Doubts about the spending stimulus continue to grow as newspapers across the country ran negative stories last week about its impact -- or lack of it -- in their states. Significantly, the Journal poll found that just 37 percent now think that Obama's economic-stimulus program is a "good idea," compared to 39 percent who said it is a "bad idea," while 24 percent have no opinion or were not sure.

Meantime, a revealing Washington Post poll this week said that "barely half of Americans are now confident" that Obama's stimulus spending will boost the economy. Much of these doubts are fed by exaggerated claims about the number of jobs that have been "saved or created," which have proven illusionary.

In fact, the original projections of Obama's economic aides have turned out to be off by a wide margin, said veteran fact checker Brooks Jackson at factcheck.org.

Support for Obama's nationalized healthcare plan doesn't fare much better. Just 33 percent say his plan is a good idea versus 32 percent who say bad idea, with 30 percent expressing no opinion.

It has become the victim of sticker shock, with cost estimates running between $1 trillion and $2 trillion for openers. There are irreconcilable differences over plans to carve $300 billion out of Medicare benefits; to tax, for the first time, employer-provided healthcare benefits (opposed by union and non-union workers alike); or to levy a national sales tax.

Unprecedented spending levels and skyrocketing debt are at the heart of Obama's agenda, and this is where public support falls most sharply. The Post poll found that nearly nine in 10 Americans say they are "very" (56 percent) or "somewhat" (31 percent) concerned about the worsening deficits.

Most ominous politically for Obama and the Democrats: 61 percent of independent swing voters say they favor "smaller government with fewer services" over "larger government with more services." Overall, smaller government wins 54 percent to 41 percent, the Post found.

So much for those on the Far Left who say a majority of Americans now favor bigger government in the Age of Obama. Clearly, they don't.