CNN Poll: Obama approval rating drops as fears of depression rise

**Curt James** · 06-08-2011, 01:05 PM

Big Pimpin posted an article on chronic unemployment, so this might be a rerun/repeat. I'll combine the threads or delete this one if necessary.

Posting from my phone.

CNN Poll: Obama approval rating drops as fears of depression rise

Posted: June 8, 2011, 11:02 am ET
(CNN) – President Barack Obama’s overall approval rating has dropped below 50 percent as a growing number of Americans worry that the U.S. is likely to slip into another Great Depression within the next 12 months, according to a new national poll.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Wednesday also indicate that the economy overall remains issue number one to voters, with other economic issues — unemployment, gas prices and the federal deficit — taking three of the remaining four spots in the top five.

Forty-eight percent of people questioned say they approve of how the president is handling his duties in the White House, down six points from late May.

An equal 48 percent say they disapprove of how Obama’s performing, up three points from late last month. The poll indicates a slight deterioration among Democrats and independent voters, with the president’s approval rating among Democrats down three points to 82 percent and down five points among independents to 42 percent.

“But far and away his biggest drop has come among Republicans. In May, over a quarter approved of President Obama’s handling of his job, but that is down to 14 percent now, a clear indication that any advantage he gained from taking out Osama bin Laden has faded with time,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

According to the survey Obama’s strength remains his personal appeal: Three-quarters of all Americans say they approve of him personally, including a plurality of Republicans. But positive views of the president’s personality may be trumped by economic jitters.

“Obama’s approval among Republicans spiked after bin Laden’s death, and no one expected it to stay that high for another 18 months.

But the White House is probably worried more about the much smaller drops among independents and even Democrats. Those shifts are likely due to concerns about the economy, particularly unemployment,” adds Holland.

Forty-eight percent say that another Great Depression is likely to occur in the next year — the highest that figure has ever reached. The survey also indicates that just under half live in a household where someone has lost a job or are worried that unemployment may hit them in the near future.

The poll was conducted starting Friday, when the Labor Department reported that the nation’s jobless rate edged up to 9.1 percent.

“The poll reminded respondents that during the Depression in the 1930s, roughly one in four workers were unemployed, banks failed, and millions of Americans were homeless or unable to feed their families,” says Holland.

“And even with that reminder, nearly half said that another depression was likely in the next 12 months. That’s not just economic pessimism — that’s economic fatalism.”

According to the survey, more than eight in ten Americans say that the economy is in poor shape, a number that has stubbornly remained at that level since March.

Not surprisingly, with that much economic angst, the economy is the number one issue, the only one that more than half of the public says will be extremely important to their vote for president next year.

Nearly all issues that at least four in ten say will be extremely important to their vote are domestic issues.

Terrorism also makes that list, but Afghanistan is fairly low and Libya is tied for dead last out of the 15 issues tested.

Abortion and gay marriage also rank very low, indicating that 2012 may be an election that is shaped more by bread-and-butter issues than social and moral concerns.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted June 3-7, with 1,015 adult Americans questioned by telephone.

The survey’s overall sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.

From CNN.com

**newkid** · 06-08-2011, 02:33 PM

i heard on cnn that a president has never been re-elected with a unemployment rate over 7.2 and that one president was ronald raegan.. i just dont know who will beat him out of office in the republican party, id hate too see sarah palin on the ballot

**LAM** · 06-08-2011, 03:52 PM

Originally Posted by newkid

i heard on cnn that a president has never been re-elected with a unemployment rate over 7.2 and that one president was ronald raegan.. i just dont know who will beat him out of office in the republican party, id hate too see sarah palin on the ballot

Palin nor anyone else on the far-far right will ever occupy the office of POTUS. they would never get enough electoral votes, no worries there. jimmy mcmillian could probably get more electoral votes then Palin, she's a side-show (Dam you John McCain!). Pawlenty is the only viable candidate for the GOP, Romney wouldn't get the republican nomination he has upset the base of the GOP to many times and Newt is the most venomous spewing politician in probably modern US politics, he is delusional to say the least.

unfortunately the unemployment rate of 9% is the new unemployment rate in the US. the days of 5% are gone, never to return. however once you factor in the jobs transfered overseas I bet the real unemployment rate is closer to 17%.

**GearsMcGilf** · 06-08-2011, 06:53 PM

The unemployment rate is probably north of 20% if you factor in the overseas transfers along with the fact that people who have given up, as well as the underemployed, are factored in. For instance, I will be heading back overseas soon, so I'm not part of the equation. Until drastic changes are made, the current unemployment rate will probably be the standard in the US.

As an anecdotal example, I spent the majority of the day at the library today, posting for overseas gigs. I couldn't help but notice 7-8 people, ranging in age from mid 20s to 50s, around me with their laptops, just hanging out on a Wednesday, for hours. They were probably unemployed and looking for gigs also, if I had to guess. The situation hasn't improved at all over the last 3 years.

