Poll: public doubt over Bush's "stimulus" plan

It looks as though Bush has truly lost his mojo, as the public has ceased buying into his b.s.:

The public is skeptical about whether President Bush (news - web sites)'s new economic stimulus plan will do much to help growth in the economy, according to a new poll.

Only a third, 35 percent, say they expect the stimulus plan will be fairly effective or very effective at helping the economy. Another four in 10 said it could be "somewhat effective."

The poll by NBC and The Wall Street Journal released Thursday shows that the president's overall job approval is at 54 percent, down from 62 percent a month ago. About four in 10 disapproved of his handling of his job.

I think it's popular to decry the American public -- so willing to believe the tripe spewed by the White House. But especially post 9-11, it seemed as though Americans needed to believe that the people in charge were competent, good people. That illusion has been shattered. Remember, the last tax cut was supposed to spur economic growth and lift the nation out of recession. So what happened?

The president's SOTU speech will go far in determining two things: if the president has the rhetorical skills to lift his presidency out of the doldrums, and whether the American public is willing to give him a second chance.

I'm not ready to speculate about what Bush may or may not say (sattelite pictures of WMD in Iraq?), but if he uses much of the same tired and belligerent rhetoric he'll be in for a rough trip ahead.

Update: Chirs S, in the comments section, gives us these gems from a White House Council of Economic Advisers report dated Feb. 2002 (link is a PDF):

The tax relief also has provided valuable stimulus to economic activity in the short run. The quick enactment last year of the President’s tax relief plan softened the recessionary headwinds in 2001 and has helped to put the economy on the road to recovery in 2002.

[...]

In sum,the President and Congress delivered important tax relief in 2001,giving a welcome boost to jobs and income.As a consequence,the recession — which the National Bureau of Economic Research dated as having started in March of 2001 —has been more mild and will likely turn out to be shorter than it otherwise would have been without the tax relief.

[...]

As a consequence,the Tax Relief Act has raised the prospects of a solid recovery in 2002 by boosting economic growth by 0.5 percentage point,lifting the expected growth rate from 2.2 percent to 2.7 percent.Moreover,by the end of 2002,the President ’s tax relief will have helped the private sector to create 800,000 more jobs than there otherwise would have been.

LOL! It's good to see that the White House's crew of economists knows what it's talking about. No wonder no one (outside of DeLay's crew in the House) is taking Bush's tax cut plan seriously.

Posted January 23, 2003 06:48 AM | Comments (41)