CBS News/New York Times Poll For release: Tuesday October 25, 2011 6:30 PM EDT

Amid Skepticism About Job Creation Plans, Views of Government, Congress Decline October 19-24, 2011 Majorities of Americans say that neither the President nor the Republicans in Congress have a clear plan for creating jobs although more say the President does (38%) than Republicans do (20%). The poll finds record low ratings for Congress (9% approval) and an historic low on trust in government. And there is pessimism about whether the legislature can even agree on creating jobs: only 28% are confident it can. Some specific job-creation proposals including many in the Presidents plan - find favor: Americans back spending on infrastructure, teachers and police, and tax cuts for small businesses. Most oppose easing large corporations tax burdens. The Presidents gets better marks for matters overseas than at home: his approval on Iraq (60%) and foreign policy (50%) are his highest, but fewer approve of his handling of the economy (38%) and jobs (35%).

Job Plans and Congress After years of pessimism about the economy and deep concern about jobs, few Americans see a clear plan for job creation coming from either the White House or the Republicans in Congress, and few expect Congress will be able to reach agreement on how to create jobs. Majorities of Americans say that neither the President nor the Republicans in Congress have a clear plan for creating jobs although more say the President does than say the same for the Republicans in Congress. 38% say President Obama has a jobs plan, although he has been traveling around the country promoting one. Just 20% say the Republicans in Congress have a jobs plan. Clear Plan for Creating Jobs? Yes President Obama 38% Republicans in Congress 20%

No 56 71

And there is pessimism about whether Congress can agree on creating jobs. Only 28% are confident that the Republicans and Democrats in Congress will come together in agreement on job creation, and far more, 73%, are not confident.

Confident Reps and Dems in Congress will Agree on Jobs Package Very 3% Somewhat 25 Not very 41 Not at all 32 Job Creation Proposals Americans themselves do agree on some job creation proposals, and they tend to favor ideas that approach the problem from the ground up: spending on infrastructure, teachers and firemen, and tax cuts for small businesses win support as good ideas. However, Americans reject the idea of easing large corporations tax burdens. Half support easing business regulations. Eight in ten approve of government spending for roads and bridges as a way to boost employment. Majorities would also direct federal funds toward localities to help them avoid teacher, police and firefighter layoffs (although support is lower for spending on the more general public employees when teachers and police are not expressly mentioned). Creating Jobs: Good or Bad Idea for Government to Spend Money. Good idea Bad idea On infrastructure 80% 15 For teachers, cops, firemen 65% 29 On public employees generally 53% 39 Partisans across the board agree on infrastructure spending. Republicans are more apt to view spending for public employees as a bad idea, while independents and Democrats like that. Americans say the idea of giving tax cuts to small businesses is a good one (78% approve). Half think a payroll tax cut works as a job-creation idea. Half think regulations on business should be eased, while 31% say that is a bad idea. But corporate tax cuts find strong opposition, with two-thirds opposed. Creating Jobs: Good or Bad Idea. Good idea Bad idea Small business tax cut 78% 18 Payroll tax cut 51% 37 Ease business regulations 50% 31 Corporate tax cuts 27% 67 Republicans and Democrats both support small-business tax cuts. Democrats and independents are against cutting corporate taxes; Republicans are divided. If it means lowering the budget deficit, Americans would support a tax increase on million-dollarplus households. Democrats and independents are in favor, along with four in ten Republicans. Should Million-Dollar Households Get Tax Increase? All Reps Dems Inds 65% 38% 80% 68% 30 59 16 25

Yes No

On Whose Side? Much of the debate around these policy proposals centers on which groups might benefit or pay more. And both sides have made claims about helping Americas middle class. But few Americans think either the Obama administration or the Republicans in Congress are solely on the side of the middle class, although the Obama administration has an edge in that regard. About four in ten say the Obama administration either sides mostly with the middle class or treats everyone equally; including 23% who say it mainly favors the middle class. 28% think it favors the rich. But in contrast, Republicans in Congress are overwhelmingly seen as favoring the rich over other classes; seven in 10 say so. Only 24% think the Republicans in Congress favor the middle class or treat all groups equally; just 9% say they favor the middle class exclusively. Who Favors Whom? Obama administration favors. Republicans in Congress favor The rich 28% 69% Middle class 23 9 The poor 17 2 Treat all equally 21 15 Most Americans consider themselves to be middle- or working-class. Those who call themselves lower class tend to think the Obama Administration favors the rich. And Americans of all classes think Republicans favor the rich. Views of Congress, Government Continuing its downward slide, Congressional job approval is now at just 9%, a new record low for this poll. Disapproval crosses political lines; more than four out of five Republicans, Democrats and independents disapprove. Disapproval is also at a record high. Congress Job Approval Rating Total Reps Dems Inds 9% 11% 10% 9% 84 83 83 85

Approve Disapprove

The Presidents job approval rating has been below 50% for most of the past two years, and approval of Congress has repeatedly reached record historical lows in recent months. Against that backdrop, trust in government has also dropped precipitously. Just one in 10 Americans now say they trust the government in Washington to do what is right all or most of the time, down from 21% a year ago and a record low since the question was first asked in CBS News/New York Times Polls in 1976. 89% - a record high say they trust government only some of the time or never. Trust Govt. to do what is Right Now 10/2010 10/2001 2/1995 10/1992 1/1989 1% 2% 10% 2% 2% 6% 9 19 45 16 20 38 77 67 42 77 72 53 12 11 2 4 4 1

Always Most of the time Some of the time Never (vol.)

