T-D survey: Most say stimulus funding won’t save economy
The government can't buy its way out of this recession, and it shouldn't even be trying. That's the general agreement of respondents to a Richmond Times-Dispatch online survey about federal stimulus spending.
Government's role in our lives -- whether it does too much or not enough -- will be the topic of tomorrow night's Public Square at the newspaper's downtown offices.
A vast majority of respondents to last week's survey said stimulus funding won't save the economy and that the government has no business running car companies, setting executive compensation or providing national health care.
"While it may have been beneficial to prop up the financial industry, I am a believer in the capitalist system to weather the storm on its own and right itself," said survey participant Jeb Hockman, a 57-year-old public-relations specialist from Henrico County.
"The current conditions are painful, but those companies that emerge from the recession will be stronger in the long term. . . . I am still concerned that we could have another downturn, but I think the economy will right itself if left alone."
That free-market spirit was prevalent among 488 responses, with most people saying they would rather let weak companies die than have the government prop them up.
"I believe in free enterprise," said Margaret Johnson, a 66-year-old retiree in Richmond. "Quite simply, I don't believe this is the role of government. The government can't afford to bail out every single segment of this economy. . . . We are going to be bankrupt. . . . Who will then bail out our country? China?"
Federal ownership of automakers elicited the most consistent response, with 84 percent of participants wanting the government to steer clear of Detroit.
"If the automobile industry in the United States can't run their own industry without government help, then they probably should be allowed to go under," said Wayne Staples, 61, an environmental engineer who lives in Chesterfield County.
"The automakers dug their own holes by their past practices," said Jean Scott, 55, a Chesterfield resident who is a librarian at Virginia Commonwealth University. "They need to regroup and begin with new design ideas to make more fuel-efficient, better-engineered cars. If they do that, the public will buy."
The prevailing thought was that overall economic recovery would have to be natural and not forced.
"Government can only redistribute money, not generate it," said Mike Clayton, 55, of Chesterfield, who is semi-retired from a career in engineering and construction. "Small, private businesses must lead the economic turnaround."
"First, spending your way out of debt is impossible," added William Kahl, a 66-year-old retiree in Chesterfield who worked for 40 years in the finance department at DuPont. "Second, except for possibly the military, anything that the government runs is inefficient; thus, taking over private business will be no different."
Distrust of government also was evident in survey responses, with few people saying their elected leaders had the capacity to lead the country out of the current malaise.
"The government has spent billions in taxpayer dollars assisting banks and corporations, yet these same banks routinely fail to pass this assistance on to individuals," said Martin Mills, 62, a federal government retiree who works as a computer consultant from his Amelia County home.
"Just think how well the economy would have been stimulated if the government had paid off home mortgages rather than bailing out greedy banking officials."
Not everyone favored a hands-off approach. A minority of respondents said they thought government spending was a necessary and effective means of getting the country back on its feet.
"The Fed and Treasury programs have prevented real economic disaster, while the Main Street economy is gradually working through the de-leveraging and rationalization processes necessary in a recession," said Ward Waltman, a 59-year-old federal retiree who lives in Hanover County.
"I am optimistic that the federal government will increase its oversight and regulation of the financial markets, which would still allow growth and innovation but provide greater stability to the whole economy in the future."
Contact Zachary Reid at (804) 775-8179 or
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No quick fix
Last week, the Richmond Times-Dispatch invited readers to fill out a short, informal survey online that sought their opinions about government and the economy. The majority of the 488 respondents said they did not feel confident that the government can solve the country's economic problems, particularly with stimulus money. Here are the questions we asked and the responses:
Will the government stimulus program save the economy? NO: 75 percent, YES: 25 percent
Should the federal government be involved in running the automobile manufacturers? NO: 84 percent, YES: 16 percent
Should the federal government create and manage a universal health-care system? NO: 67 percent, YES: 33 percent
Should the government have control over the compensation of executives of financial institutions? NO: 70 percent, YES: 30 percent
Do you feel better about the economy now than you did six months ago? NO: 54 percent, YES: 46 percent
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Reader Reactions
zreaders were invited to fill out a “short, informal survey online that sought their opinions about government and the economy.“
I took the survey it was simple. Short and sweet. And here are the results of the answers.
It is what it is. The majority of the people who took the survey said that the government should butt out.
As Will Rogers said of a past president…
“He is the first president to discover that what the American people want is to be left alone.“
I think we can all agree that this type of push polling isnt designed to determine what people think, but rather to influence it.
It’s a very egregious practice, but to then post the results of something as ridiculous as this “poll” is nothing short of unethical.
The RTD is has no integrity.
Nice try 12steprevenge. When critisized attack which usually works unless the other person doesn’t care about your opinion.
