56% believe the president’s plan will make things worse by increasing inflation
By Scott Rassmussen
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Texas Insider Report) — While some pundits suggest that passing the Build Back Better plan will boost the president's ratings, the data suggests it will not. The numbers suggest the opposite may be true. The lack of voter awareness about his proposed legislation may in fact be a blessing for the president.
One reason is that voters have largely tuned out the legislative quarrels in official Washington: just 19% recognize both that the infrastructure bill passed and that the Build Back Better plan has not.
Another reason is that 52% of voters nationwide now disapprove of the way President Biden is performing his job, 43% approve, and 5% are not sure.Some Democrat pundits have expressed the view (hope?) that the president's numbers will improve when people learn more about the plan.
At a time when:
- just 9% believe that the worst of inflation is behind us,
- 56% believe the president’s plan will make things worse by increasing inflation.
Beyond that, the Build Back Better plan – called the Big Government Socialism Bill by Republicans – has a number of extraordinarily unpopular provisions.
For instance:
- 60% oppose the payments to illegal immigrants provisions in the "Build Back Better" plan,
- Just 28% support those payments.
- 73% oppose the president’s plan giving the IRS more access to personal and business financial information,
- because 72% think the IRS already collects too much personal information.
- Voters strongly believe the IRS will use new information to target political enemies.
If someone is physically able to work, 78% of voters believe they should be required to seek a job in order to receive financial support from the government. The Biden plan weakens existing work requirements and does not include such requirements for new benefits.The plan encourages a rapid transition to electric vehicles. However, just 26% of voters support this effort. Sixty-six percent (66%) believe the transition should wait at least until the needed batteries can be manufactured in the U.S. rather than relying upon China.
- The Build Back Better plan expands eligibility for Federal Benefits – at a time when 55% of voters believe too many are already receiving benefits rather than working.
- 53% of voters believe it is more important to protect the existing Medicare program, rather than expanding it by adding new benefits.
- Just 34% disagree.
- (This, by the way, is perhaps the biggest issue West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is concerned about – wasting more taxpayer dollars on a system that's questionabley viable as it exists.)
Beyond promoting unpopular legislation, another challenge facing the president is that pessimism about the pandemic is growing again. It is important to recognize, though, the pessimism comes from a variety of perspectives.
- Only half (51%) are worried about ongoing health issues.
- 36% are worried about more government restrictions and mandates.
- These results help explain why 49% of voters believe relaxing vaccine mandates, mask requirements, and social distancing guidelines would be good for the economy.
- Just 30% disagree.
Other data shows that 59% of voters favor relaxing vaccine mandates to ease supply chain issues.Additionally, 61% favor relaxing vaccine mandates for police officers, fire fighters, and health care workers.
These findings, along with other data, clearly indicate that support for the president's vaccine mandates is soft. Forty-eight percent (48%) of voters now say they favor the mandates. That’s down six points over the past two months.
Finally, I thought you might enjoy my National Review column on why Election Reform is a winning issue for Republicans. That's because every single Democrat in Congress has voted against three simple, commonsense, effective reforms that are supported by more than 80% of voters.
