U.S. President Barack Obama’s second inaugural address is now history. It has been labeled “progressive,” “partisan,” “one of the best ever” and “pedestrian.” Whatever the positive or negative take on its content, the speech was largely about America’s domestic concerns. The limited internationalism highlighted in the speech lacks significant support […] Read more »
Deficit Reduction Rises on Public’s Agenda for Obama’s Second Term
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 […] Read more »
Debt, Gov’t Dysfunction Rise to Top of Americans’ Issue List
Americans’ concerns about the federal budget deficit and government dysfunction rose high enough in January to knock unemployment out of the top two slots on Gallup’s “most important problem” list for the first time since 2009. [cont.] Frank Newport, Gallup Read more »
Economy Still Top Problem in U.S. but Less So Than in Past
Amid a seemingly bleak economic landscape that includes the possibility of no resolution to the fiscal cliff negotiations and news that the 17-country eurozone has returned to recession, Americans still rank the economy in general as the most important problem facing the country, with 23% citing it as the top […] Read more »
The media will quickly forget about guns — unless Washington stops them
… In a post-election Gallup survey, fewer than one-half of one percent of Americans said that guns were the nation’s “most important problem.” One reason the issue lacks salience is that citizens tend to take their cues from the media. When news outlets devote significant attention to an issue – […] Read more »
Though More Optimistic, Americans Are Still Sharply Divided
After a campaign season of unprecedented expense and duration, taming the federal deficit and avoiding the fiscal cliff top the public’s To Do list for President Obama and Congress, the latest Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll has found. But in contrast to Washington’s nearly exclusive focus on the budgetary standoff, […] Read more »