Early in his presidency Barack Obama had a grace period when the public saw the nations problems as ones he inherited but two new polls -- by
New York Times/
CBS News and Wall
Street Journal/
NBC News - make clear that there are rising concerns about his policies.The biggest public concern is over the size of the deficit being run up by Obamas economic recovery proposals and how much more it will rise if his plan to overhaul health care and increase coverage for uninsured Americans is enacted. But there is also discomfort about his intervention in the auto industry and taking a big government stake in ownership of General Motors. And voters also disagree with Obama on closing Guantnamo.
On these issues the new polls track with surveys done by Gallup. Gallup found strong job approval ratings for Obama in a late May poll but disapproval of his handling of the federal deficit and controlling federal spending. A Gallup poll conducted June 9-10 found a majority disapproving of the governments investing in GM. Gallup said that voters opposed closing Guantnamo by more than a 2-to-1 margin.
Republicans have sensed a chink in Obamas armor on the issue of the deficit and government spending but at the same time the Times/CBS News poll and the Wall Street Journal/NBC News finds no love for the GOP. In the Times/CBS survey voters view the Republican party unfavorably by a 2-to-1 margin and the Wall Street Journal/NBC poll has a result that is close to that.
New York Times/CBS News poll
The rubber is meeting the road in Obamas presidency. While his job approval ratings remain high Americans are focusing in on his policies and a substantial number are concerned with the way his recovery and other major proposals are expanding the deficit according to this poll conducted June 12-16.
The poll found that support for his proposals on a range of issues - health care rescuing the auto industry and closing Guantnamo - fall short of his general job approval ratings.
The public now believes by 52 percent to 41 percent that reducing the budget deficit outweighs stimulating the economy. In May Americans were almost evenly divided on that question. By a 2-to-1 margin those polled say the Obama administration has not developed a clear plan for dealing with the deficit.
Obamas job approval ratio stands at 63 percent to 26 percent but his approval ratings on specific issues are lower. Approval for the way Obama is handling the economy is 57 percent to 35 percent a net 15 points lower. On health care Obamas approval ratio is 44 percent to 34 percent with 22 percent in the dont know" category. Forty-six percent disapprove of the way he has intervened in the auto industry compared to 41 percent who approve. Forty-five percent believe the U.S. should continue to operate the prison at Guantnamo while 42 percent favor closing it as Obama has said he intends to do.
Forty-eight percent say Obamas policies have not had any effect yet on the economy with 32 percent saying they have improved the economy and 15 percent saying they have made it worse.
The poll numbers on Obamas nomination of Sonia Sotomayor are pretty meaningless since 58 percent are either undecided or havent heard enough about her to form an opinion.
Americans have an unfavorable view of the Republican party by 58 percent to 28 percent. They favorably view the Democrats by 57 percent to 32 percent.
Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll
Obama is starting to move out of his charismatic and charming leader" phase with the public to judgments on how he is handling challenges facing the country with concerns growing about the budget deficit and the extent of government intervention into the economy. The poll was conducted June 12 -15.
Fifty-eight percent of those polled said Obama and Congress should focus on keeping the deficit down even if it slows economic recovery. Sixty-nine percent said they had concerns about federal intervention in the economy whether it was taking an ownership stake in General Motors limiting executive compensation or getting more involved in health care. Thirty percent did not share that level of concern. Today the Obama administration took that a step further with its proposal for broader regulation of the financial system.
Obamas approval rating fell from a 61 percent to 30 percent ratio in April to 56 percent to 34 percent a net drop of nine points. Americans approve of his handling of the economy by 51 percent to 38 percent a net drop of five points since April. On foreign policy his approval rating is 54 percent to 36 percent a net shift of 7 points to the negative.
Read the rest of this article HERE
*This article is from www.CQPolitics.com
Early in his presidency Barack Obama had a grace period when the public saw the nations problems as ones he inherited but two new polls -- by New York Times/CBS News and Wall Street Journal/NBC News - make clear that there are rising concerns about his policies.The biggest public concern is over the size of the deficit being run up by Obamas economic recovery proposals and how much more it will rise if his plan to overhaul health care and increase coverage for uninsured Americans is enacted. But there is also discomfort about his intervention in the auto industry and taking a big government stake in ownership of General Motors. And voters also disagree with Obama on closing Guantnamo.
On these issues the new polls track with surveys done by Gallup. Gallup found strong job approval ratings for Obama in a late May poll but disapproval of his handling of the federal deficit and controlling federal spending. A Gallup poll conducted June 9-10 found a majority disapproving of the governments investing in GM. Gallup said that voters opposed closing Guantnamo by more than a 2-to-1 margin.
Republicans have sensed a chink in Obamas armor on the issue of the deficit and government spending but at the same time the Times/CBS News poll and the Wall Street Journal/NBC News finds no love for the GOP. In the Times/CBS survey voters view the Republican party unfavorably by a 2-to-1 margin and the Wall Street Journal/NBC poll has a result that is close to that.
New York Times/CBS News poll
The rubber is meeting the road in Obamas presidency. While his job approval ratings remain high Americans are focusing in on his policies and a substantial number are concerned with the way his recovery and other major proposals are expanding the deficit according to this poll conducted June 12-16.
The poll found that support for his proposals on a range of issues - health care rescuing the auto industry and closing Guantnamo - fall short of his general job approval ratings.
The public now believes by 52 percent to 41 percent that reducing the budget deficit outweighs stimulating the economy. In May Americans were almost evenly divided on that question. By a 2-to-1 margin those polled say the Obama administration has not developed a clear plan for dealing with the deficit.
Obamas job approval ratio stands at 63 percent to 26 percent but his approval ratings on specific issues are lower. Approval for the way Obama is handling the economy is 57 percent to 35 percent a net 15 points lower. On health care Obamas approval ratio is 44 percent to 34 percent with 22 percent in the dont know" category. Forty-six percent disapprove of the way he has intervened in the auto industry compared to 41 percent who approve. Forty-five percent believe the U.S. should continue to operate the prison at Guantnamo while 42 percent favor closing it as Obama has said he intends to do.
Forty-eight percent say Obamas policies have not had any effect yet on the economy with 32 percent saying they have improved the economy and 15 percent saying they have made it worse.
The poll numbers on Obamas nomination of Sonia Sotomayor are pretty meaningless since 58 percent are either undecided or havent heard enough about her to form an opinion.
Americans have an unfavorable view of the Republican party by 58 percent to 28 percent. They favorably view the Democrats by 57 percent to 32 percent.
Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll
Obama is starting to move out of his charismatic and charming leader" phase with the public to judgments on how he is handling challenges facing the country with concerns growing about the budget deficit and the extent of government intervention into the economy. The poll was conducted June 12 -15.
Fifty-eight percent of those polled said Obama and Congress should focus on keeping the deficit down even if it slows economic recovery. Sixty-nine percent said they had concerns about federal intervention in the economy whether it was taking an ownership stake in General Motors limiting executive compensation or getting more involved in health care. Thirty percent did not share that level of concern. Today the Obama administration took that a step further with its proposal for broader regulation of the financial system.
Obamas approval rating fell from a 61 percent to 30 percent ratio in April to 56 percent to 34 percent a net drop of nine points. Americans approve of his handling of the economy by 51 percent to 38 percent a net drop of five points since April. On foreign policy his approval rating is 54 percent to 36 percent a net shift of 7 points to the negative.
Read the rest of this article HERE
*This article is from www.CQPolitics.com
