Little Public Support for Cutting Most Programs
As the March 1 deadline for a possible budget sequester approaches, a new national survey finds limited public support for reducing spending for a range of specific programs, including defense, entitlements, education and health care.
Obama’s Second Term Goals and Public Opinion
President Obama on Monday laid out his second term priorities, naming a range of issues: the social safety net, entitlement programs, income inequality, climate change, gay rights and immigration reform. Here is what our surveys have found about public opinion on these topics.
Public Attitudes Toward the Next Social Contract
The recent deliberations in Washington about the fiscal cliff have triggered a national debate in the United States about the nature, extent and future sustainability of key elements of the U.S. social safety net.
Generation Gap Influences Views on Budget Tradeoffs
The record generation gap evident in the last two presidential elections is echoed by large differences by age in attitudes about the tradeoff between reducing the federal deficit and preserving entitlements for older adults.
A Bipartisan Nation of Beneficiaries
A majority of Americans, both Democrat and Republican, have received government benefits from one of the six best-known federal entitlement programs.
Where the Public Stands on Government Assistance, Taxes and the Presidential Candidates
When the national conversation focuses on class, the social safety net and the distribution of wealth as it has in the past week, the public sees clear differences between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, and Obama has an overall advantage.
Medicare Voucher Plan Remains Unpopular
A proposal to shift Medicare to a voucher system, part of a Paul Ryan plan approved by the House last year, remains unpopular. Both Ryan and Democrat Joe Biden get negative marks as vice presidential candidates.
Older Americans Have Been Highly Resistant to Medicare Changes
Older Americans are wary of changes to Medicare than are younger people. They are more positive about the way the program operates, less apt to think that changes are needed and far less disposed towards Paul Ryan’s proposal to reshape Medicare.
Debt and Deficit: A Public Opinion Dilemma
Pew Research Center President Andrew Kohut writes that there has never been an issue such as the deficit on which there has been such a consensus among the public about its importance — and such a lack of agreement about acceptable solutions.
Partisan Polarization Surges in Bush, Obama Years
Americans values and basic beliefs are more polarized along partisan lines than at any point in the past 25 years. Party has now become the single largest fissure in American society, with the values gap between Republicans and Democrats greater than gender, age, race or class divides.
