Answer: When it refers to attitudes about the American Jobs Act. While public opinion is divided on the Act as a whole, the individual pieces are pretty popular. Steve Benen explains:
On President Obama’s American Jobs Act, for example, the public is lukewarm — a plurality are “somewhat” confident the agenda will “create jobs and improve the economy,” but support is hardly one-sided. Notice, however, what happens when respondents are asked about individual provisions:
- Cut payroll taxes
Good idea 56%, bad idea 30% - State aid to prevent public-sector layoffs
Good idea 52%, bad idea 40% - Infrastructure investments
Good idea 80%, bad idea 16% - Small business tax cuts
Good idea 81%, bad idea 14%
He also notes that this was exactly what happened with the Affordable Care Act (approval of the individual provisions but mixed sentiments about the bill as a whole). The Republicans keep talking about breaking up the American Jobs Act into pieces for House consideration. Fine, just have the guts to consider all of the pieces!
