Over Half Of The Public Will Be Hurt By This Recession

The charts above are from the Morning Consult Poll -- done between March 27th and 29th of a national sample of 2,200 adults, with a 2 point margin of error.

It shows that 49% of American adults believe we are currently in a recession, while 23% say we are not and another 28% say they don't know. That 51% who deny the recession or don't know are in for an unpleasant shock, because we are in a serious recession that will not end soon.

About 51% say the current economic situation will be worse than the 2008 Bush recession, and another 11% believe it will be just as bad.

The third chart is the most troubling one though. It shows 42% say they would deplete their savings if the recession lasted 6 months (and 29% would deplete savings in less than 3 months). Another 12% don't have any savings to deplete. That's over half of the population (54%) that would be in economic trouble if the recession lasted only about 6 months -- which is a real possibility. Another 10% would deplete their savings in less than 12 months.

We were already living living in an unfair economy. Far too many Americans (about 44%) make less than $18,000 a year, and most live paycheck to paycheck. That's because most of rising productivity has gone to the top 10% in our economy since the 1980's (thanks to Republican trickle-down policies which favor the rich).

This recession has just made things worse for the Americans who can least afford it. The rich can ride the epidemic out and then recover quickly, but most Americans can't. They will be suffering economically long after the epidemic is over.

The Republicans won't fix this. They are the ones that caused it, and they still cling to their failed economic policies. That's why they must be voted out of power in November.