Public Opinion Snapshot: Would You Like Spending With That Stimulus Plan?

The public is giving a very friendly reception to the economic stimulus plan proposed by the incoming Obama administration. This is despite conservatives’ attempts to discredit the plan by saying it is too heavy on ineffective spending and will increase the deficit.

A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, for example, asked the public whether the plan is a good idea because “it will help make the recession shorter, get people back to work, and provide money for transportation, education, and Medicaid programs” or a bad idea because “it will do little to shorten the recession, the jobs are temporary, and it will significantly increase the deficit.” By 57 percent to 36 percent, the public deemed the plan a good idea.

Moreover, when asked whether the stimulus plan’s most important priority should be tax cuts or spending, the public sided almost 2:1 (63-33) with government spending.

The two ideas that generated the highest levels of support when the poll asked about specific parts of the economic stimulus were direct spending programs: “creating jobs through increasing production of renewable energy and making schools and public buildings more energy efficient” (89 percent support) and “creating jobs through building or repairing roads and bridges” (85 percent support).

Conservatives may still be hostile to government spending, but the public—especially in today’s context—does not share their aversion.

About CAP's stimulus plan:

• Report: How to Spend $350 Billion in a First Year of Stimulus and Recovery
• Report: Pumping Life Back into the U.S. Economy
• Infographic: Four Reasons We Can't Afford Not to Have One
• Video: Designing a Stimulus that Will Get the Economy Moving Fast