Gridlock, Deficit and Debt Finally Hit the Public’s Agenda

The New Year’s Eve fiscal cliff negotiations and the political brinkmanship it represented has finally gotten the public’s attention. Two early 2013 polls show that federal deficits, debt and political dysfunction have moved next to the economy as major national problems.

A January 9-13 Pew Research survey reported that reducing the deficit is in third place as a “top priority for the President and Congress this year” with 72 percent listing it, up 18 percent since 2009.  In the same list of twenty items, global warming was last with 28 percent of Americans listing it as a top priority, in fact, down 2 percent since 2009.

Gun control and immigration reform were also in the bottom quarter of the Pew list. In general, the American people’s priorities are the reverse of many aspects of the President’s agenda.

See:
Pew Research:  Deficit reduction rises on public’s agenda for Obama’s second term
Gallup:  Debt, gov’t dysfunction rise to top of Americans’ issue list