Most Americans say U.S. on wrong track, poll says

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

NEW YORK (AP) -- More than 80 percent of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, the highest such number since the early 1990s, according to a new survey.

Seventy-eight percent of poll respondents said the country was worse off than five years ago.

The CBS News-New York Times poll released Thursday showed 81 percent of respondents said they believed "things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track." That was up from 69 percent a year ago, and 35 percent in early 2002.

The survey comes as housing turmoil has rocked Wall Street amid an economic downturn. The economy has surpassed the war in Iraq as the dominating issue of the U.S. presidential race, and there is now nearly a national consensus that the United States faces significant problems, the poll found.

A majority of Democrats and Republicans, men and women, residents of cities and rural areas, college graduates and those who finished only high school say the United States is headed in the wrong direction, according to the survey, which was published on The New York Times' Web site.

Seventy-eight percent of respondents said the country was worse off than five years ago; just 4 percent said it was doing better.

The newspaper said Americans are more dissatisfied with the country's direction than at any time since the poll's inception in the early 1990s. Only 21 percent of respondents said the overall economy was in good condition, the lowest such number since late 1992. Two in three people said they believed the economy was already in recession.

Still, the approval rating of President Bush did not change since last summer, with 28 percent of respondents saying they approved of the job he was doing.

The poll also found that Americans blame government officials for the housing crisis more than banks or home buyers and other borrowers. Forty percent of respondents said regulators were mostly to blame, while 28 percent named lenders and 14 percent named borrowers.

Americans favored help for people but not for financial institutions in assessing possible responses to the mortgage crisis. A clear majority said they did not want the government to lend a hand to banks, even if the measures would help limit the depth of a recession.

Respondents were considerably more open to government help for homeowners at risk of foreclosure. Fifty-three percent said they believed the government should help those whose interest rates were rising, while 41 percent said they opposed such a move.

The nationwide telephone survey of 1,368 adults was conducted from March 28 to April 2. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

CNN

Edited April 4, 2008 by Mr. Big Dog

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

linky

dude... dont tell me you've resorted to calling them 'linky's too.... !!

[Heracles 417]

What I would like to know is what track would they like the country to be on and who do they blame for the direction the country has gone in..

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

What I would like to know is what track would they like the country to be on and who do they blame for the direction the country has gone in..

we want america to be less like kenya i would imagine. and more like australia, that paradise on earth where the highways are pothole free, the trains run on time and the ladies are all busty nymphomaniacs....

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I think McCain would do well to distance himself from Bush and put forward strong ideas of his own, rather than simply a continuation of the status quo.

As it is McCain's actually asked GWB to help him campaign in the general election. Talk about kiss of death.

What I would like to know is what track would they like the country to be on and who do they blame for the direction the country has gone in..

we want america to be less like kenya i would imagine. and more like australia, that paradise on earth where the highways are pothole free, the trains run on time and the ladies are all busty nymphomaniacs....

Where the men are real men and so are the women

[Heracles 417]

What I would like to know is what track would they like the country to be on and who do they blame for the direction the country has gone in..

we want america to be less like kenya i would imagine. and more like australia, that paradise on earth where the highways are pothole free, the trains run on time and the ladies are all busty nymphomaniacs....

Yes as I predicted. Full of ####..

I think if boys like yourself traveled to other 1st world nations you would truly realize how bad NJ has it. A Melbournian wouldn't piss on Jersey if it was on fire. When traveling through that state I usually think 'you live here. I ####### here'.

Edited April 4, 2008 by Boo-Yah!

[Scott & Lai 12]

Where the men are real men and so are the women

And the sheep are confused...

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

CNN

dude... dont tell me you've resorted to calling them 'linky's too.... !!

Sorry, bro. I fixed it.

Edited April 4, 2008 by Mr. Big Dog

[Ban Hammer 14,674]

Where the men are real men and so are the women

And the sheep are confused very afraid...

fixored

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Well its obvious - lots of money spent on foreign wars, while the domestic economy is up the chute and various policy reforms remain unaddressed - from illegal immigration to healthcare.

What I would like to know is what track would they like the country to be on and who do they blame for the direction the country has gone in..

we want america to be less like kenya i would imagine. and more like australia, that paradise on earth where the highways are pothole free, the trains run on time and the ladies are all busty nymphomaniacs....

Yes as I predicted. Full of ####..

I think if boys like yourself traveled to other 1st world nations you would truly realize how bad NJ has it. A Melbournian wouldn't piss on Jersey if it was on fire. When traveling through that state I usually think 'you live here. I ####### here'.

We in Jersey might live downwind from the sewage factory - but living as you do in/near DC - I'd say you live right next door to the place.

[Heracles 417]

we want america to be less like kenya i would imagine. and more like australia, that paradise on earth where the highways are pothole free, the trains run on time and the ladies are all busty nymphomaniacs....

Are these the roads you are talking about..

Here is a picture of the interstate roads Rlk47 was ridiculing

These trains:

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Oh give over - Australia has its problems, the same as everywhere else.

[Heracles 417]

Look at these awesome roads in Jesery:

:rofl:

Game set and Match. What a shithole Jersey is. Aussie Aussie Aussie oh oh oh!!!

Oh give over - Australia has its problems, the same as everywhere else.

So why bring it up over and over again...

Edited April 4, 2008 by Boo-Yah!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Look at these awesome roads in Jesery:

:rofl:

Game set and Match. What a shithole Jersey is. Aussie Aussie Aussie oh oh oh!!!

Oh give over - Australia has its problems, the same as everywhere else.

So why bring it up over and over again...

I didn't. You're the one who brings Australia into every single thread you post in.

Besides - you can insult Jersey all you like, I don't have any particular attachment to the place. I do know however, from living here and driving around - that those pictures are not representative of the entire state.

Perhaps I should judge one of your beloved Australian cities on the basis of its worst neighborhood - cause that's all you're doing here.

Edited April 4, 2008 by Number 6

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Number 6, I was thinking of this ongoing conversation yesterday during my drive to class after work. I believe I found the worst - absolute worst - road in the entire state! It's Long Road in Warren. It looks and feels like it hasn't been paved in decades. And it's barely wide enough for two cars. I actually had to slow down and pull to the side to let another car pass.

However, it is breathtakingly beautiful on both sides. Very 'country' look, which is odd, given that it's in Warren.

If you're ever by Jose's again, check it out.