CBS NEWS POLL

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

6:30 pm (EDT)

Domestic Issues: The Economy, Gas Prices, the Deficit and the Budget Battle
March 18-21, 2011

ƒ The economy and jobs remain the public’s top concern, but most Americans think
leaders in Washington aren’t doing enough to fix things, and want to see job creation
efforts prioritized over spending cuts.

ƒ On the budget battle, about eight in 10 Americans would like to see both sides – the
President and the Republicans in Congress – compromise in order to avoid a
government shutdown.

ƒ Rising gas prices are taking a toll: 74% say gas prices are causing them a financial
hardship, up from 65% in July 2008 when gas prices were at a record high.

ƒ President Barack Obama’s overall approval rating is 49%, similar to what it was last
month. More than half disapprove of his handling of the economy (53%) and the federal
budget deficit (58%). 65% disapprove of how Republicans in Congress are dealing with
the deficit.

The Nation’s Priority: The Economy and Jobs

Americans continue to name the economy and jobs as the most important problem facing the
country today, far ahead of any other problem volunteered. 51% mention the economy and
jobs, followed by the budget deficit (7%) and health care (5%). Only 1% mentions either the
situation in Japan or Libya as their top concern.

As more budget battles loom, Americans say jobs – not cutting spending – should be the priority
now, if given the choice. Democrats and independents are heavily in favor of job creation, while
Republicans are more divided.

Which is the More Important Priority Now?

All Reps Dems Inds
Cutting spending 26% 48% 12% 23%
Creating jobs 63 41 80 63

Most say neither President Obama nor Congressional Republicans and Democrats are
spending enough time tackling the nation’s job and unemployment problems. By comparison,
though, the President fares somewhat better than the parties in Congress.

53% say President Obama is spending too little time on jobs; 68% say Republicans in Congress
are giving the matter short shrift, and 68% say the same about the Democrats.
 Are Pres. Obama, Congress Spending Enough Time on Jobs?
Too little Right amount Too much
Pres. Obama time is… 53% 36 5
Cong. Republicans’ time is… 68% 20 4
Cong. Democrats’ time is… 68% 22 3

The Federal Budget Deficit

While it isn’t the nation’s top concern (only 7% name it, compared to the 51% who volunteer the
economy and jobs), more than nine in ten Americans see the federal budget deficit as a serious
problem, and seven in ten call it very serious.

But as the President and Congressional Republicans prepare to square off on the matter again,
majorities disapprove of how both are handling the deficit.

Handling of the Federal Budget Deficit

Approve Disapprove
President Obama 31% 58
Congressional Republicans 24% 65

Americans would like to see the two sides come to terms on this issue. 81% would like
President Obama and the Democrats to compromise some of their positions in order to strike a
budget deal. A similarly large 79% would like to see the Republicans in Congress compromise
with the President. Only a handful would have either side stick to their positions if that meant a
government shutdown.

Budget Battles: Compromise… or Shutdown?

Should compromise Should stick to positions
President Obama & Dems… 81% 13
Cong. Republicans 79% 17

A majority (56%) of Tea Party supporters, too, would like the Republicans to compromise –
though four in ten Tea Party backers would prefer to shut the government down instead.

Overall, Congress’ job approval stands at 21%, slightly lower than it was in February just after
the new Congress was sworn in.

Just over half of Americans think changes to Social Security and Medicare will be necessary in
order to significantly reduce the budget deficit. Republicans are especially likely to think
changes will be needed.

Are Changes to Social Security and Medicare Necessary

to Significantly Reduce the Deficit?
All Reps Dems Inds
Yes 53% 62% 51% 50%
No 43 35 45 46

But many Americans are not willing to make cuts to these programs. 57% are not willing to raise
the age at which one can receive full Social Security benefits, and three in four do not want to
see spending on Medicare reduced. There is more support for lowering Social Security benefits
for retirees with higher incomes (54%), but 44% are not willing to do this.
When it comes to other possible deficit reduction remedies, 52% of Americans are willing to
receive less federal funding for projects in their community, but they are divided on defense
spending. 49% are willing to see that cut, but 46% are not.

Two in three Americans are unwilling to pay more in taxes in order to lower the budget deficit.

Remedies to Reduce the Budget Deficit

Willing Not willing
Reduce Social Security for those w/ higher incomes 54% 44
Reduce federal money for projects in your area 52% 43
Reduce defense spending 49% 46
Raise retirement age 41% 57
Pay more in taxes 33% 65
Reduce spending on Medicare 22% 76

Evaluating the Economy, Gas Prices and Unemployment Concerns

A solid majority (77%) still say the nation’s economy is in bad shape. Americans offer more
positive evaluations of their family’s own financial situation.

