Good News, I Guess

From the Weekly Standard:

Rasmussen released results of a new national poll yesterday showing Americans put more faith in the concept of free market capitalism than they do in our national leaders' ability to apply it. According to the poll:

Forty-four percent (44%) of Americans agree with President Bush's declaration last week that "free-market capitalism is far more than an economic theory. It is the engine of social mobility - the highway to the American Dream."

The same survey found that just 22 percent disagree with that sentiment, while 33 percent are undecided.

As a pollster I know it's sometimes hard to separate the "message" from the "messenger." So in this case, given President Bush's low approval ratings and the economic meltdown over the past two months, I'm surprised the number of free market supporters isn't even lower.

The news gets worse when voters are asked about their confidence in our national leaders' ability to handle current economic problems. Republicans as well as Democrats seem equally unsure. Rasmussen writes this:

In a finding rare to Rasmussen Reports' recent surveys on the economy, there is virtually no partisan divide when voters are asked about their confidence in policymakers. Only 27% of Republicans are somewhat confident in U.S. policymakers, as are just 30% of Democrats. Twenty-one percent (21%) of unaffiliateds agree.

Voters are also pretty cynical when it comes to the economic rescue plan recently passed by Congress:

Adding to this perception is the further finding that 48% of voters think Congress' passage of a $700-billion economic rescue plan last month was bad for the country. Just 25% think the plan, first proposed by the Bush administration, was good for the country, and 26% are undecided.

Read the full Rasmussen report here.

While it's great that 44% of Americans still have faith in free market capitalism, it's disturbing that it's only 44%.  Still, it's a big majority, and I suspect that over the next two years the alternative -- socialism, or collectivism -- will boost that number considerably.  Unfortunately, it seems this is one of those times where it has to get worse before it gets better.

I am heartened, however, that so many people on both sides of the aisle are skeptical of Congress' ability to solve our financial woes.  Ultimately, they're the ones who caused the problems we're now dealing with, so there is simply no way they can 'fix' it now.  Bottom line: we put too much faith in Congress at our own peril, and we as a nation have done that over the past few years.  Now we're reaping the consequences of that misplaced faith.  Let's get it right from this point on, and demand that Congress pull its collective head out of the sand and out of the free market capitalism that made America so successful.

There's my two cents.