,000 and $100,000, 40 percent said they think it will be necessary and 55 percent said it would not be.

Mr. Obama is suggesting some tax hikes, including an end to both the Bush-era tax cuts to the wealthy, and mortgage breaks now given to the top two brackets.

Mr. Obama also received positive evaluations for his handling of the situation in Egypt in the poll. Fifty percent said they approved while 22 percent said they disapproved -- though 28 percent said they had no opinion.

More Stories on the Poll:

Poll: Most Want U.S. Out of Egypt's Affairs
Poll: Most Americans Uneasy About the U.S. Economy
Poll: Most Oppose Cutting Funding for Health Care Reforms
Read the Complete Poll

---

This poll was conducted by telephone on February 11-14, 2011 among 1,031 adults nationwide. Phone numbers were dialed from 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.

[Sabiyah]

The economy has rebounded, what? Yes GM workers are receiving bonus money, but then they are union. Some of that will find it's way back into Obama's campaign fund. GE is improving, well their CEO also works for Obama, conflict of interest? They laundered money provided by Obama and purchased GM Volts, what a deal? No the economy is adrift, and evidently intentionally. The stock marked is proped up with free money and only via instituional buying. I think people are now realizing Obama's total intentions, and the destruction of this country is one of them. I can truthfully say as an unemployed individual that has had his industry killed by Obama, I hate him with all of the vim, vigar, and intensity that one could. He will eventulally be prosecuted.

[noloyalisti]

We won't be convinced until we start making the evil rich billionaires pay up for the privilege of doing business with my country. Yes, the government is supposed to represent us but we have let it be bought and corrupted by the big money. Now the giant corporations and the evil rich who run them are getting ready to drop the final hammer on the Middle Class and thus our democracy.

[gep1955]

What recovery. Fly much? Look down when approaching any major city. You can see new housing developments. There are maybe a dozen houses complete. The other 75% of the new neighborhood has vaccant lots with no houses even being started on or half complete. All you union carpenter/plumber/tradesmen must be proud of the Democratic agenda now, huh? Glad I'm not in the trades.

[jackp32]

Rebound? That's just another worthless Obamaism.

[DashRipRock2012]

The down payments demanded by banks to buy homes have ballooned since the housing bust, forcing many people to rethink what they can afford and potentially shrinking the pool of eligible buyers.

As housing prices drop, mortgage lenders are requiring larger downpayments on homes. Kelsey Hubbard talks to WSJ's Mitra Kalita about what the changes mean for consumers.
.Last week, the Obama administration called for gradually raising down payments to a minimum of 10% on conventional loans, meaning those that can be bought or guaranteed by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And mortgage data show that private lenders are already pushing sharply higher the required down payments, mainly to mitigate their risk as home prices continue to fall.

Obama hates Black People. How are they ever gonna come up with 10% for a home? This goes agains everything Acorn, The Rainbow Coalition, Al Sharpton, the NAACP and the list goes on ever marched or extorted for!

[ludvig1-2009]

i'd like to say it's improving. The only thing good happening is that I didn't bail out of the stock market and we're back to slightly more than we put in. On the other hand, my wife works in a mall in Northern California and she says it's really dead, like two customers in 3 hours.

[esmith499]

I guess people can't bear the fact that the economy is actually getting better. Did you really think it was going to turn around overnight? What did you want - a handout like Bush gave us? What was that $800 per family? How'd that work out for everyone? First the downward momentum had to be stopped - this was done with the bailouts and it worked. It took awhile longer than it should because the obstructionist Republicans fight absolutely everything our President tries to do - their only goal is to make Obama fail - they don't care about the people of this country. In spite of that, the stock market has almost doubled since Obama took over. Most of the bailout money has been repaid at a profit. I just read where General Motors (a recipient of bailout money who has paid it back plus) is giving all of their factory workers a $4000 bonus this year. Now our President wants to invest in education, infrastructure and energy - all things that our future as a country will depend on. He wants to reduce tax breaks for the rich and take away subsidies for the oil industry. He wants to regulate the businesses that got us into this mess and he wants to do something about spiraling out of control health costs. Yet, he's fought every step of the way and about every word he says. I don't expect the extremists to even consider that they may be wrong but I'm hoping that the rest of you (which I know there are a lot of) will maybe step back from the Fox News/Teabagger rhetoric and think for themselves.

[thinking-voter]

I consider this good news. But it is laced with cautionary elements. The market being up is relatively meaningless. They are back to selling the same derivatives that ignited the housing bubble into an explosion big enough to backwash into the markets. The regulation Obama wanted got that watered down.

The market are really more about selling optimism than tangible conditions or durable goods, which is why it isn't an especially reliable indicator of much. Anyone who believes otherwise is a fool or peddling some blue sky of his own for profit, screw what comes of it.

The steps the Obama administration has taken helped Wall Street and big industries like GM, which was appropriate. But we don't have the means to do another "too big to fail" now. And that's bad.

Too many small businesses are still going under right along with more houses. This needs to be addressed since it acts as serious drag on recovery.

I agree with what Obama wants to invest in but I think the discussion begs for some serious expansion. REALITY CHECK: We aren't going back to where we were. And we only grow again by manufacturing something other than financial instruments. Yet I don't see ANY of the big business wealthy folks ponying up on that. In fact, wealth is sitting on its assets, (pun intended) as expected.

We are facing a coming bubble much bigger than the tech and housing bubble combined. And unlike those, this one is not avoidable. To ignore that while we try to return to what used to be (which is impossible) is insane. It misses the opportunity to retool, to create an economy that accommodates this bubble when it comes, whenever that is.

When just about every single thing in our economy is tied to oil, one must ask: when does peak oil arrive? Underestimate a few more oil reserves (which is understandable since optimism make more profit than pessimism in the markets) like the Saudis did and it could already be here.

We won't want to be both in debt and not earning when it arrives.

[slatep]

SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE.!!!

[noloyalisti]

We won't be able to really change things until we take to the streets like in Egypt. We need to recognize that the REAL ENEMY are the evil filthy rich and the giant corporations that have colluded to take all the taxpayer money for themselves. All their actions show they care nothing about workers, the Middle Class, America or life on earth.

And it is getting worse very quickly. The Koch Brothers just had their elite meeting in CA to plan how they will finish the job that the fake "free-trade" disaster Reagan started and the Bushoccio Crime Family implemented so well.

[slatep]

I agree.
However, it seems to takr Americans a lot longer to reach the point where they do what they ""HAVE" to do to get anything accomplished.

I would much rather see Americans take to the streets now in peaceful demonstrations than wait until we can't stand it one more minute and riot.

[robbyr2]

With falling home prices being encouraged by the government and the wealthy, of course we don't feel confident in improvement. Reduce my taxes to zero, and I still won't feel confident in the economy, since I'm losing more each year on my house than I pay in taxes. Destroying the ability of anyone to buy my house (no Fannie or Freddie) and then taking away the homeowners deduction (the snorkel that makes being underwater easier to take). Yes, the Tea Party and Washington are trying to encourage me.