Rasmussen: Americans Think Government Will Overreact on Economy

Most voters are worried that the government will do too much in trying to solve the nation's economic woes, and agree that while spending should be cut, it will likely rise under President Barack Obama, a new Rasmussen Reports poll shows.

Rasmussen's national telephone survey, conducted on June 18-19, shows that a plurality, 47 percent, of voters surveyed gave Obama a poor rating about how he handles government spending, with 34 percent favoring him.

The poll's results showed that 43 percent of likely voters are more worried that the government will do too much, up from 39 percent in March and marking the highest number of since September.

Nearly two-thirds of the voters agreed that the government should cut spending rather than increase it, while 22 percent believe spending should increase and 13 percent think it should stay the same.

The poll was divided along party lines for the most part, with 69 percent of Republicans and a plurality of 49 percent of unaffiliated voters worried that the government will take too many steps toward fixing the economy. However, 77 percent of Democrats think the government won't do enough.

In addition, Republicans and unaffiliated voters favor spending cuts while Democrats are evenly divided over whether the government should cut spending or increase it to help boost the economy.

Meanwhile, women worry more than men about whether the government will help the economy, but both sexes agree spending should be cut.

The polling was also divided along racial lines. Fifty percent of white voters said they're concerned the government will do too much while 80 percent of blacks and 59 percent of minorities think it will not do enough.