Given last year’s record-high gasoline prices and the still-fluctuating price at the pump, most Americans aren’t interested in the government tacking on any more, even in the name of fuel efficiency.
If the federal government becomes the majority owner of General Motors and Chrysler, most Americans (57%) believe it’s likely the government will pass laws and regulations giving those firms an unfair advantage over other car companies. That figure includes 37% who consider such preferential treatment Very Likely.
Three-out-of-four American voters (75%) say that businesses do a better job than government agencies when it comes to handling customer service issues. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that only 11% take the opposite view and believe that government bodies do a better job.
Just 35% of American voters believe that a free market economy is the same as a capitalist economy. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 38% disagree and 27% are not sure.
Just 18% of Americans think the United Auto Workers union and the federal government will do a good job running Chrysler and General Motors, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Twenty-four percent (24%) of Americans say they personally need to cut back on their use of credit cards and other borrowing, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone poll.
Sixty-eight percent (68%) of adults say a bigger economic problem than the current lack of credit is that Americans borrow too much money.
Barring a last-minute breakthrough, Chrysler appears headed for bankruptcy today as the only remaining way to stay in business, but just 25% of Americans say they would buy an automobile from a bankrupt automaker.
Fifty-seven percent (57%) of Americans say there is a need for more government oversight of the credit card industry, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Twenty-one percent (21%) of American adults say that the U.S. economy is partially socialist and another five percent (5%) say generally speaking it’s already a socialist economy.
Fifty-four percent (54%) of Americans say it is at least somewhat likely that Chrysler will once again be a profitable company. However, a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that only 14% believe that the struggling automaker is Very Likely to become profitable.
Seventy-seven percent (77%) of U.S. voters say that they prefer a free market economy over a government-managed economy. That’s up seven points since December.
Earlier this week, Gallup released new data showing that most Americans still view big government as a more serious threat to the nation than big business or big labor. The results weren’t terribly surprising since Gallup has asked the question periodically since 1965 and government has always been seen as the biggest threat.
Less than half the nation’s workers (44%) expect to have the same employer five years from now.
With the annual ritual of filing federal income taxes just behind them, 52% of U.S. voters now believe they pay more than their fair share of taxes, up seven points from earlier this month.
Job confidence appears to be growing amidst other signs of short-term optimism about the U.S. economy.
Looking back, 59% of voters nationwide believe the federal bailouts for banks and other financial institutions were a bad idea. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 26% think they were a good idea.
Forty-nine percent (49%) of adults nationwide now say it is possible for anyone who really wants to work to find a job.
Sixty percent (60%) of American adults say it will take three years or longer for housing prices to recover. That’s up slightly from 57% who thought it would take that long a month ago.
Americans have a little more confidence in the U.S. banking system than they did two months ago.
