American Pulse(TM): 61% Against Raising Debt Ceiling

COLUMBUS, OH--(Marketwire - December 18, 2009) - As Congressional Democrats hurry to raise the debt ceiling and pass the sweeping healthcare reform before the Christmas holiday, Americans are voicing their displeasure with government spending. According to the latest American Pulse™ Survey of over 5,000 people, 61.2% of Americans are against raising the debt ceiling, 24% are for it and 14.8% are apathetic.

47.5% of Americans say they don't want money allocated towards another stimulus package (27.1% say yes and 25.4% don't know). 45.1% disagree with President Obama's assertion that we must continue to "spend our way out of this recession." 49.9% say that President Obama hasn't done a good job at restoring fiscal responsibility in Washington, 24.3% believe he has while 25.7% don't know.

Regarding healthcare, 63.6% say the Democrats should give Republicans more participation in writing the healthcare reform legislation. Further, 46% say the reform will not result in better healthcare and only 22.2% think the reform will result in lower healthcare costs.

On to other headlines, reports about Tiger Woods' personal life have changed the opinion of him as an athlete for 35.2% of Americans, but hasn't had an impact on over half (54.8%). 1 in 10 say they will boycott products he endorses.

Quick holiday hits:
1.  51.4% of holiday shoppers are staying on budget; 10.7% admit to
    overspending.
2.  53.8% will not attend religious services this holiday. 30.5%
    regularly attend religious services throughout the year and 15.7%
    attend during the holidays.
3.  65% say we shouldn't pull the plug on Christmas lights in an effort
    to be more green, 20.5% disagree.
4.  Mariah Carey beats out Britney Spears for best version of "All I
    Want for Christmas" (27.7% v. 4.4%). However, "neither" gets the most
    votes at 67.8%.

For full complete report: http://americanpulse.bigresearch.com.

About American Pulse™

The American Pulse™ Survey is collected online by BIGresearch every month exclusively utilizing Survey Sampling International's (SSI) U.S. panel covering topics such as politics, pop culture and the economy. Over 5,000 respondents participate, providing greater insights into how Americans really feel about issues they currently face. http://www.bigresearch.com

About Survey Sampling International (SSI)

Survey Sampling International is the premier global provider of sampling solutions for survey research. SSI offers access to more than 6 million consumer and business-to-business research respondents in 54 countries via Internet, telephone, and mobile. Additional client services include custom profiling, survey programming and hosting, data processing, sampling consulting, and survey optimization. SSI serves more than 1,800 marketing research clients, including nearly three-quarters of the top researchers worldwide. Founded in 1977, SSI has an international staff of 400 people representing 50 countries and 36 languages. The company is based in Shelton, CT with 14 additional offices worldwide. http://www.surveysampling.com

Contact Information: Contacts: BIGresearch Chrissy Wissinger 614.846.0146 SSI Gloria Mellinger 203.567.7236