Views of …
National Economy Family Financial Situation
Good 23% 69%
Bad 77 30

The public is less optimistic about the nation’s economic future than they were last month. The
percentage that thinks the economy is improving has declined six points since February, to 26%
now. Another 26% think the economy is getting worse, while 47% say it is staying the same.

Is the National Economy Getting…?

Now 2/2011
Better 26% 32%
Worse 26 22
Same 47 45

The public’s economic concerns go beyond unemployment, with many feeling the impact of
rising gas prices. 74% say recent gas price increases have caused financial hardship for their
household, up from 65% in July 2008 when gas prices hit an all-time high. 43% of Americans
describe their financial hardship due to gas prices as serious.

Have Gas Prices Caused

Financial Hardship in Your Household?
Now 7/2008
Yes, serious 43% 34%
Yes, not serious 31 31
No 26 35

50% of Americans think gas prices are something a president can do a lot about, but 41% say
the price of gas is beyond any president’s control. As far back as 2004, the public has felt the
president could do something about gas prices.
While the nation’s unemployment rate dipped below 9% in February for the first time since April
2009, Americans remain at least somewhat concerned that they or someone else in their
household will be out of work within the next 12 months, including a third who are very
concerned.
Concern About Household
Unemployment in Next Year
Now 2/2011 1/2011 10/2010 3/2010
Very concerned 31% 33% 41% 36% 35%
Somewhat concerned 27 26 25 26 24
Not concerned 41 40 34 38 41

In assigning blame for the state of the nation’s economy, Americans don’t point the finger at
either the current Congress or the Obama administration – instead they blame George W.
Bush’s administration (28%) and Wall Street (24%).

Most to Blame for State of the Nation’s Economy?

Now 10/2010 2/2010
Bush administration 28% 30% 31%
Obama administration 7 8 7
Wall Street and financial institutions 22 22 23
Congress 10 13 13
Someone else 7 8 5
All of the above (Vol.) 7 7 9
Combination (Vol.) 14 11 10

The President

President Obama’s overall job approval rating is now 49%, while 41% disapprove. The
percentage that approve is similar to what it was last month, and has hovered in the mid to high
40s for the past year.

President Obama’s Overall Job Rating

Now 2/2011 1/2011 3/2010
Approve 49% 48% 49% 49%
Disapprove 41 41 39 41

Mr. Obama gets his highest marks on his handling of two recent events that are happening
overseas. 73% of Americans approve of his handling of the United States’ response to the
disaster in Japan. High marks are not unprecedented for U.S. presidents responding to natural
disasters. Eight in 10 Americans approved of both President George W. Bush’s handling of the
tsunami in South Asia, and of President Obama’s response to the earthquake in Haiti in January
of last year.

50% approve of how Mr. Obama is managing the situation in Libya, while 29% disapprove, and
a fifth of Americans are not sure how the President is handling the situation in Libya. The
president’s approval rating on foreign policy in general is 47%, similar to what it was in
February.

The president receives lower approval ratings on his approach to issues here at home. On the
economy, the nation’s top concern, 39% of Americans approve of the job he is doing, while
more than half disapprove. Nearly six in 10 disapprove of Mr. Obama’s handling of the federal
budget deficit, while just 31% approve of how he’s handling that issue.

President Obama’s Ratings on Handling of…

Approve Disapprove Don’t know
Japan 73% 14 13
Libya 50% 29 21
Foreign policy 47% 36 17
The budget deficit 31% 58 11
The economy 39% 53 8

Most Americans continue to think the country is off on the wrong track – 64% do. Just three in
10 think it’s heading in the right direction. These numbers have been fairly steady over the past
year.

_________________________________________________________________________
This poll was conducted by telephone on March 18-21, 2011 among 1,022 adults nationwide. Phone
numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling
for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for
subgroups is higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on
Public Polls.
CBS NEWS POLL
Domestic Issues
March 18-21, 2011

q1 Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as President?

** TOTAL RESPONDENTS **
*** Party ID ***
Total Rep Dem Ind Feb11a
% % % % %
Approve 49 18 78 46 48
Disapprove 41 76 14 39 41
DK/NA 10 6 8 15 11

q2 Do you feel things in this country are generally going in the right direction or do
you feel things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track?

Right direction 30 12 49 27 36
Wrong track 64 86 40 68 58
DK/NA 6 2 11 5 6

q3 What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?

