The FINANCIAL -- Voter confidence in the future of the country has returned to the lowest levels found in nearly five years of surveys.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 32% of Likely U.S. Voters think America’s best days are in the future, down from 37% in June . Just over half (51%) say the nation’s best days are in the past, while 17% are not sure.
The number of voters who believe the nation’s best days are ahead of us hit an all-time low of 31% in April but like several other indicators seemed to react positively to the killing of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. However, that bounce appears to have ended. Optimism has dropped to 32% only twice before since November 2006. Those who think America’s best days are behind us have ranged from 37% to 53% since November 2006.
Just 17% of voters now say the country is heading in the right direction , the lowest finding since January 11, 2009. Investor confidence as measured by the Rasmussen Investor Index has fallen to its lowest level since March of that year.
The national survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on July 28-29, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
Sixty-one percent (61%) of the Political Class think America’s best days are in the future, but 61% of Mainstream voters feel they’re in the past. Roughly half (49%) of Democrats say the country’s best days are still to come, but 61% of Republicans and 56% of voters not affiliated with either political party disagree.
Sixty-two percent (62%) of all voters nationwide say they prefer a government with fewer services and lower taxes over one with more services and higher taxes. Only 27% prefer the opposite. These findings have remained fairly consistent since November 2006.
There is a large partisan gap on this question, too. Half (50%) of Democrats support a government with more services and higher taxes, while most Republicans (83%) and unaffiliateds (70%) favor one with fewer services and lower taxes.
Most voters nationwide think the final deal to raise the debt ceiling will raise taxes too much and cut spending too little . Forty-nine percent (49%) don’t think the government will actually cut the spending agreed upon.
When it comes to national security, a plurality (49%) of all voters believes our allies should do what the United States wants more often. Just eight percent (8%) feel our nation should do what our allies want more of the time, while 35% say neither course is better. These findings also have changed little since 2006.
When asked about President Obama, 41% of voters think he feels our allies should do what the United States wants more often. Twenty-four percent (24%) say Obama thinks the United States should do more of what our allies want, and another 25% say he feels neither is the best option. These figures are in line with voter sentiments since Obama assumed office in January 2009.
The United States has defense treaties with over 50 nations , but most Americans aren't willing to defend very many of them militarily.
Most voters (75%) agree with the late President Reagan when he said, “The United States should not commit its forces to military action overseas unless the cause is vital to our national interest.”
www.rasmussenreports.com
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