The latest Rasmussen Reports poll suggests Americans think their representatives don’t know what they’re doing with the latest stimulus bill. Only 37% of Americans surveyed support the legislation while 43% are opposed to it and 20% aren’t sure. What’s the most startling in the change in sentiment over a short period of time. Just two weeks ago, 45% of Americans supported it, and one week ago 42% supported it. Opposition to the legislation grew nine points in the same time frame.

To add to the mix, another Rasmussen Reports poll shows that 50% of Americans think the stimulus plan will do more harm than good, with only 39% thinking the stimulus plan will be beneficial.

From these polls, it’s clear that Congress thinks it knows more about our economy and how to fix it than we do. Further, with Obama pushing so hard and his Feb. 16 deadline looming, Congress seems to be hastily putting together a bunch of ideas and plans that could actually work to push our economy further in to recession — even depression. Most voters think Congress performs poorly, and anything it touches inevitably turns from bad to worse.

And this makes sense. Consistently, when the federal government throws more money at something, it fails miserably due to mismanagement, greed, or a combination of factors. Not surprisingly, most Americans think that an economic plan that includes mostly tax cuts and less spending will help turn the economy around. In the same poll (the first one) 45% of Americans thought that a dollar in tax cuts is better than a dollar spent by the government. Only 34% think that government spending is better.

Congress needs to pull out of their legislative shell and hear the input of the American people. We know more about how our economy works and how “Main Street” and “Wall Street” can be fixed. If you haven’t already, call your legistlators and let them know your opinion. Senator contact information can be found here, and Representative information can be found here.

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