It has always been the "American Dream" that anyone can be successful in the United States, and even the poor can work their way up the economic ladder (leaving poverty behind). But fewer Americans actually believe that these days.
The chart above was made from a recent Rasmussen Poll (done on July 18th and 19th of a national random sample of 1,000 adults, with a margin of error of 3 points). It shows that currently less than half of Americans believe nearly anyone can work their way out of poverty (44%), while 40% say that is no longer true and 16% aren't sure it is possible.
Americans are beginning to see the economic reality that the GOP's "trickle-down" economic policy has brought to this country. The Republicans convinced Americans about three decades ago that giving more money to the rich and corporations (through lowering their tax and eliminating regulations) would benefit all Americans (and much of that new money the rich and corporations had would trickle down to benefit everyone else).
What these "trickle-down" policies have brought this country is a recession (from which most Americans have still not recovered), a vast gap in wealth and income between the rich and the rest of America, massive job out-sourcing to foreign countries, a falling national median wage, a shrinking middle class, a growing poverty class, and a growing amount of workers who are trying to subsist on an inadequate minimum wage.
Americans are starting to realize that the country's economic playing field has been tilted to favor the rich, at the expense of everyone else -- and that it has become much harder for anyone to climb the economic ladder out of poverty (impossible for many).
