In a number of surveys over the past several months, the Pew Research Center has shown where the public stands on the budget deficit — the seriousness of the problem, views of competing policy proposals, and its confidence in the policymakers.
Senior research staff answers questions from readers relating to all the areas covered by our seven projects ranging from polling techniques and findings, to media, technology, religious, demographic and global attitudes trends.
Across a wide range of issues — including entitlements, education, agriculture and energy — Tea Party Republicans take a much harder line on cutting federal spending than do non-Tea Party Republicans, who are far more in sync with Democrats.
Health information remains one of the most important subjects that internet users research online. The Pew Internet Project and California HealthCare Foundation have added eight new topics — including food safety, drug safety, and pregnancy information — to their national survey measuring internet users’ interest in health information.
Americans see the big picture when it comes to the changing balance of power in Washington, but is not sure which party controls which house of Congress or who the next speaker will be. Many have a good idea about the growth of the federal deficit, but the public struggles with questions about specifics of the budget, TARP and inflation.
While a majority of Americans favors allowing changes to Social Security, there is very little support for replacing Medicare with a voucher system. Also, the public continues to see no clear leader atop the GOP.
The latest Congressional Connection poll finds most in the public are in no mood for political compromising. Also, Americans split evenly on which political party could best handle the economy while four-in-ten say eliminating tax cuts for the wealthy would hurt the economy.
A third of Millennials lack health care insurance, and their support for health care reform exceeds that of older generations, but they have tuned out of the debate in Washington.
Americans are famous both for being weight conscious, and at the same time unable to come to terms successfully with their bloated waistlines. The same paradox has applied to how the public looks at budget deficits for a very long time.