What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Week Ending September 10, 2011

This past week may well have been a preview of the headlines for months to come, with Texas Governor Rick Perry coming out swinging on the national stage and President Obama trying once more to give the struggling economy a shot in the arm. Whether Obama can get his new jobs plan to work may go a long way toward determining whether he keeps his job for another four years.

Making a better life for the next generation has long been the goal of American parents, but just 18% of American Adults believe today’s children will be better off than their parents.  That’s down six points since June. Sixty-seven percent (67%) say they won’t be better off.

Eighteen percent (18%) of Likely U.S. Voters now say the country is heading in the right direction, down 11 points from a year ago.  Since the third week in July, the number of voters who are confident in the nation’s current course has resembled levels measured in the final months of the Bush administration.

On Sunday, the Rasmussen Report on radio will feature an exclusive and powerful interview with a woman who was working on the 64^th floor of one of the World Trade Center towers when the first plane struck. Scott Rasmussen will also mention our latest 9/11 findings on the 10^th anniversary of that tragic day. You can listen on Sunday at 3:06 Eastern/2:06 Central on WMAL 630 AM in Washington, DC, WLS 830 AM in Chicago, or online anywhere. 

Consumer confidence fell in August for the third straight month, as the Discover U.S. Spending Monitor(SM) dropped to its lowest level since March 2009.  Since January, the Monitor which tracks economic confidence and spending intentions of around 8,200 consumers a month has been in a freefall.

The Rasmussen Consumer and Investor Indexes which measure the economic confidence of both groups on a daily basis rebounded slightly over the past week but confidence is still down from three months ago.