Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Bloggers last week focused on reports and predictions involving major changes to some of the country’s prominent institutions. And their verdict was mixed on whether these potentially dramatic developments were heartening or ominous.
Overview As Barack Obama takes office, the public’s focus is overwhelmingly on domestic policy concerns – particularly the economy. Strengthening the nation’s economy and improving the job situation stand at the top of the public’s list of domestic priorities for 2009. Meanwhile, the priority placed on issues such as the environment, crime, illegal immigration and […]
Shortly after President Bush took office in February 2001, no single issue stood out as the top national problem, though morality and ethics were mentioned most frequently (at just 12%); fewer than 1% cited terrorism. There was no clear public consensus about the nettlesome issue that was confronting policymakers – how to spend the federal […]
The public takes a somewhat less cynical view of government today than it did in 2007. Americans are less likely to say that government is wasteful and inefficient (57%, compared with 62% in 2007) and more likely to believe that government is “really run for the benefit of all the people” (49%, compared with 45% […]
Abortion Barack Obama Obama supports abortion rights. On Jan. 23, during his first week as president, Obamasigned an executive order restoring federal funding for international organizations that perform or promote abortions in foreign countries. During the October 15, 2008 presidentialdebate, Obama expressed a willingness to support a ban on late-term abortions “as long as there’s an […]