American Pulse™: Majority Say Government
                   Intervening in Too Many Areas and Taking on Too Much Debt

    Two in Five Say U.S. Cannot Afford Healthcare Reform

COLUMBUS, OH – (MARKET WIRE) – 6/22/09 – A majority (57.6%) of Americans say the U.S. government is trying to intervene in too many areas, according to the June American Pulse™ (N=4034). The sentiment is echoed by a majority of Republicans (84.9%) and Independents (61.7%), while over a third (37.1%) of Democrats agree.

Not only do Americans think the government is involved in too many projects, but an overwhelming majority think the government has taken on too much debt. Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike all agree:

Do you think the U.S. government has taken on too much debt?                                                           

                  Adults 18+  Republicans Democrats   Independents
Yes               78.0%       92.3%       68.9%       82.6%
No                10.1%       2.1%        17.1%       7.9%
I don't know      11.8%       5.6%        14.0%       9.5%

Source: American Pulse-June 09

Healthcare reform is one project on the government’s to-do list that Americans are split on whether or not the U.S. can afford at this time; 35.3% say yes, 39.8% say no and 24.9% don’t know. Over half of Democrats (53.1%) think the U.S can afford it now. 63.2% of Republicans and 41.9% of Independents say it can’t.

Regarding consumers, two in five (42.3%) believe that the government cannot provide better healthcare than the private sector. 32.2% say they can, while a quarter (25.5%) don’t know. 75% of consumers also say that they’ve changed their shopping habits as a result of the recession and over half (51.6%) say the changes they’ve made will continue more than a year.

To voice your opinion on BIGresearch and Artafact’s Blog: http://peoplevoice.ning.com/

For complimentary findings: 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. The use of the online blog as a listening post to develop the questions posed in the monthly American Pulse survey is a very effective use of both online qualitative and quantitative research.  http://www.bigresearch.com

About Survey Sampling International (SSI)
Survey Sampling International is the premier global provider of sampling solutions for survey research. SSI offers access to more than 6 million consumer and business-to-business research respondents in 54 countries via Internet, telephone, and mobile. Additional client services include custom profiling, survey programming and hosting, data processing, sampling consulting, and survey optimization. SSI serves more than 1,800 marketing research clients, including nearly three-quarters of the top researchers worldwide. Founded in 1977, SSI has an international staff of 400 people representing 50 countries and 36 languages. The company is based in Shelton, CT with 14 additional offices worldwide. http://www.surveysampling.com

Contacts:
BIGresearch                                                     SSI
Chrissy Wissinger                                              Diane Urso
chrissy@bigresearch.com                                  diane_urso@SurveySampling.com
614.846.0146                                                     203.567.7236