State spending of Federal stimulus ‘wrong’
Raleigh, NC – The Civitas Institutes latest poll results reveal Governor Bev Perdue’s favorability suffered over the past month as a majority of voters viewed actions by her administration to balance North Carolina’s budget with Federal stimulus money as a move in the wrong direction for the state.
According to 600 voters surveyed, 44 percent of voters continued to view her favorably while 35.2 percent viewed the Governor unfavorably. When comparing the sentiment of respondents from March, Perdue’s favorability dropped 14 percent as those who viewed her unfavorably rose by 15.2 percent.
“Shifts in voter’s perception like this are cause for alarm,” said Francis De Luca, Executive Director of the Civitas Institute. “Voters in North Carolina are beginning to place blame on the state continuing economic woes at the feet of the Governor. With unemployment in excess of 11 percent statewide, Perdue is shouldering the burden for the continuing worsening economic conditions.”
Respondents were also critical of Perdue’s plan to balance the state budget with Federal stimulus dollars. A majority of respondents, 56 percent, felt using the Federal stimulus money in this way was a ‘wrong’ decision while 31.3 percent felt the supplementation was the ‘right’ move by the administration.
“Voters recognize that attempting to balance the state budget with funds that will run out in two years only delays the state’s problems,” said De Luca. “Instead of trying to put a finger in the proverbial damn with stimulus funds, Perdue should use this opportunity to fundamentally reform and reshape North Carolina government to a leaner, more efficient user of scarce taxpayer dollars.”
The Civitas Poll is the only monthly live-caller poll of critical issues and policies facing North Carolina.
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Full text of questions:
Now I am going to read you a list of names. Will you please tell me if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of each person? If you have no opinion or have never heard of the person, just say so.
Bev Perdue
Very Favorable – 13.8%
Somewhat Favorable – 30.2%
TOTAL FAVORABLE – 44%
Somewhat Unfavorable – 17.3%
Very Unfavorable – 17.8%
TOTAL UNFAVORABLE – 35.2%
NO OPINION/ NEVER HEARD – 20.8%
Regarding the state budget and Governor Perdue’s plan to balance the state budget with federal stimulus money, please tell me which of the following comes closest to your own personal opinion? (READ & ROTATE CHOICES)
- (Some/Other) people say Governor Perdue is RIGHT to use the federal stimulus money to balance the state budget. They say by using the stimulus money to balance the budget, Governor Perdue can continue state services.
- (Other/Some) people say Governor Perdue is WRONG to use federal stimulus money to balance the state budget. They say the money may help in the short term, but when the stimulus money is gone, then the state budget will be out of balance again. Instead they say Governor Perdue should cut spending to balance the budget and use the stimulus money to reduce taxes or pay down state debt.
- DK/Refused
Right – 31.3%
Wrong – 56%
Did not know/ Refused – 12.7%
Click here for full results and crosstabs.
Click here for March 2009 poll results.
The poll of 600 likely general election voters in North Carolina was conducted April 21-23, 2009 by McLaughlin and Associates of Alexandria, Virginia. All interviews were conducted via telephone by professional interviewers.
Interview selection was random within predetermined geographic units. These units were structured to correlate with actual voter distributions in a statewide general election. The poll of 600 likely general election voters has an accuracy of +/- 4.0% at a 95% confidence interval.
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