American Pulse™ Townhall Survey: People Feel They Have Lost Their Voice, Fix Economy First
Slowdown, Fix the Economy First Then Healthcare
COLUMBUS, OH –
(MARKET WIRE) – 8/18/09 – Townhall meeting reaction to healthcare reform as seen
on TV newscasts appears to be grounded in grass roots feelings that people have
lost their voice in Washington. According to the latest American Pulse™ Townhall
of over 4,000 people 18+ (conducted 8/14-8/17/09), many people appear to feel
disappointed, disgusted or bad towards Congress.
Overall, a general sense of being left out is how respondents feel when it comes
to the economic stimulus and healthcare reform. 83.4% of respondents think
Congress and the President should fix the economy before doing healthcare
reform. 74.4% say they feel they’ve lost their voice in Washington. 87.1% say
Congress is not spending tax dollars wisely and 70.2% agree/strongly agree that,
“Congress is only interested in their own ideas rather than those of the
people."
Interestingly, 74.6% agree that returning the remaining stimulus money directly
to taxpayers would stimulate the economy. When asked if the President has done
enough to stimulate job growth, 55.2% disagree/strongly disagree.
60% feel healthcare is too personal to be developed without reflecting the will
of the people and 48.2% think the healthcare legislation is being developed too
fast. 59.7% say even if healthcare reform isn’t accomplished during the current
year, healthcare will not be jeopardized.
Other findings:
· 70.7% say how their Congressperson votes on healthcare reform will influence how they vote for them in the future.
· 59.7% say protests at townhall meetings on proposed healthcare reform are citizens making concerns known, 20.8% say its manufactured protests.
· 60.7% say “Cash for Clunkers” won’t help the economy recover, 39.3% say it will.
· 28.8% think Cap-and-Trade won’t help the economy grow, 15.2% disagree.
· 43.8% say Cap-and-Trade won’t impact jobs, 30.8% say it will eliminate jobs and 25.4% say it will create new jobs.
· 41.3% are somewhat/very concerned about the H1N1 virus; 34.7% are not very/not at all concerned.
· 39.3% will get an H1N1 vaccine if it’s available; 36.2% won’t.
· 41.9% think that the U.S. government is doing enough to protect against the virus, 20.7% say its not.
· Top 5 one word descriptions of feelings towards Congress: bad, disappointed, sucks, neutral and disgusted.
For the
full complimentary report (segments include age, income, gender and political
party):
http://americanpulse.bigresearch.com.
About American
Pulse™ Townhall Survey
The American
Pulse™ Townhall Survey is the largest and most accurate
online “townhall meeting survey” with a margin of error of +/-1.6%. The survey
is collected by BIGresearch every month exclusively utilizing Survey Sampling
International’s (SSI) U.S. panel. Over 4,000 respondents participate, providing
greater insights into how Americans really feel about public affairs, such as
the economy, healthcare and government.
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