Healthcare costs and lack of money or low wages rank as the most important financial problems facing American families, each mentioned by 14% of U.S. adults. Fewer Americans than a year ago cite the high cost of living or unemployment, and the percentage naming oil or gas prices is down […] Read more »
What the Public Wants Obama to Address in the State of the Union Speech
… We combed through our latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll to determine what the American public says should be an absolute priority for the coming year. Overall, Americans said their three top priorities for the country in the coming year are creating jobs (85 percent agreed), defeating and dismantling […] Read more »
Public’s Policy Priorities Reflect Changing Conditions at Home and Abroad
As views of the economy improve and terrorist threats persist, the public’s policy priorities have changed: For the first time in five years, as many Americans cite defending the U.S. against terrorism (76%) as a top policy priority as say that about strengthening the nation’s economy (75%). CONT. Pew Read more »
Mentions of Jobs as Top U.S. Problem at Six-Year Low
In January, 7% of Americans name unemployment or jobs as the most important problem facing the country. Although this figure is similar to the 8% who cited unemployment or jobs in December 2014, it is the lowest percentage mentioning the issue since October 2008. Mentions of unemployment and jobs are […] Read more »
Obama’s Lower Stakes on Keystone XL
This week, the White House announced that President Barack Obama wouldn’t sign any legislation approving the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The announcement comes as polls show a majority of Americans supporting construction of the pipeline and the new GOP-controlled Congress has made Keystone a top priority. So at […] Read more »
Cluster of Concerns Vie for Top U.S. Problem in 2014
In 2014, four issues generated enough public concern over enough months for at least 10% of Americans, on average, to identify each of them as the nation’s most important problem. Complaints about government leadership — including President Barack Obama, the Republicans in Congress and general political conflict — led the […] Read more »