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    The U.S. Fiscal Cliff Redux

    At the turn of the year the United States avoided careening over a fiscal cliff – which would have triggered recession-inducing automatic tax increases and spending cuts – by passing legislation that raised some taxes, but did little to cut spending.

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    Deficit Reduction Rises on Public’s Agenda for Obama’s Second Term

    Overview When Barack Obama took office four years ago, reducing the budget deficit was a middle-tier item on the public’s agenda. Only about half of Americans (53%) viewed it as a top policy priority in January 2009, placing it ninth on a list of 20 policy goals. But as Obama begins his second term, only […]

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    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.

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    Public Attitudes Toward the Next Social Contract

    Recent deliberations in Washington have triggered a national debate about key elements of the social safety net. Why the U.S. invests relatively less in its social safety net than many other countries reflect Americans’ conflicted, partisan and often contradictory views on fairness, inequality, the role and responsibility of government and individuals in society and the efficacy of government action.

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    2013: A Fateful Year

    The year ahead promises both challenges and opportunities for transatlantic relations. The next 12 months could prove to be consequential for both security and economic ties between Europe and the United States.

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    Obama Viewed as Fiscal Cliff Victor; Legislation Gets Lukewarm Reception

    Overview Barack Obama is viewed as the clear political winner in the fiscal cliff negotiations, but the legislation itself gets only a lukewarm reception from the public: As many disapprove as approve of the new tax legislation, and more say it will have a negative than positive impact on the federal budget deficit, the national […]

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    What Americans Want in 2013

    In 2013, downbeat domestic attitudes coupled with reticence about international engagement poses challenges for a world that still may need a strong United States.

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    The Big Generation Gap at the Polls Is Echoed in Attitudes on Budget Tradeoffs

    Overview The record generation gap that played out at the voting booth 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, according to a new nationwide Pew Research Center survey. Older adults by a lopsided […]

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    A Bipartisan Nation of Beneficiaries

    As President Barack Obama negotiates with Republicans in Congress over federal entitlement spending, a new national survey by the Pew Research Center finds that a majority of Americans (55%) have received government benefits from at least one of the six best-known federal entitlement programs. The survey also finds that most Democrats (60%) and Republicans (52%) […]