WASHINGTON — One year after Wall Street teetered on the brink of collapse, seven of every 10 Americans lack confidence that the federal government has taken safeguards to prevent another financial-industry meltdown, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll.
Even more — 80 percent — rate the condition of the economy as poor, and a majority worry about their ability to make ends meet. The pessimistic outlook sets the stage for President Barack Obama as he attempts to portray the financial sector as increasingly confident and stable and presses Congress to act on new banking regulations.
The public sentiment also poses a challenge to central elements of Obama’s governing agenda. Half of those surveyed said deficit reduction should be a national priority over increased spending on health care, education or alternative energy.
“I know a lot of people who don’t have health care and really can’t afford it,” said Judy Purkey, a 57-year-old grandmother from Morristown, Tenn., who has raised four grandchildren and is living on disability payments. But she added: “The economy is so bad. You’ve heard the expression ‘getting blood out of a turnip’? Well, that’s what’s going on.”
The president, in a CBS interview that aired Sunday on “60 Minutes,” acknowledged the public’s quandary.
“This is a very difficult economic environment. People are feeling anxious,” he said. “And I think it is absolutely fair to say that people started feeling some sticker shock.”
Still, Obama generally avoided public blame for the recession or the condition of the banking sector.
Michael Painter, a 38-year-old unemployed plumber from Orlando, Fla., said that while he believed that the federal spending package would ultimately stimulate the economy, it had yet to help him or his laid-off wife and teenage daughter.
Painter said he approved of Obama’s job performance so far but not that of Congress.
“The people in Congress need to quit bickering about party issues and start worrying about people issues,” he said.
The Obama administration also has begun to portray the financial sector in more upbeat terms, eager to make the case that government interventions begun under then-President George W. Bush and continued, altered or expanded under Obama have brought stability to the markets.
