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POLITICS

66% Worry Government Will Run Out of Money

Most Americans remain concerned about the federal government’s financial situation and think the majority of politicians want more of their money.  

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 66% of American Adults are at least somewhat worried that the U.S. government will run out of money, including 38% who are Very Worried.  Only 30% don't share that concern, but that includes just seven percent (7%) who are Not At All Worried. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The latest findings show no change from February 2009, just after President Obama signed the $787 billion stimulus plan into law.  But the number of Americans who feel the government will run out of funds is down seven points from November 2008 following the first major bank bailouts.

Recent separate surveying has found that 50% of Likely U.S. Voters think it’s more likely that the government will go bankrupt and be unable to pay its debt before the federal budget is balanced. Thirty-three percent (33%) believe the budget is more likely to be balanced first.  

Sixty-two percent (62%) of Adults think most politicians want the government to have more power and money than it does today, while 18% think politicians want less power and money. Only 10% believe most politicians would be happy if the amount of power and money the government has stays about the same.

By comparison, just 18% feel that most Americans want the government to have more power and money than it does today.  A strong majority (64%) feel Americans want the government to have less power and money. Eleven percent (11%) think the majority of Americans are fine with the level of government power and money staying about the same. 

(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 Adults was conducted on May 30-31, 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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