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BUSINESS

Voters Fear Too Much Government ‘Help’ For Economy

Despite continuing concerns about the economy, most voters still worry that the federal government will do too much in trying to turn things around.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 39% of Likely U.S. Voters fear that the government will not do enough in reacting to the country’s current economic problems. Fifty-one percent (51%) worry instead that the government will do too much. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

This is consistent with findings since March.

One effort to help the economy was the $787-billion economic stimulus plan passed by Congress last year, but voters continue to have mixed feelings about that measure. Thirty-four percent (34%) believe it helped the economy, while 33% say it has hurt. As far as 29% are concerned, the plan has had no economic impact.

Voters have had questions about the stimulus plan right from the start. Since June 2009, belief that the stimulus has been beneficial for the economy has ranged from 25% to 36%, while those who think it has hurt the economy have ranged from 28% to 43%.

(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 survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on November 23, 2010 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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