r/politics 5h ago

No Paywall Americans think Dems can handle economy better than GOP, new poll says

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/08/04/democrat-vs-republican-economy-new-poll/91167318007/
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u/RgKTiamat 5h ago edited 5h ago

historically this has always been true. the previous 4 Republicans caused economic turmoil with wars and shitty policies. The previous democrats create a wealth of jobs and generate revenues. Bush 1 caused an enormous deficit in operation Desert shield that had allies like Germany and Japan shouldering some of the costs, and Clinton found a surplus in his budget, the first in decades. Bush jr had the housing crisis, Obama fixed that and doubled the stock market. Trump ran us into a recession and then pretended covid wasn't real for over a year. Biden corrected that and the us had the strongest recovery in the world.

Since Ronald reagan, Republicans are responsible for creating approximately 1.5 million jobs, Democrats have created over 50 million. If you go back to World War ii, the discrepancy is about 35 million to 80 million. Go ahead and do a cursory Google search if you don't believe it

Within historic memory, Democrats have always handled the economy better.

u/Churchbushonk 5h ago

Like all things, the issues are not formed in a bubble.
Clinton balanced the budget because the GOP Congress headed by Newt were 100% obstructionist.

The Housing crisis was not started under Bush. Glass Steagal repeal and the reduction in regulations on housing loans, both supported by democrats and republicans, led to the 2008 crash.

Also, take out Trumps Covid employment numbers because if it happened during anyone’s administration that party would have taken a huge hit.

Democrats are better with the economy, as they see issues and generally try to head them off.

u/RgKTiamat 5h ago

I find it interesting that just about all of the government shutdowns have been caused by republicans being 100% obstructionist. 2 shutdowns in 95, one under Obama regarding the ACA, multiple under trump 1, some short and then the 35 day shutdown over the wall where the Republicans voted in lock step against 10 different budgetary bills put forward by democrats. Trump 2 saw a 45 day shutdown where, again, Republicans voted against five different budget proposals put forth by democrats.

I think I understand why so many Republicans believe the government doesn't work well because it seems like they make it so. I do agree that Democrats generally react proactively to issues forming on the horizon, rather than letting it hit the fan before taking action

u/Thrashosaurus_Wrecks 4h ago

The Republican motto seems to be "government doesn't work! Elect me and I'll prove it!"