3/1980 6/1976 3% 4% 22 30 69 58 2 5

The President President Obamas overall job approval rating is 46% in this poll, and 46% disapprove. With the exception of the killing of Osama bin Laden in May, his approval rating has been below fifty percent for nearly two years. Presidents Overall Job Rating 9/2011 8/2011 5/2011 1/2011 44% 48% 57% 49% 44 47 37 39

Approve Disapprove

Now 46% 46

4/2010 51% 39

On specific issues, President Obama receives positive evaluations on foreign policy and negative assessments on handling economic issues. Following his recent announcement that U.S. troops would be removed from Iraq by the end of this year, 60% now approve of how President Obama is handling things in that country, up from 52% just over a year ago. In addition, half approve of how the president is handling foreign policy in general. But at 38% and 35% respectively, his approval ratings on handling the economy and jobs are much lower. Obamas Approval Ratings on Approve Disapprove Handling Iraq 60% 30 Foreign policy 50% 31 The economy 38% 56 Job creation 35% 58 Direction of the Country and the Economy Just one in five Americans thinks the country is headed in the right direction; 74% think its on the wrong track. Direction of the Country 9/2011 6/2011 10/2010 1/2009 19% 28% 32% 15% 73 63 63 79

Right direction Wrong track

Now 21% 74

10/2008 7% 89

More than half name the economy and jobs as the most important problem facing the country, and only 14% think the economy is in good shape. 36% think it is getting worse. Economy is Now 9/2011 2/2011 10/2010 Getting better 14% 12% 32% 25% Getting worse 36 40 22 28 Staying the same 49 46 45 46 __________________________________________________________________________
This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1650 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone October 1924, 2011. Phone numbers were dialed from random digit dial samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher. An oversample was conducted for this survey which will be analyzed in a future poll release. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

CBS NEWS/NEW YORK TIMES POLL Amid Skepticism about Job Creation Plans, Views of Govt, Congress Decline October 19-24, 2011 q1 Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as President? ** TOTAL RESPONDENTS ** *** Party ID *** Total Rep Dem Ind % % % % 46 9 78 42 46 85 16 47 8 6 6 11

Approve Disapprove DK/NA

Sep11b % 44 44 12

q2 Do you feel things in this country are generally going in the right direction or do you feel things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track? Right direction Wrong track DK/NA 21 74 5 5 93 2 36 56 8 17 78 5 19 73 8

q3 What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today? Economy/jobs Budget Deficit/Natl Debt Politicians/Government Partisan Politics Immigration Education Health Care Big Government/Bureaucracy Other DK/NA 57 5 3 3 2 2 2 2 20 4 60 7 1 0 0 2 2 2 23 3 62 2 2 4 2 1 2 1 19 5 49 6 4 5 2 3 1 3 24 3 54 6 2 3 1 2 2 1 25 4

q4 Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling foreign policy? Jun11a 47 37 16

Approve Disapprove DK/NA

50 31 19

28 54 18

72 14 14

45 32 23

q5 Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling the economy? Sep11b 35 53 12

Approve Disapprove DK/NA

38 56 6

9 89 2

66 27 7

33 61 6

q14 Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling the situation with Iraq? ** PARTIAL SAMPLE ** 60 42 78 30 49 13 10 9 9 Aug10b 52% 37 11

Approve Disapprove DK/NA

54 35 11

**This question was added to the survey on Friday, Oct. 21 and was asked of 1004 respondents.

q6 Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling job creation? ** TOTAL RESPONDENTS ** *** Party ID *** Total Rep Dem Ind % % % % 35 8 63 29 58 87 30 63 7 5 7 8

Approve Disapprove DK/NA

Sep11a % 40 53 7

q7 Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job? Sep11b 11 80 9

Approve Disapprove DK/NA

9 84 7

11 83 6

10 83 7

9 85 6

q8 How would you rate the condition of the national economy these days? Is it very good, fairly good, fairly bad, or very bad? Very good Fairly good Fairly bad Very bad DK/NA 1 13 50 36 0 0 5 44 50 1 0 19 53 26 2 1 12 50 35 2 0 10 47 41 2

q9 Do you think the economy is getting better, getting worse, or staying about the same? Better Worse Same DK/NA 14 36 49 1 3 51 46 0 26 22 50 2 10 38 50 2 12 40 46 2

q10 How much of the time do you think you can trust the government in Washington to do what is right -- just about always, most of the time, or only some of the time? Oct10e 2 19 67 11 1