It will take a paradigm shift in economic policy for anything to change. Possibly a change in the tax code, a fair tax, flat tax, or new tariffs on foreign goods. Something to bring industry back home. But, the outlook is definitely bleak, regardless of who the next POTUS may be. The fundamentals of how this country operates aren't going to change regardless of which party is in charge.

**LAM** · 06-08-2011, 08:07 PM

regarding the fundamentals you are spot on...that's why one change hear or there would nave a negligible effect on the economy.

an economy based on consumption may have been the worst idea ever, it doesn't even look good on paper. it could probably work in some countries but not in the US with stagnant wages and severe wage inequality's and a society based on excess and greed.

there are some good papers out there from the london school of economics (LSE) which spell out the effects that globalization and privatization have/are having on labors share of income in all OECD countries, all are in the decline. privatization is associated with a significantly lower labor share of the national income, significantly higher average wage and a significantly lower number of jobs, this is seen across all OECD countries. those that are the least skilled and least educated are pretty much SOL in this environment. those that do have jobs are worked to death and become more "efficient" for fear of losing there job.

there are also a lot of "scary" documents out there on the web from the ILO in which UN resolutions were made to establish a new global economic world order. immigration policies now limit the movement of people to were the work is, but thanks to the Internet, etc. capital can reach every corner of the globe.

**GearsMcGilf** · 06-08-2011, 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by LAM

regarding the fundamentals you are spot on...that's why one change hear or there would nave a negligible effect on the economy.

an economy based on consumption may have been the worst idea ever, it doesn't even look good on paper. it could probably work in some countries but not in the US with stagnant wages and severe wage inequality's and a society based on excess and greed.

IDK. If you are referring to a consumption tax above, I would have to disagree. I don't think we are as greedy or as obsessed with excess as we were a few years ago. National savings has increased dramatically over the last few years jobs are scarce. For those who are concerned about fairness, a consumption tax seems to be about as fair as it gets. The more one earns, the more they consume, the more they pay. And, there is no way to escape from paying your share, regardless of what CPA you hire. If you want to pay less, you have to save more. Seems to make sense. Even those who make money illegally will be forced to pay their share. The greedier you are and the more luxuries you buy up, the more you will pay. The less you earn, the less you pay. Under this system, there is no multiple taxation, as is the case right now, hence, nothing to pass on to the consumer. Sounds fair IMO.

**LAM** · 06-08-2011, 08:37 PM

a economy based on consumption vs production. one major problem is that our society is very id based and the rewards of the delay of gratification are no longer taught to the youth today. children of babyboomers have not a clue about saving, their parents taught them to spend and borrow and if you want something and can't afford it, then use credit, etc. back in the 90's and early 2000's when I was still in the mortgage biz I used to re-finance the same people over and over, every couple of years. because they would max out their credit cards get a cash-out refi pay them off then start spending all over again.

**GearsMcGilf** · 06-08-2011, 08:54 PM

Ha! It has been an epidemic for a long time. I'd say the wealthy have been some of the worst culprits. I had a Cardiologist, who lived in a $1.5M house, come to me for a home equity line. He earned around $600k/yr. This cat had more than $80k in credit card debt (lower than many), a motor home, a lake house, and all the toys (ATVs, a Harley, etc.). He wanted to roll all the debt into the HEL. I agreed to it, along with the credit folks that had to sign off on it, since it was a $600K HEL. At that time, things were a little more lenient, so we didn't make him bring the bills to us to make sure they got paid off. A year later, he came back to us and asked for an increase of his HEL, and turns out, he spent the $ and hadn't paid of any of his toys. Obviously, his request was declined. This kind of shit was pretty typical around that time.

The Fed, while not solely responsible for everyone's bad judgement, contributed a lot to this problem. The borrowing orgy started around 2001. If interest rates hadn't been artificially low for so long, this borrowing spike wouldn't have happened and gone on for so long.

**ZECH** · 06-08-2011, 09:01 PM

I read that considering ALL unemployed, counting ones that have run out of benefits and quit looking for work, the REAL number is greater than in the great depression of the 1930's. It was 35/36% then................

**GearsMcGilf** · 06-08-2011, 09:13 PM

I've heard around 25%. We're probably not far off from that now. But, the govt will always manipulate the numbers. IMO, we've been in a depression since at least mid 2008. The talk about recovery a year ago, and a possible double dip now, is a joke. We've been in a depression for at least 3 years now, and there's no light at the end of the tunnel yet.

Another anecdotal example. A mate of mine worked with me in my first career job. We were both in private banking. Later, we both moved on and he went to work as a loan broker with another firm, and I went to another bank as a commercial RE lender. This cat is working as an assistant manager at a fast food joint now, working 60 hours a week now for $35K. This is one of the reasons I'm considering going overseas.

**ZECH** · 06-09-2011, 03:54 PM

Well the government admits to 19/20 million unemployed and you know it is higher than that. So the number is very high.

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