Quinnipiac University Poll. May 19-24, 2010. N=1,914 registered voters nationwide. MoE ± 2.2.
"Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling the economy?"
Approve Disapprove Unsure
% % %
5/19-24/10
44 50 6
4/14-19/10
40 55 5
And they're right.
We can infer that the approval ratings of both Democrats and Republicans in Congress are probably even lower, because Obama's are consistently higher than these groups in almost all polls.
Why does the public disapprove? Because this government has:
- Failed to aggressively create jobs
- Toed the Wall Street line
We don't need to guess about how the public feels on either of these issues. Here's the very next question from the Quinnipiac poll.
"Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling creating jobs?"
Approve Disapprove Unsure
% % %
5/19-24/10
40 51 9
4/14-19/10
38 56 6
3/22-23/10
37 57 6
That really shouldn't be very surprising, considering our current jobs picture. This graph really puts the claim that we are gaining jobs in perspective. The gain is the barely noticeable downtick at the very end, past the huge hump, and partly offset by the slight increase in unemployment in April:
But that's not even the half of it. This is truly stunning:
CBS News Poll. May 20-24, 2010. N=1,054 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.
"Do you think the financial institutions on Wall Street have too much influence, too little influence, or the right amount of influence on the Obama Administration?"
Too much Too little Right amount No influence (vol.) Unsure
% % % % %
5/20-24/10
59 5 12 3 21
59% thinks Wall Street has too much influence on Obama. 33% thinks the right amount or is unsure. 8% thinks too little.
Nor are Americans at all undecided about what they want on financial reform.
FOX News/Opinion Dynamics Poll. May 4-5, 2010. N=900 registered voters nationwide. MoE ± 3.
"Based on what you know, do you favor or oppose the federal government imposing new stricter controls and regulations on Wall Street and the financial services industry?"
Favor Oppose Unsure
% % %
ALL
69 20 11
Democrats
82 10 9
Republicans
55 33 11
Independents
65 20 14
Feelings on Wall Street are worth emphasizing because parts of the media are doing a good job of obscuring them. Look at Daniel Indiviglio writing at The Atlantic:
http://www.theatlantic.com/...
He quotes the following question by Rasmussen:
2* Do you favor or oppose more government regulation of the U.S. financial system?
37% Favor
46% Oppose
17% Not sure
This poll question is completely flawed, however. The problem is that it doesn't distinguish between regulation that disciplines Wall Street and regulation that helps Wall Street. When Americans think of "regulating" the US financial system, many not surprisingly think of the biggest regulatory effort in recent history, namely the bailout. And opinion on the bailout is none too fine:
"Looking back, do you think the federal government should have provided financial help to U.S. banks and financial institutions who were in financial trouble, or should these companies have been allowed to succeed or fail on their own?"
Government should have helped
Government should not have helped
Unsure
% % %
5/20-24/10
27 67 6
Any poll question that doesn't distinguish between disciplining Wall Street and bailing it out is probably worthless. Indiviglio is a former investment banker, and he often speaks out against regulation and tries to minimize public support for reform. We should all make sure to realize that The Atlantic can be quite pro-corporatist. And is it just me, or doesn't this magazine try to come across as leaning liberal?
More specific polls also support distinguishing between disciplining Wall Street and bailouts:
"Please tell me whether you support or oppose each of these items. . . ."
Support Oppose Unsure
% % %
"Having the federal government regulate the complex financial instruments known as derivatives"
4/22-25/10
43 41 17
"Requiring large banks and other financial companies to put money into a fund that would cover the cost of taking over and breaking up any large financial company that fails and threatens the broader economy"
4/22-25/10
53 42 5
"Increasing federal oversight of the way banks and other financial companies make consumer loans, such as mortgages and auto loans, and issue credit cards"
4/22-25/10
59 38 2
In other words, regulation of derivatives gets neutral reviews because first of all, no one has any clue what they are, and secondly, it's not clear what sort of regulation is involved. But a prepaid resolution fund, phrased in a way that makes it clear banks and not the government is paying, gets 53-42%, and consumer protection regulations get even higher at 59-38%, probably because few respondents are confusing who loses and benefits from them.
But consumer protection regulations, including the exceptions for auto dealers and payday lenders that the White House has vowed to fight, are not people's most important financial reform priority.
HP7. Which one of the following goals of financial regulatory reform is most important to you: (RANDOMIZE ITEMS 1-5.)
Reducing or even eliminating the need for the federal government to ever step in and bail out large financial institutions again the way the government bailed out the big banks last year ......................................................................................
33
Creating a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency with rules about how banks treat customers .....................................................
12
Increasing the regulation of the kind of complex financial products that contributed to the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009 ..............................................................................................
14
Banning banks from making money by trading risky financial products rather than simply making money in traditional bank functions ..................................................................................
9
Creating new powers to allow the federal government to wind down failed institutions that are important to the financial system ..........................................................................................
3
None of these are important goals to me personally .........................................
11
Not sure ....................................................................................................
......
http://www.theatlantic.com/...
This is not surprising. Bank failures are what caused this crisis. They are the core of the problem, not consumer protection, although that is no doubt important. This means that the Obama administration's record - undoubtedly negative on bank regulation, but more positive on the Consumer Finance Protection Agency - is basically bad. And because the Republicans are even worse and are correctly understood as worse by the public, it also shows that our whole system of government has failed to present a viable alternative.
http://www.pollingreport.com/...
http://www.pollingreport.com/...