American voters believe President Biden is making it worse. A Fox News poll found that more than half of Americans believe inflation is not under control and that their economic views are still very negative. Two-thirds of respondents had to cut their spending because of the fact that a growing number feel financially behind.
More people than ever believe that the Biden administration caused the economy’s decline to be worse than its current state.
Two-thirds disapprove of how Biden manages inflation. This includes a substantial minority of Democrats.
Biden’s overall job satisfaction score is now down 9 points. 45% approve, 54% disapprove. Last month, it was between 43% and 56%.
Trump’s approval rating for economy handling is 21 points lower (58%) disapprove, 59% disagree, and 35 points inflation (31% approve, 66% disagree). Inflation is disapproved by 39%, 74% and 89% respectively of Democrats.
Chris Anderson, a Democratic pollster, stated that “these ratings make it extremely difficult to the president.” He co-authored the Fox News survey with Republican Daron Shaw. It’s hard to imagine what Biden could tell people to improve their economic situation until the cost of living increases.
Voters still think the economy is in bad shape, with 74% rating it as negative (32% are fair, 42% are very poor). This is almost three times as many people who rate it negatively (6% excellent, 20% great). These ratings have remained steady since October.
As a result, the number of people who think the Biden administration has helped the economy has dropped from 42% in September to 22% today. This is compared to six-months ago. This is due to a 32 point decrease in Democrats saying Biden has improved economic conditions and a 20% decline in independents.
Family members feel less secure financially. 43% of families feel that they are losing ground, an increase of 16 points over last summer. Only 12% feel they are making financial progress, while 45% believe they are on the right track.
39% of households with incomes below $50,000 per annum report being financially behind. This is 13 points more than June. From 18% to 37%, the number of households earning $50K+ has more than doubled.
Respondents report that two-thirds of them have had to cut back on their spending in order to provide for basic necessities. This includes 75% households with an annual income of less than $50,000, and 60% households earning more than $50K.
56% think inflation isn’t under control, and 88% believe rising gas prices are a problem. 52% of these respondents believe rising gas prices pose a serious problem.
They don’t know who to blame. A growing number of people are blaming the Biden administration for its policies regarding gas prices. 68% now, as opposed to 63% in February.
Republicans are 24 percentage point more likely than Democrats to blame Biden, while Democrats are 18 percentage point more likely blame Putin for the gas price hikes. Two-thirds of independents (63%) blame Putin and Biden.
Shaw states that, while the administration’s attempt to frame price increases as “Putin’s inflation” resonates among Democrats and some independents it doesn’t really affect the overall numbers. “Focussing only on Putin’s role only makes people guilty for both Biden and Russia.
Gas prices in some regions have increased to $5 per gallon over the last week. 22% of voters said that $4.99 was the minimum price they would pay for gas, “if it helped Ukraine fight against Russia.” 23 percent of voters would pay $6 for gasoline, while 22% would pay more, including 9% who would spend $6 or more.
Two of the most popular options to lower gas prices are increasing domestic oil drilling (74%), and renewable energy production (75%). These are supported by three-quarters (75%) of voters. Two-thirds support allowing oil pipelines like Keystone XL (65%). It is too risky to import additional oil from Venezuela or Iran. 61% of those opposed it.
More Republicans than Democrats support increasing oil production (+34), and the construction of pipelines (+34) by 15 points. Democrats are more inclined to support increasing renewable energy production (+24) and importing from oppressive governments (+19).
The majority of independents support increasing renewable energies and domestic oil production, and approving more oil- and natural gas pipelines. Many are against importing from oppressive regimes.
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