Wednesday, November 10, 2010

This just in: Public support dropping for those job-killing trade deals

The Pew Research Center has the results of a new poll out, and it isn't encouraging for people who think it's a good idea to send American jobs overseas. You can read the poll here.

The results are similar to a recent NBC News/Wall Street Jounral poll that showed 53 percent of respondents said free-trade agreements hurt the United States. That's up from 46 percent in 2007 and 32 percent in 1999.

Here are some highlights of the Pew poll:
  • Support for free trade agreements is at one of its lowest points in 13 years of Pew Research Center surveys.
  • A third (35 percent) say free trade agreements have been good for the U.S., while 44 percent say they have been bad.
  • More say their personal finances have been hurt (46 percent) rather than helped (26 percent) by free trade agreements.
  • Just 28 percent of Republicans say free trade agreements are good for the U.S., down from 43 percent in November 2009.
  • A quarter of Republicans who agree with the Tea Party (24 percent) say free trade agreements have been a good thing for the United States, while 63 percent say they have been a bad thing.