As more polling numbers roll in, it’s not looking any better for the Obama administration.
Despite Friday’s passage of the president’s package of wealth transfers and expanded spending, Rasmussen reports today only 38 percent of voters think it will help the economy. That means faith in the $1.1 trillion Obama spending bill measures at the roughly same percentage as that of Americans who believe in ghosts and astrology.
Just 27 percent of independent voters, the folks who actually decide elections, say it helps. Thirty-four percent think Obama’s spending explosion will end up hurting the economy.
The package, which Obama claimed must be passed so quickly no one should be allowed even read it because "we don’t have a moment to spare," will not be signed until Tuesday so the president can take advantage of better non-holiday weekend media coverage.
Rasmussen’s polling finds middle-class voters, those most likely to be "swing" voters, are the most skeptical of the spending bill. Only 31 percent think the bill is a mix of new spending and tax cuts, while 50 percent recognize the bill is mostly new spending. Only eight percent of voters think the bill is primarily tax cuts. Many of the tax "cuts" in the bill are nothing more than checks written out to people with no income tax liability.
Despite a fevered sell by Obama, including a prime-time press conference that drew fewer viewers than Clinton’s debut presidential press conference, only thirty-two percent of voters are more likely to vote for a candidate that supported the spending bill. Thirty-five percent are more likely to vote against such a candidate.
Pennsylvania senator and spending bill supporter Arlen Specter has already seen his re-election prospects damaged by his vote. Rasmussen finds just 31 percent of Pennsylvania voters are more likely to vote for Specter because of his support for the bills, while 40 percent are now more likely to vote against him.
