On the heels of the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating, unhappiness with the debt ceiling debates and more unemployment and housing woes, more voters than ever worry that the federal government will not do enough to help the economy.
In the weeks during and since the debt-ceiling debate, the media, pushed by the Democratic Party, has peddled the propaganda that our government is broken -- because the Republicans in the House of Representatives negotiated a better deal than the liberals wanted.
For the fifth week in a row, a generic Republican candidate edges President Obama in a hypothetical 2012 election match-up.
Texas Governor Rick Perry, the new face in the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, has jumped to a double-digit lead over Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann with the other announced candidates trailing even further behind.
Americans would rather see the U.S. Postal Service dramatically cut its workforce and reduce mail delivery to three or four days a week than have the government pour more money into the financially struggling agency.
Americans' ongoing uneasiness about their finances is putting some cracks in how they feel about their retirement nest eggs. The COUNTRY Financial Security Index® dropped one point to 63.7 in June, in part because confidence in retirement reached an all-time low.
Small businesses are seen by many as the heart of the U.S. economy, and most voters think the best way the government can help them is by staying out of the way.
Watching the riots in Britain's cities, I recalled visiting an English friend who ran a big company and had a country house grand enough to be called a "hall." (I will not disclose his identity.) Though hardly liberal, my friend was politically moderate. He was also a very decent person.
Congress is looking for sizable spending cuts in the months ahead, and voters see three so-called “corporate welfare” programs as potential candidates for the chopping block - farm subsidies, aid to large corporations to promote export sales and funding to help other countries buy U.S.-made weapons.
Republicans have bounced back to a seven-point lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot for the week ending Sunday, August 14.
Americans still overwhelmingly believe that those employed in the private sector work harder than government workers but receive less compensation and have less job security.
Voters show very little confidence in the federal government when it comes to picking winners in the technology industry.
While a majority of voters continue to favor repeal of the national health care law, there's slightly less confidence this month that it actually will happen.
Changes in the tax code are likely as Congress debates ways to cut the federal deficit, and most Americans are willing to sacrifice a few deductions in exchange for lower tax rates.
This has been quite a week or 10 days for Republicans. As this is written, down in South Carolina Rick Perry has just announced he's running for president, while here in Ames most of the votes have been cast but none has yet been counted in the Iowa Republican straw poll.
Most U.S. voters continue to believe President Obama is more liberal than they are.
Americans nationwide continue to lose faith in the Federal Reserve Board to keep inflation under control, with the number who say they are paying more for groceries now at an all-time high.
Americans aren’t impressed with the way the British government has responded to the riots in London, but most don’t think the violent incidents put the city’s hosting of next year’s Summer Olympics at risk.
Most Americans these days would agree with Thomas Paine’s famous declaration in 1776: “These are the times that try men’s souls.” We lack confidence in the economy, government, elections, the president, Congress, both political parties, even our military missions abroad, with little hope in sight.
When it comes to job creation and improving the overall economy, voters think tax cuts will work better than government solutions.
