What economic recovery? Despite the government numbers and establishment economists purporting an improved financial state, most Americans are still feeling the impact of the Great Recession that transpired a few years ago.
According to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of Americans are still experiencing the effects of the recession, and 40 percent of respondents admitted that at least one member of the household lost their job in the past five years.
Close to three-quarters (71 percent) think the United States is headed on the wrong track and another 60 percent say the country is on the decline. Seventy percent cited the political leadership in Washington as being the sole reason for the nation’s demise – 79 percent are dissatisfied with the political system.
“The public seems have moved beyond the plaintive cry of ‘Feel our pain!’ to the more angry pronouncement of ‘You are causing our pain!’” said Democratic pollster Fred Yang of Hart Research.
It should be noted that a majority of the survey participants actually believe their children’s generation will be worse off than they are right now. Three-quarters of Americans lacked the confidence about their children’s futures. This is certainly a depressing number.
In the end, 49 percent of Americans still say the U.S. is in a recession.
“People are continuing to tell us ways [the Great Recession] is still impacting them today,” GOP pollster Bill McInturff told NBC News. “Those stories are pretty grim.”
“We’re in the summer of our discontent,” added Democratic pollster Peter Hart. “Americans are cranky, unhappy… It is with everything going on the world.”
How will the American people react when the money runs out and the U.S. government goes completely bankrupt?
The telephone poll was conducted with 1,000 adults between Jul. 30 and Aug. 3. It contains a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points.
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