Economy / jobs 51 53 54 47 48
Budget Deficit/Nat’l Debt 7 10 4 7 7
Health Care 5 8 5 3 6
Education 3 1 4 4 3
War/Iraq/Afghanistan 3 1 4 3 4
Poverty / Homelessness 2 0 1 3 1
Politics/corruption 2 1 2 3 0
Big Government/Bureaucracy 2 5 1 1 3
Miscellaneous Social Issues 2 0 1 4 2
Other 19 19 19 21 22
DK/NA 4 2 5 4 4

q4 Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling foreign policy?

Approve 47 26 66 45 46
Disapprove 36 56 18 38 33
DK/NA 17 18 16 17 21

q5 Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling the economy?

Approve 39 11 67 36 42
Disapprove 53 86 25 54 50
DK/NA 8 3 8 10 8
q6 Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling the federal budget
deficit?

** TOTAL RESPONDENTS **
*** Party ID ***
Total Rep Dem Ind Feb11a
% % % % %
Approve 31 6 57 26 31
Disapprove 58 89 28 62 58
DK/NA 11 5 15 12 11

q7 BLANK

q8 Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling the situation in
Libya?

Approve 50 43 66 43
Disapprove 29 41 17 32
DK/NA 21 16 17 25

q9 Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling the U.S. response to
the situation in Japan?

Approve 73 68 80 70
Disapprove 14 16 8 18
DK/NA 13 16 12 12

q10 Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job?

Approve 21 27 23 17 24
Disapprove 66 62 68 67 62
DK/NA 13 11 9 16 14

q11 Do you think Barack Obama has been spending too much time, too little time, or the
right amount of time trying to fix the nation's economy and create jobs?

Nov10c
Too much 5 3 3 8 5
Too little 53 75 39 51 49
Right amount 36 17 54 34 37
Don't know/No answer 6 5 4 7 9

q12 How would you rate the condition of the national economy these days? Is it very good,
fairly good, fairly bad, or very bad?

Feb11a
Very good 2 0 3 2 1
Fairly good 21 12 31 18 23
Fairly bad 48 48 46 49 46
Very bad 29 40 20 30 29
DK/NA 0 0 0 1 1
q13 Do you think the economy is getting better, getting worse, or staying about the same?

** TOTAL RESPONDENTS **
*** Party ID ***
Total Rep Dem Ind Feb11a
% % % % %
Better 26 13 43 21 32
Worse 26 33 19 28 22
Same 47 54 38 50 45
DK/NA 1 0 0 1 1

q19 Who do you think is mostly to blame for the current state of the nation's economy --
the Bush administration, the Obama administration, Wall Street and financial
institutions, Congress, or someone else?

Oct10e
Bush administration 28 8 46 25 30
Obama administration 7 16 2 7 8
Wall Street 22 28 17 23 22
Congress 10 15 9 7 13
Someone else 7 8 5 8 8
All of the above (Vol.) 7 10 3 9 7
Combination (Vol.) 14 12 14 14 11
Don't know/No answer 5 3 4 7 1

q20 HELD FOR FUTURE RELEASE

q21 Which of these should be the higher priority for the nation right now -- cutting
government spending or creating jobs?

Cutting spending 26 48 12 23
Creating jobs 63 41 80 63
Both (vol.) 11 11 7 13
DK/NA 0 0 1 1

q22 Do you think the Republicans in Congress have been spending too much time, too little
time, or the right amount of time trying to fix the nation's economy and create jobs?

Too much 4 3 4 4
Too little 68 60 78 67
Right amount 20 33 10 19
Don't know/No answer 8 4 8 10

q23 Do you think the Democrats in Congress have been spending too much time, too little
time, or the right amount of time trying to fix the nation's economy and create jobs?

Too much 3 4 3 2
Too little 68 78 58 70
Right amount 22 15 33 18
Don't know/No answer 7 3 6 10
q24 How serious a problem do you think the budget deficit is for the country right now --
very serious, somewhat serious, not too serious, or not at all serious?

** TOTAL RESPONDENTS **
*** Party ID ***
Total Rep Dem Ind Feb11a
% % % % %
Very serious 68 80 62 65 70
Somewhat serious 26 18 30 27 25
Not too serious 5 1 7 5 3
Not at all serious 1 1 0 1 1
DK/NA 0 0 1 2 1

q25 Do you approve or disapprove of the way the Republicans in Congress are handling the
federal budget deficit?

Approve 24 50 8 20
Disapprove 65 40 80 69
DK/NA 11 10 12 11

q26 I'm going to read you some suggestions that have been made to reduce the size of the
federal budget deficit. Please tell me whether you would be willing or not willing to do
each of the following. In order to reduce the budget deficit, would you be willing or not
willing to..

