Oil Spill Seen As Ecological Disaster
Americans are critical of the government’s response to the environmental disaster in the Gulf, but even more so of BP. Support for offshore oil drilling is down, though Republican opinion is unchanged.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Gulf Coast Oil Spill Grabs Public Attention
Summary of Findings As a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico spread toward the Louisiana coastline last week, the public focused on the unfolding story of a potential environmental disaster. The spill dominated the public’s consciousness. It was the story people were most likely to say they talked about with friends. The percentage […]
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About the Survey
Results for this survey are based on telephone interviews conducted under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates International among a national sample of 1,546 adults living in the continental United States, 18 years of age or older, from April 21-26, 2010 (1,006 respondents were interviewed on a landline telephone, and 540 were interviewed on […]
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Economy, Volcanic Ash Top News Interest
Summary of Findings The public and the media focused on economic issues last week, with 24% of Americans saying they followed news about the economy more closely than other major stories. Another 9% say they followed news about proposals for stricter regulation of banks and financial institutions most closely. Americans also continued to closely track […]
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Pessimistic Public Doubts Effectiveness of Stimulus, TARP
Overview The public remains doggedly downbeat about the condition of the national economy, even as many experts and economists see signs of recovery. As has been the case for most of the past two years, about nine-in-ten (88%) rate national economic conditions as only fair or poor, and over the past year there has been […]
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Health Care Still Top Story, But Many Track Volcano
Summary of Findings Americans say they followed news about the new health care law more closely than any other major story last week, but many also kept a close watch on the economy and the ash-spewing volcano in Iceland that disrupted international air travel. Though media coverage of the health care debate has dropped significantly […]
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Distrust, Discontent, Anger and Partisan Rancor
Overview By almost every conceivable measure Americans are less positive and more critical of government these days. A new Pew Research Center survey finds a perfect storm of conditions associated with distrust of government – a dismal economy, an unhappy public, bitter partisan-based backlash, and epic discontent with Congress and elected officials. Rather than an […]
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The Tea Party’s Effect on the Midterms?