Americans Blame Economic Woes on Washington Before Wall Street
Lachlan Markay /
Americans remain convinced of Washington’s culpability in the economic crisis from which the country is still struggling to recover, according to a pair of new polls. The ongoing “Occupy” protests notwithstanding, Americans are more likely to blame the federal government than the financial sector for the country’s economic woes.
According to a poll conducted by The Hill, 56 percent of likely voters believe Washington is “more to blame” for the economic crisis. Only 33 percent said Wall Street shoulders most of the culpability.
That poll phrased the question as an either-or – is Washington more to blame, or Wall Street? But another poll released Monday shows that even given the opportunbity to lay blame on both institutions, Americans are more likely to blame Washington than Wall Street.
Seventy-eight percent of respondents in a USA Today/Gallup poll said that Wall Street bears a “great deal” or a “fair amount” of the blame for the country’s economic woes. Eight-seven percent, meanwhile, assigned that blame to Washington.
Most respondents said they didn’t know enough about the Occupy Wall Street protests to render a judgment, but they generally opposed the movement’s platform. A majority of respondents in the latter poll said they think the American economic system treats them fairly. Asked what a fair level of taxation for the top 1 percent of income earners should be, 28 percent said they have no opinion, while 21 percent said they should pay a 10 percent rate or less.