'The American public is growing concerned'

The citizenry appears to be getting increasingly apprehensive about the growth of government spending and the Obama administration's intrusions into the private sector.

From MSNBC:

As the young Obama administration spends trillions of dollars in its effort to turn around the nation's economy and revive the U.S. auto industry, the American public is growing concerned about the size of the budget deficit and the government's intervention into the private sector, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds.

Nearly seven in 10 have serious reservations about the federal government's ownership stake in General Motors. Almost 60 percent say that President Obama and Congress should worry more about keeping the deficit down - even if that means it will take longer for the economy to recover. And fewer than half of Americans have confidence in the president's policies to improve the economy....

Despite their concerns, the American public isn't blaming Obama for some of the current problems he's facing. Asked who was more responsible for the size of the deficit, 46 percent cited the Bush administration, 21 percent said the Democrats in Congress, 7 percent said the Republicans in Congress and just 6 percent said the Obama administration.

And from a New York Times/CBS poll (as reported by the Times):

A majority of people said [Mr. Obama's] policies have had either no effect yet on improving the economy or had made it worse, underscoring how his political strength still rests on faith in his leadership rather than concrete results.

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Joseph Slife is a contributing author and editor for SMI. Visit www.soundmindinvesting.com to learn more.