Poll: Majority Say Democrats’ Build Back Better Act ‘Hurtful’ to Economic Recovery

Most Americans believe the Democrats’ $1.7 trillion Build Back Better social spending plan, which passed with no support from Republicans on Friday morning, will be “hurtful” to America’s economic recovery, a Convention of States/Trafalgar Group survey released Friday found.

“Do you believe President Biden’s Build Back Better plan will be helpful or hurtful to America’s economic recovery?” the survey asked. 

Overall, 52.4 percent said it will be “hurtful,” and of those, 43.5 percent said it will be “very” hurtful. 38.3 percent said the measure will be “helpful,” and of those, 28.7 percent say it will be “very” helpful.

Democrats are far more likely to support the massive reconciliation bill, as 64.9 percent believe it will be helpful to America’s economic recovery. However, a majority of Republicans and independents, 82.1 percent and 59.6 percent, respectively, said it will be hurtful. 

The survey, taken November 13-16, 2021, among 1,092 likely general election voters, has a margin of error of +/- 2.97 percent. 

While the Democrat-led House passed the measure Friday morning 220-213, Republicans stood in unity, unanimously opposing the bill after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) record-breaking eight-hour and forty-two-minute speech, blasting the left’s agenda:

The bill, which drastically expands social programs, raises taxes on middle-class Americans, and embraces open-door immigration policies, would cost $750 billion over the next five years alone and add $367 billion to the deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). President Biden, however, has insisted that his agenda will cost “zero dollars.”