Like most economists, many Americans think the worst of the nation's economic troubles are in the past. The latest FOX News poll finds that 44 percent say the worst is over -- up significantly from 27 percent who thought so in April.
Still, nearly half of the public (49 percent) says the worst is yet to come, down significantly from 66 percent from five months ago.
With improvements in the economy and only a fraction of the stimulus money having been spent so far, most Americans -- 72 percent -- say returning the unused portion of the $787 billion dollar stimulus to taxpayers would do more to boost the economy than having the government spend it. Majorities of Democrats (59 percent), Republicans (87 percent) and independents (70 percent) think the money should be returned to taxpayers.
Despite Obama's campaign pledge that 95 percent of Americans would "not see their taxes increase by a single dime," some administration officials have recently refused to rule out tax increases. More Americans -- by a 43-point margin -- think Obama is not going to be able to keep this campaign promise on taxes (69 percent to 26 percent).
In fact, the consensus is taxes will go up. Most Americans -- 75 percent -- think their taxes will increase under the Obama administration. That's up from 60 percent who thought so at the beginning of the year (13-14 January 2009).
A 57 percent majority of Democrats thinks their taxes will increase, up from 42 percent who thought so at the beginning of the year. Large majorities of Republicans (95 percent) and independents (75 percent) also think their taxes will go up during Obama's presidency.