Reduce defense spending?

Jan11a
Willing 49 41 54 50 52
Not willing 46 57 40 44 44
Don't know/No answer 5 2 6 6 4

q27 (In order to reduce the federal budget deficit, would you be willing or not willing
to..)

Raise the retirement age at which a person can start to collect full Social
Security benefits?

Willing 41 51 36 39 43
Not willing 57 47 61 60 54
Don't know/No answer 2 2 3 1 3

q28 (In order to reduce the federal budget deficit, would you be willing or not willing
to..)

Reduce Social Security benefits for retirees with higher incomes?

Willing 54 52 54 54 63
Not willing 44 47 44 43 34
Don't know/No answer 2 1 2 3 3
q29 (In order to reduce the federal budget deficit, would you be willing or not willing
to..)

Reduce the amount of federal funding allocated for projects in your community?

** TOTAL RESPONDENTS **
*** Party ID ***
Total Rep Dem Ind Jan11a
% % % % %
Willing 52 68 39 52 58
Not willing 43 29 54 43 35
Don't know/No answer 5 3 7 5 7

q30 (In order to reduce the federal budget deficit, would you be willing or not willing
to..)

Pay more in taxes?

Willing 33 25 43 31 33
Not willing 65 73 55 67 65
Don't know/No answer 2 2 2 2 2

q31 (In order to reduce the federal budget deficit, would you be willing or not willing
to..)

Reduce spending on Medicare, the government health insurance program for seniors?

Willing 22 30 16 21
Not willing 76 67 80 77
Don't know/No answer 2 3 4 2

q34 As you may know, two of the largest items in the federal budget are Medicare and
Social Security. Do you think it will be necessary to make changes to these programs in
order to significantly reduce the budget deficit, or don't you think this will be
necessary?

Necessary 53 62 51 50
Not necessary 43 35 45 46
DK/NA 4 3 4 4

q35 When it comes to the federal budget, which do you think Barack Obama and the
Democrats in Congress should do--compromise some of their positions in order to pass a
budget and keep the federal government running, or stick to their positions even if it
means not passing a budget and shutting the federal government down?

Compromise 81 92 76 79
Stick to positions 13 5 16 15
Depends (Vol.) 1 0 1 2
Don't know/No answer 5 3 7 4
q36 When it comes to the federal budget, which do you think the Republicans in Congress
should do--compromise some of their positions in order to pass a budget and keep the
federal government running, or stick to their positions even if it means not passing a
budget and shutting the federal government down?

** TOTAL RESPONDENTS **
*** Party ID ***
Total Rep Dem Ind
% % % %
Compromise 79 69 86 79
Stick to positions 17 27 9 17
Depends (Vol.) 1 1 1 1
Don't know/No answer 3 3 4 3

q39 Have recent price increases in gasoline caused any financial hardship for you or
others in your household, or not?
IF YES, ASK: Has that been a serious hardship, or not serious?

Jul08a
%
Yes, serious 43 40 39 48 34
Yes, not serious 31 32 31 30 31
No 26 28 30 22 35
DK/NA 0 0 0 0 0

q40 Is the price of gasoline something a president can do a lot about, or is that beyond
any president's control?

Jul08b(1&2)
Yes 50 55 46 50 65
No 41 37 45 41 29
DK/NA 9 8 9 9 6

Q41-q73 RELEASED SEPARATELY

q74 Do you consider yourself to be a supporter of the Tea Party movement, or not?

Feb11a
Yes 23 47 12 18 20
No 64 40 79 67 63
DK/NA 13 13 9 15 17

q75 How would you rate the financial situation in your household these days? Is it very
good, fairly good, fairly bad, or very bad?

Jul10b
Very good 8 10 9 7 11
Fairly good 61 67 64 55 54
Fairly bad 20 16 16 24 25
Very bad 10 5 10 12 10
DK/NA 1 2 1 2 0
q76 How concerned are you that in the next 12 months you or someone else in your
household might be out of work and looking for a job -- very concerned, somewhat
concerned, or not concerned at all?

** TOTAL RESPONDENTS **
*** Party ID ***
Total Rep Dem Ind Feb11a
% % % % %
Very concerned 31 22 35 34 33
Somewhat concerned 27 33 25 26 26
Not at all concerned 41 45 39 39 40
DK/NA 1 0 1 1 1

UNWEIGHTED WEIGHTED
Total Respondents 1,022

Total Republicans 289 262

Total Democrats 351 325
Total Independents 382 435