Public Satisfaction Remains Low

New numbers from Gallup reveal that Americans are still unhappy with the way things are going in the country, with just 17 percent saying they're satisfied and 80 percent saying they're dissatisfied. Still, it is a slight increase from the 13 percent satisfaction results in early January as well as in pre-election November. And as Gallup points out, the link between overall public satisfaction and how Americans rate economic conditions is inextricable.

It is worth noting, however, that despite all this talk of dissatisfaction and recession, optimism is unequivocally high in some areas.