April American Pulse™ Gives Presidential Candidates Advice:
               Shelve Pet Projects, Spend Money on Social Security and Medicare

                 Democrats Feel Compassion for Homeowners; Republicans
               and Independents More Likely to Support a Free Market

COLUMBUS, OH – 4/29/08 – Citizens Against Government Waste recently released its annual Congressional Pig Book highlighting a 30% increase in pork barrel spending for 2008 with the cost of earmarked projects totaling $17.2 billion. Presidential candidates may want to re-consider their support of pet projects as almost half of potential voters (48%) think that the U.S. Government needs to cut out pork barrel spending and use funds to solve the impending Social Security and Medicare crisis, according to the latest American Pulse™ survey of 4,055 participants.  

Democrats (54.1%) and Independents (51.4%) are more likely to cite a cut in pork barrel spending as the remedy for handling the challenges of Social Security and Medicare than Republicans (47.5%). Interestingly, Clinton is named on 281 earmarks this year, while Obama is listed on 52. Conversely, John McCain did not request any earmarks in 2008.

Other options for how the government should handle the depleting programs include:

• 21% of adults say the government should let Americans keep their money to invest privately, rather than deducting it from paychecks.
• 13.3% of adults call for cuts in other government programs believing Social Security and Medicare are more important.
• Only 2.5% of Americans support a tax increase.

Sympathy lies with homeowners these days as 38.5% of Americans agree that this would be the most deserving group to receive a “bail out” from the Federal Government, provided it had the ability. However, 36.3% of Americans believe that cutting a break for any group with financial troubles would violate the free market principle.

Political parties are split on this issue: the largest percentage of Democrats feel the Federal Government should provide assistance to homeowners (43.5%) if given the opportunity. Republicans (44%) and Independents (38.6%) are more likely to oppose any type of government “bail out” and think the free market should be allowed to work.

To view a complete report: http://americanpulse.bigresearch.com.

About American Pulse™
The American Pulse™ Survey is collected online by BIGresearch every month exclusively utilizing Survey Sampling International’s (SSI) U.S. panel covering topics such as politics, pop culture and the economy. Over 4,000 respondents participate, providing greater insights into how Americans really feel about issues they currently face. http://www.bigresearch.com.

About Survey Sampling International (SSI)
Survey Sampling International is the premier global provider of sampling solutions. Founded in 1977, SSI offers access to consumer and business-to-business respondents via Internet, telephone, mobile and other means; survey programming and hosting; and sampling consultation. SSI is the supplier of choice for more than 1,800 companies, including 46 of the top 50 marketing research agencies. Headquartered in Fairfield, CT, SSI maintains offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia. http://www.surveysampling.com

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