Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Politics

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    Many Say Government on Right Track on Economy

    Summary of Findings One month into President Obama’s administration, Americans on balance say the government is on the right track in the way it is handling the nation’s difficult economic problems. Nearly half (47%) says the government is on the right track in the way it is handling economic problems, while about a third (34%) […]

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    Most Feel a Personal Stake in Tracking Economic News

    Summary of Findings Americans continue to follow news about the economic crisis closely because they feel it is directly relevant to their lives. More than eight-in-ten (85%) say even when the economic news is bad they feel better knowing what’s going on, while 77% say they need to stay on top of economic news because […]

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    Obama Faces Familiar Divisions Over Anti-Terror Policies

    Overview President Obama receives positive ratings for his handling of terrorism and most Americans say his administration’s policies will reduce the likelihood of another major attack on the United States. But as in recent years, the public remains deeply divided over how best to defend the nation against the threat of terrorism. Americans approve of […]

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    As Jobs Crisis Spreads, Worries Climb the Economic Ladder

    Overview For the public, the continuing financial crisis has been overtaken by a jobs crisis. The proportion of Americans citing jobs or unemployment as the nation’s most important economic problem has more than quadrupled – from 10% to 42% – since early October and job worries now far surpass concerns over the financial crisis. People’s […]

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    Stimulus News Seen As More Negative Than Positive

    Summary of Findings As the contentious debate over President Obama’s $800 billion economic stimulus plan played out in Congress over the past week, more Americans were hearing bad things than good things about the legislation. Close to half (48%) of the public says that what they were reading and hearing about the plan in the […]

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    Support for Stimulus Plan Slips, But Obama Rides High

    Overview After weeks of intense debate over President Obama’s economic stimulus plan, a narrow majority of Americans (51%) who have heard about the $800 billion plan say it is a good idea, while 34% say it is a bad idea. In January, the balance of opinion regarding the plan was more positive: 57% of those […]