Wall Street may be setting records, and the rich and corporations making huge profits -- but most Americans are still trying to shake off the effects of the Bush recession. And that seems to have given a lot of them a pessimistic view of this nation's future.
Only 32% believe the best days are ahead for this country, while a plurality of 46% say the country's best days are in the past (and 22% don't know what to think). I would like to be in the optimistic group, but if the voters keep electing Republicans who still believe in the failed "trickle-down" economic policies of that party, then that plurality may be right. That economic policy is hurting the country and destroying our economy, and if we don't change it soon we'll become a third-world nation (composed only of "haves" and "have-nots").
These numbers are from a recent Rasmussen Poll -- done on January 13th and 14th of a random national sample of 800 likely voters, with a 3.5 point margin of error.