Public Pulse

Voters Want Guaranteed Health Care More than Tax Cuts

Eric Lotke — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 15:46:02 -0500

If you had to choose, which do you think is more important for the country to do right now, maintain the tax cuts enacted in recent years or make sure all Americans have access to health care?

Cutting taxes 18%
Access to health insurance 76%

Would you be willing or not willing to pay higher taxes so that all Americans have health insurance they can't lose, no matter what?

Willing 60%
Not willing 34%

(If "willing") Would you be willing or not willing to pay $500 a year more in taxes so that all Americans have health insurance they can't lose, no matter what?

Willing 82%
Not willing 16%

Record Percentage of Americans Sees Themselves As Worse Off

Isaiah J. Poole — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:49:55 -0400

Fifty-five percent of Americans interviewed in a May 30-June 1 Gallup Poll said they were worse off financially than they were a year ago. This is the first time in the 32 years that Gallup has tracked this question that a majority of Americans have declared themselves worse off financially. During the recessions of the early Reagan years and the early 1990s, the percentage of Americans who said they were worse off than the previous year peaked between 44 percent and 48 percent. It was at its lowest point, 19 percent, during the economic boom of the late 1990s.

Americans Reject Right-Wing Stance on Diplomacy

Isaiah J. Poole — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:09:05 -0400

Conservatives condemn the idea of presidents talking to their counterparts from "enemy" countries, but 67 percent of Americans disagree, according to a June 2 Gallup poll. "Large majorities of Democrats and independents, and even half of Republicans, believe the president of the United States should meet with the leaders of countries that are considered enemies of the United States," the poll says. Fifty-nine percent of Americans, for example, would support the U.S. president meeting with the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

NAFTA-Type Deals Sour Public on Free Trade

Isaiah J. Poole — Mon, 05 May 2008 21:57:51 -0400

Forty-eight percent of the people responding to an April 2008 Pew Research Center poll said that free trade agreements are a bad thing for the country, compared with 35 percent who call them a good thing. In that same poll, 61 percent of respondents said that free trade causes job losses, 56 percent said it lowers wages and 50 percent said it slows the economy.

Americans paying more attention to energy efficiency

Molly Swartz — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:38:41 -0400

Seventy-two percent of members of the International Facility Management Association said they pay more attention to energy efficiency, up 10 percent since last year.

Iraq War Worsens Domestic Economic Problems

Alex Carter — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:07:09 -0400

The American public, by an overwhelming margin, believes that the cost of the Iraq war is worsening domestic economic problems. In a New York Times/CBS News poll completed on April 2, 67 percent of respondents said the war had contributed “a lot” to American economic problems, and 22 percent said it was contributing “some.” Only 10 percent said “not much” or “not at all.”

Parents are Very Concerned about Paying for Their Children's College

Alex Carter — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:21:41 -0400

According to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, 70 percent of parents surveyed were “very concerned” about how they would pay for college; only 6 percent were not concerned.

First Draft of History: 98% of historians call Bush a "Failure"

Eric Lotke — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:06:40 -0400

U.S. News and World Report reports President Bush "often argues that history will vindicate him. So he can't be pleased with an informal survey of 109 professional historians conducted by the History News Network." The survey found that 98% of historians believe that Bush's presidency has been a failure. 61% say Bush is the worst in American history. Among the reasons given for his low ratings: invading Iraq, tax breaks for the rich, and alienating nations around the world.

Middle class blues

Eric Lotke — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:55:29 -0400

Fewer Americans now than at any time in the past half century believe they're moving forward in life.

A majority of respondents in an April 2008 Pew Survey say that in the past five years, they either "haven't moved forward in life" (25%) or have "fallen backwards" (31%). This is the most downbeat short-term assessment of personal progress in nearly half a century of polling by the Pew Research Center and the Gallup organization, though it correlates perfectly with gaps in income, also discussed in the report.

American's electricity use to increase by 30 percent over next 20 years

Molly Swartz — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:24:00 -0400

According to the Energy Information Administration's Annual Energy Outlook 2008, U.S. demand for electricity will increase by 30 percent between 2006 and 2030.