More Americans Trust Congressional Republicans on Economy, not Democrats - in other News, Gary Peters Continues to Vote for Massive New Spending

Troubling polls for Democrats
Friday, April 02, 2010 @ 11:04 AM
ShareAmericans continue to feel the pain thanks to Washington Democrats’ failure to create jobs. Underemployment rose to 20.3 percent in March 2010, according to Gallup, and The Hill’s Michael O’Brien reports that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner admits that unemployment will stay "unacceptably high" for some time. Still, state unemployment rates have remained largely unchanged or even slightly higher, raising the specter of a jobless recovery in the short-term, the reverberations of which could be felt during this fall's midterm elections.

In today’s Playbook, Politico’s Mike Allen reports that more Americans trust Republicans in Congress to improve economic conditions. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Thursday indicates that 48 percent of Americans say Republicans in Congress would do a better job dealing with the economy, with 45 percent saying that congressional Democrats would better handle the issue. That's a switch from last August, when Democrats held a 52 percent to 39 percent advantage on the economy.

The poll, conducted by CNN, shows that Democrats have lost more ground on the economy than on the contentious health care debacle. "Democratic losses on the economy are roughly twice as big as their losses on health care," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "That's evidence that the economy - not health care - is the chief reason for the Republicans' current advantage over the Democrats in the midterm congressional races."

Meanwhile, widespread backlash against Democrats for their health spending bill continues nationwide. The Washington Post reports on their recent poll: Many of those who listed themselves as "angry" said they felt Congress was operating in a vacuum, removed from the problems encountered by average people struggling against a tepid job market, sagging home values and dwindling retirement funds. About 85 percent strongly disapproved of the way Congress is doing its job.

And Hotline OnCall’s Reid Wilson writes, new health care legislation is going to cost companies billions of dollars, according to internal projections and public announcements from a range of corporations including the bluest of the Blue Chips to small local outfits. So far, companies have announced they will take at least $2.7B in one-time charges after health care legislation became law, thanks to a provision that will no longer allow companies to deduct subsidies it receives to provide seniors with prescription drug benefits...A list of companies that have taken the charges, handing GOPers easy talking points as they look to sell their vision of the new law as a job-killer.

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