The Subject

 

One Poll has some interesting results in that part of the population that did favor Obama in 2008:   

 

The video at right details how 2/3rds of polled voters disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy.

 

The Wall Street Journal-NBC  Link poll

Notes that enthusiasm for the election among voters aged 18 to 34 is sloping downward, from above 60% in 2008 when Mr. Obama was new to below 50% now that he is known.

 

The Obama target audience this time includes a cohort of voters who were 14-year-old video gamers when he arrived; the rest of the youth vote is four years deeper into the unexpected discoveries of real life. What are they hearing from the president? Two things: his offer of student loans at below-market rates and, incredibly, the ObamaCare guarantee that lets them live at home on their parents' health-insurance until age 26. It's a great deal, if you want to live in Italy.

 

Inside one presidential term, Barack Obama's old world of hope and change has been disrupted. Yes, there was a time one could pretend economic reality arrived in some imagined future, not unlike the Social Security or Medicare illusion. "Someone" will pay for it. "Someone" will hire me when I decide to work, after I've made the transition from liberal to whatever comes after that. That's the way the youth vote thought in the Sixties. Hope and change was this generation's Woodstock.

 

The youth vote this time comes down to one thing: Is this candidate going to plug me into the new American world, or not? The Obama presidency has knocked four years of earning power off a lot of people's lives. Maybe someone should create a website for user reviews of the presidency.

 

Another interesting piece of data from Polls is how Americans feel about taxes.

In this Rasmussen poll the data indicates that Americans are not aware of the amount of taxation in this country.    Link

 

One of the more remarkable features of the political landscape remains the fact that most Americans believe the nation is overtaxed while dramatically underestimating the actual level of taxes paid.

 

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey confirms that finding. If a person earns $60,000 a year, only 11% think that person would pay more than $15,000 in payroll and income taxes. In reality, while the amount would vary depending upon the circumstances of the individual, the actual tax burden would be higher than that amount.

 

As a starting point, such a salary would generate $4,590 in payroll taxes. Recommended withholding for such a salary range from $7,000 to $10,000 before inclusion of state taxes. Overall, even if the worker only paid 17% in combined state and federal income taxes, their total payments would top the $15,000 mark.

 

Nine percent (9%) think the total tax bill would be less than $5,000 annually. That barely covers the cost of the payroll taxes. Twenty-seven percent (27%) think the total would be between $5,000 and $10,000, while 17% estimate a tax burden between $10,000 and $15,000. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

 

A recent national Rasmussen poll

Finds that only 27 percent of likely voters think government investments made America great, and 42 percent disagree, yet 32 percent are unsure. Instead 69 percent agree the free enterprise system made America great. Moreover, 50 percent say the society would become less fair if the government got more involved in regulating the economy. Perhaps this is a result of the perception that government contracts tend to be granted based on political connections (66 percent) but private sector negotiations favor those who provide the best service for the best price (51 percent).

 

Another Rasmussen poll finds that only 18 percent of Americans agree“ every great idea in American history required government vision and government incentive.” Instead 64 percent disagree government was essential. Moreover, 60 percent agree with the statement “government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.”

 

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