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POLITICS

11% Think Government Should Provide Basic Income Grant for All

Even in today’s tough economic times, the idea of the federal government providing basic living funds to all Americans is an unpopular one.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Voters shows that only 11% favor a proposal for the federal government to provide every single American with a basic income grant, or enough money to enjoy a modest living regardless of whether they choose to work or not. Eighty-two percent (82%) oppose this idea. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Nineteen percent (19%) of Democrats favor a basic income grant in the United States, a view shared by just three percent (3%) of Republicans and nine percent (9%) of voters not affiliated with either party.

Nearly one in five Political Class voters (18%) favor basic income grant proposal, compared to just eight percent (8%) of mainstream voters. 

Overall, 45% of voters already believe that the United States spends too much money on welfare and other programs to help those in financial need, up from 38% earlier this year. Voters also lack enthusiasm for a proposal calling for the federal government to temporarily hire one million people.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The national survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on August 29-30, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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