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The Hill Poll: Most voters say the United States is in decline (but is this reversible?)
The Hill ^ | 10/24/2011 | Mike Lillis

Posted on 10/24/2011 7:24:40 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

More than two-thirds of voters say the United States is declining, and a clear majority think the next generation will be worse off than this one, according to the results of a new poll commissioned by The Hill.

A resounding 69 percent of respondents said the country is “in decline,” the survey found, while 57 percent predict today’s kids won’t live better lives than their parents. Additionally, 83 percent of voters indicated they’re either very or somewhat worried about the future of the nation, with 49 percent saying they’re “very worried.”

The results suggest that Americans don’t view the country’s current economic and political troubles as temporary, but instead see them continuing for many years.

The pessimism is consistent with numerous public opinion polls revealing a sweeping lack of faith in Congress to address the nation’s problems — a souring trend that’s only become more pronounced since the economy slipped into recession three years ago.

The degree of pessimism, however, varies sharply by race and party affiliation, The Hill Poll found. Republicans, for instance, have less hope for the country’s future, with 90 percent saying the United States is declining and 66 percent predicting today’s kids will be worse off than their parents. By contrast, fewer than half of Democratic respondents indicated the country is in decline (47 percent) or fear for the next generation’s living standards (45 percent).

Oddly enough, African Americans — who were hammered much harder by the recession than whites — are more optimistic about the direction of the country, with 30 percent of black respondents saying the United States is deteriorating, versus 74 percent of whites.

In a similar vein, fewer than a third of black voters (31 percent) think today’s youths will suffer greater hardships than their parents, versus 60 percent for white respondents.

Gender played a small role in dictating voters’ sense of the country’s health, according to the survey, with 70 percent of men and 68 percent of women saying the United States is moving downhill. Likewise, 58 percent of male voters and 56 percent of females said the next generation is in trouble.

The findings were based on a nationwide survey of 1,000 likely voters conducted last week by Pulse Opinion Research, an independent polling firm.

The fear of decline was also evident in another line of questioning, as 57 percent of voters indicated the United States is currently the most powerful nation on earth, but just 19 percent predicted that will be true 20 years from now.

Optimism about the nation’s current global status was consistent across both racial and party lines, though more men (62 percent) than women (52 percent) view the United States as the world’s preeminent superpower. Similarly, fears that the country will lose that status in two decades cut across racial, party and gender lines, with very little discrepancy between the groups.

The findings arrive as Washington policymakers continue to joust over the best way to boost the economy and create jobs in the face of high unemployment figures that show no signs of subsiding.

Republicans argue that the size of government — combined with enormous levels of federal spending — have contributed both to the recent recession and the slow pace in pulling out of it. They want to cut taxes, slash spending and scale back regulations they say are strangling private-sector job creators.

Democrats, on the other hand, see the government playing an active role in bolstering the economy. They’re pushing proposals designed to create jobs by increasing infrastructure spending, lending a lifeline to states and hiking taxes on corporations that outsource jobs.

The impasse reached a head last week, when Senate Republicans blocked legislation pushed by President Obama to provide states with $35 billion to help struggling states avoid laying off teachers, firefighters and other first responders. Earlier in the month, Senate Republicans had also killed Obama’s sweeping $447 billion jobs package — a vote that led Democrats to try a piecemeal approach.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: america; decline; poll; thehill

1 posted on 10/24/2011 7:24:46 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

CLICK HERE FOR THE POLL RESULTS:

http://thehill.com/images/stories/news/2011/10_october/crosstabs_20111020_thehill.pdf


2 posted on 10/24/2011 7:25:08 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (u)
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To: SeekAndFind
The decline is only reversible if we purge ourselves of the enemy within.
3 posted on 10/24/2011 7:40:47 AM PDT by Truth29
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To: SeekAndFind

Throughout human history, there is only one, 100% economic certainty.

This is, if an economic sphere mines, it is proportionately prosperous in relation to how much it mines. If its level of mining decreases, or abates entirely, it is in decline. And this measurement is independent of all other factors, including the form of government.

Thus, for America to again be prosperous, those factors, especially government, that inhibit mining, must be considerably reduced.

In today’s America, our most profitable potential mining is in energy production, oil and coal. Thus efforts by the Democrat political party to prevent as much as possible further energy development, and eliminate what we have, is guaranteed to cause economic decline in America.

Likewise, if the Republican party embraces the removal of many of this inhibitions, and otherwise encourages energy production, America will once again prosper. But they should go far beyond this.

One of the most beneficial economic laws ever passed by the federal government was the General Mining Act of 1872. In brief, it said that for a marginal amount of money, anyone could stake a mining claim on most land, even that owned by someone else, but had to improve that stake (put money into or profit by it by the amount of $500) each year, or they would lose their claim.

And it should be noted that for many years after, there were substantial amendments made to this act concerning other things, such as oil and even lumber. Singularly, that whenever Democrats were in power, they tried to inhibit mining productivity; and Republicans tried to increase mining productivity.

Thus, and if you are aware of their history going back to at least the administration of Andrew Jackson, the Democrats have worked to harm the American economy. Jackson himself was responsible for creating the worst American depression until the Great Depression.


4 posted on 10/24/2011 8:10:05 AM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy
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5 posted on 10/24/2011 8:56:44 AM PDT by DJ MacWoW (America! The wolves are here! What will you do?)
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To: SeekAndFind

We were on the decline in the late 70’s. And that was reversed.

However, the GOP was not the self-absorbed vacillating mess that it is today.


6 posted on 10/24/2011 10:11:35 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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