NPR covers their poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner:
The economy is weighing heavily on Americans’ minds, according to a new NPR poll that shows it dominating all other major issues. An overwhelming 97 percent of respondents say the economy is doing poorly, but there are doubts that the stimulus package will be enough to help.
The economy and jobs were listed as the top issue by 56 percent of respondents, followed by 11 percent who said taxes and spending were most important. By comparison, only 3 percent cited the Iraq war, and 1 percent named the war in Afghanistan as the top issue.
The first measure of President Obama’s rating in the NPR poll, conducted March 10-14, shows 59 percent of Americans approving of the job he’s doing, compared with 35 percent disapproving. The reviews for Congress are nearly the mirror opposite of those for the president: 58 percent disapprove of the job it’s doing, while 36 percent approve.
NPR also has charts and graphs of the results as well as a link to the questionnaire and complete results.
Glen Bolger can be heard on NPR discussing the results here.
At Huffington Post, Thomas B. Edsall writes about the Pew Economic Mobility Project survey:
In the face of a recession that has destroyed billions in family savings and home values, Americans remain convinced that personal initiative and hard work are the key to big rewards, and they continue to repudiate the idea of government intervention to alleviate economic inequality, according to two Pew-sponsored reports.
Not only do voters continue to be convinced, by large majorities, that they, and not government or big corporations, control their own destinies in the midst of the current recession, but they do so despite more long-term evidence suggesting that there is less class mobility in the United States than in most Northern European countries, or in Canada, and that U.S. wages have not kept up with productivity gains for the past three decades.
This conviction underpins the long-standing American hostility to a full-fledged welfare state — along the lines of many European counties — and underpins the lack of a strong socialist tradition in the US. It also shapes the debate over policies to deal with the current recession, including the Obama administration’s rejection of bank nationalization.
Glenn Bolger is quoted in a Salon.com piece about executive bonuses:
“[Voters] wouldn’t mind seeing some of the executives hanging from lampposts on Wall Street,” said Glen Bolger, a Republican pollster.
There are also a few stories on a poll conducted in Pennsylvania by POS along with Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates.
From the Observer-Reporter:
A coalition of environmental groups said Monday they’re launching a campaign in support of a severance tax on natural gas drilling from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale strata.
The various groups, which range from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission to the American Farmland Trust, said during a telephone news conference that they want a portion of any severance tax dedicated to conservation purposes in the state.
The group also released a survey that showed that a majority of Pennsylvanians would support a tax on natural gas drilling.
[…]David Metz, senior vice president with Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates, said the bipartisan poll of 600 voters was conducted from Feb. 28 to March 3 with Public Opinion Strategies.
According to Metz, 53 percent of respondents said they would support a severance tax, while 37 percent said they were opposed.
A news release on the poll includes a link to the poll summary memo.
American Future Fund links to Gene Ulm’s post from yesterday.