Posted on 01/18/2013 1:56:01 PM PST by Libloather
President Obama is entering his second term with many of the nation’s voters still pessimistic or unsure about their economic prospects, a new poll for The Hill has found.
The president was reelected for another four years by a relatively comfortable margin, but 39 percent of likely voters say his first four years were worse than expected, compared to just 18 percent who say he exceeded expectations. Forty-one percent of those polled said his first term went as expected.
The president assumed office in the midst of one of the worst financial meltdowns in U.S. history, and those polled are still feeling the ensuing recession’s impact four years later. On the economic front, 42 percent say they are worse off now than when Obama first took office, compared to 26 percent who say they are better off.
Respondents are not significantly more optimistic about the next four years, either.
Sixty percent say they do not expect to make major economic strides during Obama’s second term, compared to just 38 percent who expect to be better off in 2016.
Despite the lingering pessimism about the trajectory of the nation’s economy, the poll does offer a silver lining for the president as he prepares to take the oath of office again — by a 2-to-1 margin, voters blame Congress, instead of him, for the nation’s woes.
Fifty percent of those polled blamed Congress the most, compared to just 25 percent placing blame squarely at the feet of Obama. Another 10 percent apiece blamed voters and the media the most.
The president has faced off against lawmakers multiple times in his first term, and is set to butt heads again in the coming weeks over raising the debt limit, keeping the government funded and preventing automatic spending cuts set to take effect under the 2011 debt-ceiling deal.
Voters were split on whether Obama should focus his second term primarily on jobs and the economy or government spending and debt.
Thirty-eight percent of those polled said the president should train his efforts on improving the economy, while 39 percent say his main goal should be addressing debt and deficits. Across income groups, only those making less than $30,000 were more likely to want the president to focus on the economy over the national debt.
Addressing immigration, gun violence, tax reform or something else each received single-digit support from those polled.
Views on whether Obama’s first term was a missed or exceeded opportunity largely broke down along partisan lines.
Republicans were much more likely than Democrats to say Obama missed expectations in his first term. Fifty-nine percent of GOP likely voters say the president was worse than their expectations, while 82 percent of Democrats said he either met or exceeded theirs. Forty-eight percent of voters who did not identify with a party said the president missed expectations, compared to 41 percent who said he met them, but did not exceed them.
When it comes to income, the voters most likely to say Obama failed to meet expectations are also those with the brightest outlook on the nation’s economy. Of those polled making over $200,000 in income, 48 percent say the president’s first term was worse than expected, compared to just 13 percent who say it was better.
But at the same time, 45 percent of those top earners say they are better off economically than they were when the president took office, and 47 percent expect to be even better off when Obama wraps up his second term.
Conversely, 50 percent of those making less than $30,000 say they are worse off now than four years ago, and 46 percent expect to be in even worse shape in 2016.
Pulse Opinion Research conducted the poll of 1,000 likely voters on May 17, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Getting freeloaders to answer the phone must be easy.
Congress has such high disapproval numbers because they are weak and will not hold the chief executive accountable. Obama is not eligible for the office and it’s all downhill from there.
...and they don't like it one bit...
...too late you stupid sh*t heels—you cooked it so you eat it!
I, on the hand, am locked and loaded for Commie stage 2!
Sure. They have their free obama phones.
Dumbass voters voted heavily for Obama so why are they unhappy??
They should be celebrating!
Presuming the $200,000 and up that said they were surprisingly better off than they expected, were investors, must be looking at the stock market. Who propped that baby up, the financial market?
Government Motors took the taxpayers for billions by Obama’s wand swing. (Not to be confused there, with his golf swing.)
Cope.
Now we see from the inside, what must be going on in an anthill when some oaf comes along and kicks it apart.
The ants, after some initial chaos, get right back to rebuilding and reorganizing the interior of the anthill, retreating deeper and digging in. Meanwhile, the ants that were accidental passengers on the shoe after the anthill was kicked apart, have to, as their imperative duty, crawl up, get beneath the sock, and bite their tormentor on the ankle.
Repeatedly until he screams and writhes in pain.
Lesson - don’t kick anthills apart. And don’t try this with a hornets’ nest either.
All I care about is what *the Moose* will wear. That’s the most important thing.
J Crew is having a clearance....maybe she’ll find something on sale.
“...and they don’t like it one bit...”
Well, woop di doo! I hope these little liberal sh*ts starve and go homeless. We are the ones paying for their stupidity.
Daffy, I guess it’s better to insult a moose than Chewbacca.
I’[m trying to be an optimist. I keep telling myself there is nearly a 50% chance we’ll avoid a civil war in the next four years. If I repeat that enough times, I might believe it.
The penile mittens w/ DNC logo are the most coveted souvenir of Obama's inaug.
Seems Planned Parenthood took a survey and found that women intensely dislike cold penises. PP brought the survey to Michele Obama who agreed totally. Mrs O then ordered the DNC to offer the penile mittens as souvenirs to Democrat inaug attendees.
The penile mittens come in size small, medium, and large,or, as they are known to the politically correct ----- Winky, Weeny and Wowee.
In case you're wondering:
Winky fits 2" penis
Weeny fits 3" penis
Wowee fits 5-6" penis--has heavy duty elasticized closure
guaranteed not to cutoff circulation to the Democrat's member.
Mrs O would not say which size she got for Obama---but when asked the question---she winked.
I see little relief on the horizon. If this Nation is to be saved we will have to hold our noses and sink to the level of the lumpenproletariat, the "voters" who ceded power to the Alien Usurper.
“J Crew is having a clearance....maybe she’ll find something on sale.”
Sale, hell. She’s usin’ OUR money.
Heh. That’s why I opined for a sale....I can *hope* can’t I?
In the camps, the 47% get to be the Kapos.
Newsweek: Inauguration Is Second Coming
January 19, 2013 By Breaking News
http://www.westernjournalism.com/category/news/
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