Polls: No economic turnaround in offing

UTICA, N.Y., April 1 (UPI) -- Two polls released Tuesday indicate Americans have little faith the economy will turn around soon, despite the rebate checks due out next month.

A Zogby poll found only 28 percent of those queried said they thought the economic stimulus package will help the economy while more than half of those queried in a Gallup poll said they thought it would be at least two years before an economic recovery sets in.

Zogby said 67 percent of Americans doubt the rebate checks will boost the economy, with Democrats (83 percent) and independents (70 percent) more skeptical than Republican (49 percent). And 68 percent said they were against the federal government stepping in to help investment companies. Fifty-four percent said the government also should not create a bailout for Americans facing foreclosure.

The Gallup Poll found only 20 percent of those queried thought the economy would recover in the next 12 months and 20 percent thought it would be five years or longer before improvement was seen. Republicans (59 percent) were more optimistic than Democrats (27 percent) or independents (40 percent). Seventy-nine percent said they expected the economy to get worse before it gets better.

Zogby queried 5,036 subjects March 26-28. The margin of error was pegged at 1.4 percentage points. Gallup surveyed 1,005 adults March 24-27 and pegged the margin of error at 4 points.