Jer, perhaps try to put together a cogent argument. First, it was this:
“Notice how when the polls don’t give the right answer people just automatically say it is worthless or invalid? Using far fewer numbers and they will say their outcomes are better becasue they are ????? making them more accurate. From the people I have talked to they all would pretty much agree these numbers are accurate. It was a poll, the results are in so live with them.“
... which seems to be saying (if I deciphered your writing correctly) that that people are criticizing the polling methods and contesting their validity because the results are in conflict with their personal opinions, not because the poll is objectively invalid.
Then this: “all these people spent all this time bad mouthing a survey that no one claimed was really valid.“
Here you seem to be conceding that the survey was not valid, but before you were saying that these criticisms were levied out of bias.
Then this…
“1. Many didn’t like the results so they questioned the methods used to obtain them.
2. The results agreed with what I have found with conversations of people around me.
3. If you don’t like the results do your own survey as they slant whatever way the questions are asked.“
So it is okay for the poll to be invalid as long as you agree with the results or they are confirmed by your anecdotal observations? Or the appropriate action to take, rather than question the existing poll, is to create one equally biased?
I’m having a hard time discerning what your point is from what you’ve written. Sounds like you don’t need me to call anything into question. You’re doing a fine job on your own.
12step…
Polls are not valid or invalid based on personal prejudices, so long as they are conducted within the guidelines of formal sampling methodologies. For example, the population surveyed must be representative in terms of its size and demographics, relative to the overall population. The questions must be clear and worded impartially. There must be estimates of total population, sample population, standard deviation, and mergins of error. When a survey lacks some or all of these elements, it then becomes meaningless. We are trying to get away from the George Bush methodology, which is 1. spread lies 2. poll people who have been lied to 3. pretend to acquiesce to the opinions of the uninformed, which was the plan all along.
Should the gov control executive salaries for corporations? “HECK NO!“
Wait, even if it’s a CEO at AIG taking a five million dollar bonus after we bailed them out (your money and mine) to the tune of $100B? “OH. NEVERMIND.“
My point exactly - Why publish polls that everyone believes are biased? If you are loking for unbiased reporting then looking in any of todays news media is the wrong place to look.
Two wrongs don’t make a right but by some peoples standards publishing false or misleading information and calling it news is what the people want.
You constantly make claims regarding other peoples intelligence when you refer to them in the manner in which you do. Your statements like “but I guess if you don’t know what to look for, you don’t know what’s missing.“ make a claim on other peoples intelligence and then when they call you on it you make statements like “I’m not making any claims regarding your intelligence, Jer… sorry you’re taking it that way.“ hoping it will make your claims go away. Unfortunately they do not and you show your true nature by both these statements. Make statements on your opinion not on other peoples character.
... and here I was thinking that polls and statistics were supposed to actually tell us something.
“Notice how when the polls don’t give the right answer people just automatically say it is worthless or invalid?“
... then: “My point is that all these people spent all this time bad mouthing a survey that no one claimed was really valid.“
Okay, then, if it’s not valid, then why publish it? It seems to me that a news organization has a responsibility to provide us with information which isn’t patently biased or outright invalid for drawing inferences. You seem to be saying that, if I don’t like the results of a poll, I should create one that demonstrates my own biases? This seems like a “two wrongs make a right” line of reasoning.
This begs a bigger question: what is the point of polling and statistics? Is it to provide us with information that we simply assume to be valid or invalid based upon our personal prejudices or is it to provide us with reliable information which we can use to formulate an objective opinion?
I’m not making any claims regarding your intelligence, Jer… sorry you’re taking it that way.
No one here or in the article mentioned science. This was a random open survey to get readers opinions. My point is that all these people spent all this time bad mouthing a survey that no one claimed was really valid. I was just trying to show that:
1. Many didn’t like the results so they questioned the methods used to obtain them.
2. The results agreed with what I have found with conversations of people around me.
3. If you don’t like the results do your own survey as they slant whatever way the questions are asked.
4. Please stop making general statements about my intelligence because you don’t know me and never will. Your Opinion is just that, with no facts to back them up. My opinions are my own and will remain what they are no matter how condescending you want to be. I think you don’t know what to look for, don’t know what is missing judging from some of your responses.
The problem is this, Jer (if I understood what you were trying to get across in that last post).... statistics are great liars. By crafting a poll in this manner, the results are invalid for making inferences. What you consider empirically true is only an anecdote based on the people with whom you happened to have a conversation on the matter, not statistical science.
Some people expect a certain amount of regard for “truth in statistics”, but I guess if you don’t know what to look for, you don’t know what’s missing. This seems to be common, judging from some of the responses here.
Notice how when the polls don’t give the right answer people just automatically say it is worthless or invalid? Using far fewer numbers and they will say their outcomes are better becasue they are ????? making them more accurate. From the people I have talked to they all would pretty much agree these numbers are accurate. It was a poll, the results are in so live with them.
Don’t like the results then due one of your own that will say what YOU want then you can be happy.
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