In this post, I speculated that many (most) Americans were skeptical of the stimulus package. In the comments, Minus Ten cites a WSJ article and poll. The headline:
It's always good to check out the wording of the questions used to draw such a strong conclusion. So I went to the actual poll results. At first glance, it appears pretty open and shut. Here is question 29:
Statement A: The economic stimulus plan is a good idea because it will help make the recession shorter, get people back to work, and provide money for transportation, education, and Medicaid programs.
Statement B: The economic stimulus plan is a bad idea because it will do little to shorten the recession, the jobs are temporary, and it will significantly increase the deficit.
Statement A/Economic stimulus is a good idea………………… 57
Statement B/Economic stimulus plan is a bad idea…………… 36
Not sure……………………………………………………………………….. 7
You can quibble with the wording. But it's not bad. And 57 to 36 does look like pretty broad support.Of course there is also question 27:
That the federal government will spend too MUCH money to try to boost the economy and as a result will drive up the budget deficit, OR
That the federal government will spend too LITTLE money to try to boost the economy and as a result the recession will be longer?
That the federal government will spend too MUCH money….. 60
That the federal government will spend too LITTLE money…. 33
Not sure…………………………………………………………………………. 7
Again, I would have worded it a little differently. But again, it's close enough. So what does it tell you about support for the stimulus package? Maybe the headline should have been:
Americans Confused About Fiscal Policy, Deficit
Or maybe:
Americans Hope for Free Lunch–Support Stimulus Package When They Don't Think Too Much About the Cost
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My subtitle for the article:
"Americans once again tempted to say what they think the interviewer wants to hear to classify the participant as informed."
Question 29 is muddied by the mention of Obama. What the question is realty assessing is the popularity of Obama. I don't suspect too many Obama supporters agreed w/ statement B, which suggests that Obama is incompetent in crafting a stimulus plan.
I am somewhat amazed — and a little encouraged — that as many as 36% think the economic stimulus plan is a bad idea.
When you consider that officials from both parties along with the great majority of economists and virtually all media people are clamoring for the stimulus, it's interesting that more than 1 in 3 appear to realize that it is a bad idea indeed.
I think dave has a good point. The question is asking as much about what people think of Obama as it is asking about the stimulus plan.
It is possible to believe that the stimulus plan is the better choice while believing that it is, if anything, too much as opposed to too little.
On the other hand, it's pretty unrealistic to expect an average citizen to have the knowledge and tools at their disposal to be able to make an informed comment about the stimulus plan. Especially one as big and as complex as this one.
The U.S. is not a nation of independent entrepreneurs confident of the future as long as we can satisfy the wants of neighbors producing similarly for us. We have an overwhelmingly corporatist economy, and "having a job" is largely a matter of having some corporatist authority's permission to play an entitlements game. When the entitlements to work seem scarce, we're sheepish. We don't think about what we can do to earn our neighbor's exchange tomorrow. We think about when the corporative state will provide us another role to play with enough entitlement to consume in the weekly notice. Frankly, I don't see that changing much.
Martin Brock: Huh?