Poll: RI'ers unhappy with state's path

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri, with his State of the State address and news conferences on the state's dire budget crisis, is often the face of the state's fiscal mess. However, an exclusive Eyewitness News poll released this week shows Rhode Islanders are pointing the finger in a different direction.

A whopping 70 percent of the 500 people polled said the state is going in the wrong direction , 13 said it's going in the right direction, 12 percent think it has remained the same and five percent aren't sure.

• See a breakdown of the direction of the state poll results

With a growing deficit in the hundreds of millions and an unemployment rate of 12.9 percent, Eyewitness News Political Analyst and pollster Joe Fleming said the results aren't surprising.

"We have a budget crisis that continues on every day. It doesn't seem to ever end, people are not optimistic on what's going in Rhode Island at this time," Fleming said.

So, who do Rhode Islander's hold responsible for the state's situation?

• See a breakdown of Gov. Carcieri's job approval ratings

Although 59 percent of those polled have an unfavorable opinion of Carcieri's job performance, only 15 percent blame him solely for the state's budget mess. Instead, the Democratic-controlled General Assembly is taking most of the heat, with 53 percent blaming state legislators. Another 25 percent of respondents said both were to blame, with the rest unsure.

• See a breakdown of who Rhode Islanders hold responsible

Carcieri, a Republican, has been a proponent of cutting spending and not raising broad-based taxes. However, he has gotten a lot of resistance from Democratic legislators for his suggestions on how to fix the state's financial woes.

When asked about solutions, Speaker of the House William Murphy has said lawmakers hope they don't have to raise taxes, but he also admitted increases weren't off the table either.

"We have to consider everything," Murphy said.

• See how Rhode Islanders would fix the state's budget woes

The poll shows 61 percent of those polled favor cutting spending and services to fix the state's budget mess, 14 percent think the state should raise taxes, another 14 percent said the state should do both, and 11 percent aren't sure.

Despite those poll numbers, Independent candidate for governor Lincoln Chafee is standing by his proposal to raise revenue by expanding some sales taxes.

"You cannot continually pass it down to the property taxpayer," Chafee said. "For the governor to say we're not raising taxes, that's just dishonest."

However, Fleming said that philosophy could prove to be a problem for Chafee. He said no matter how it's sold, the word "tax" doesn't sit well with voters.

"I think the Dems and Republicans will attack Chafee on this one question," Fleming said.

When it comes to labor unions and state government, 57 percent said unions have too much influence in the state, 23 think the balance of power is just right, and 8 percent said unions don't have enough influence. The remaining 12 percent said they weren't sure.

• See what Rhode Islanders think about labor unions

The poll was conducted by phone January 27 through January 31, 2010. Reflecting the political canvas of the state; 39 percent of those polled considered themselves Democrat, 17 percent Republican and 41 percent Independent. Statewide statistics -- 500 registered voters -- comes with a 4.4 percent margin of error.