With the government preparing to spend hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars on economic stimulus and bailouts for various industries, two new polls find that Americans have mixed opinions about the plans.
Sixty-four percent support the $787 billion economic stimulus plan, according to an
ABC News/Washington Post poll. That's down 6 percent from a month ago. Nearly 60 percent in that poll said they were confident the stimulus will make the recession less severe, but more--63 percent--said more economic stimulus will ultimately be needed.
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CBS News/New York Times poll found slightly less optimism for the stimulus act: 53 percent said it will make things better, while 24 percent expect no impact and 13 percent think it will make things worse.
Only 18 percent said the stimulus bill is large enough, according to the CBS/NYT poll, and 69 percent said more money will be needed.
The Obama administration's plan to help homeowners and slow the rate of foreclosures is supported by a majority in both polls.
Sixty-one percent in the CBS/NYT poll said the government should provide help to homeowners, and 64 percent in the ABC/WP poll favor Obama's $75 billion plan to provide mortgage refinance assistance.
There were mixed feelings, however, about those getting mortgage help. In the CBS/NYT poll, an equal percentage--35 percent--said they were relieved to see homeowners get aid and said they were resentful resentful that it could help borrowers who took out mortgages they weren't certain they could pay.
Struggling car companies, and the bailouts they are getting, found much less sympathy from the American people.
From the ABC/WP poll:
Sixty-eight percent of Americans oppose providing them with the additional federal loans they've requested, even if needed to stave off bankruptcy--another of the relatively few issues on which substantial majorities of Democrats, independents and Republicans agree.
Similar results from the CBS/NYT poll:
There is even less support for giving more money to the struggling auto industry: some auto makers have already received loans from the government and say they may need more to avoid bankruptcy. 68% of Americans would oppose giving auto companies any more money.
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