Always Most Some Never (vol.) DK/NA

1 9 77 12 1

2 6 78 14 0

2 10 81 6 1

0 10 72 17 1

q11-13 HELD FOR FUTURE RELEASE q14-Q15 RELEASED SEPARATELY q16 Do you think Barack Obama does or does not have a clear plan for creating jobs? Sep11a 43 52 5

Does Does not DK/NA

38 56 6

12 85 3

64 30 6

33 60 7

q17 Do you think the Republicans in Congress do or do not have a clear plan for creating jobs? Do Do not Don't know/No answer 20 71 9 43 48 9 8 83 9 16 75 9 24 67 9

q18 How confident are you that Congressional Republicans and Democrats will be able to come to an agreement on job creation -- very confident, somewhat confident, not too confident or not at all confident? ** TOTAL RESPONDENTS ** *** Party ID *** Total Rep Dem Ind % % % % 3 5 3 1 25 28 25 22 41 47 39 38 32 20 33 37 0 0 0 2

Very confident Somewhat confident Not too confident Not at all confident DK/NA
*Wording change:

Sep11b* % 3 20 43 32 2

on a job creation package

q19 In general, do you think the policies of the Obama Administration favor the rich, favor the middle class, favor the poor, or do they treat all groups equally? Aug10b 27 18 17 28 10

Favor Favor Favor Treat DK/NA

the the the all

rich middle class poor equally

28 23 17 21 11

29 12 31 12 16

19 35 11 32 3

35 21 14 18 12

q20 In general, do you think the policies of the Republicans in Congress favor the rich, favor the middle class, favor the poor, or do they treat all groups equally? Favor Favor Favor Treat DK/NA the the the all rich middle class poor equally 69 9 2 15 5 38 13 4 38 7 92 4 0 2 2 67 11 2 11 9

q21-23 HELD FOR FUTURE RELEASE q24-25 BLANK q26-Q31 RELEASED SEPARATELY q32 BLANK q33 HELD FOR FUTURE RELEASE q34 In order to try to create jobs, do you think it is probably a good idea or a bad idea to significantly cut payroll taxes for working Americans? Sep11a 56 30 14

Good idea Bad idea DK/NA

51 37 12

50 36 14

53 36 11

51 38 11

q35 Do you think it is probably a good idea or a bad idea for the federal government to provide money to state governments so they can avoid layoffs of public employees? ** HALF SAMPLE A ** *** Party ID *** Total Rep Dem Ind % % % % 53 37 69 49 39 54 23 42 8 9 8 9

Good idea Bad idea DK/NA

Sep11a % 52 40 8

q36 Do you think it is probably a good idea or a bad idea for the federal government to provide money to state governments so they can avoid layoffs of workers such as teachers, police, and firefighters? ** HALF SAMPLE B ** 41 85 64 48 14 29 11 1 7

Good idea Bad idea DK/NA

65 29 6

q37 In order to try to create jobs, do you think it is probably a good idea or a bad idea to spend money on the nation's infrastructure such as bridges, airports, and schools? ** TOTAL RESPONDENTS ** 66 89 80 25 8 16 9 3 4

Good idea Bad idea DK/NA

80 15 5

80 16 4

q38 In order to try to create jobs, do you think it is probably a good idea or a bad idea to significantly cut taxes for small businesses? Good idea Bad idea DK/NA 78 18 4 80 17 3 77 19 4 78 17 5 81 14 5

q39 In order to try to create jobs, do you think it is probably a good idea or a bad idea to repeal or reduce existing regulations on U.S. businesses? Good idea Bad idea DK/NA 50 31 19 67 24 9 41 38 21 48 28 24

q40 In order to try to create jobs, do you think it is probably a good idea or a bad idea to lower taxes for large corporations? Good idea Bad idea DK/NA q41 HELD FOR FUTURE RELEASE 27 67 6 47 48 5 15 80 5 25 68 7

q42 Do you think Congress should try to repeal the health care law that was passed last year, or should they let it stand? IF REPEAL, ASK: Should they repeal the entire law or only certain parts? ** TOTAL RESPONDENTS ** *** Party ID *** Total Rep Dem Ind % % % % 25 54 8 21 20 25 16 20 41 16 60 40 14 5 16 19

Repeal entire law Repeal certain parts Let stand DK/NA

Sep11a % 30 17 40 13

q43 In order to lower the nation's budget deficit, do you think taxes should be increased on households earning one million dollars a year or more, or should the government address the budget deficit without increasing taxes on those households? Sep11b 64 30 6

Should be increased Should not be increased DK/NA

65 30 5

38 59 3

80 16 4

68 25 7

Q44-Q45 HELD FOR FUTURE RELEASE Q46-Q49 RELEASED SEPARATELY Q52-Q103 HELD FOR FUTURE RELEASE

Total Respondents Total Republicans Total Democrats Total Independents Half Sample A Q35 Half Sample B Q36

UNWEIGHTED 1650 399 583 668 828 822

WEIGHTED

419 (25%) 574 (35%) 657 (40%) 803 807

Note: An oversample was conducted for this survey which will be analyzed in a future poll release.