As Barack Obama prepares to take office, majorities say the country is losing ground on any number of key issues, particularly economic ones. Nearly eight-in-ten (79%) say the country is falling further behind on the federal budget deficit, far more than said that during the mid-1990s when the deficit was a top-tier policy issue, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
Fully 72% say the country is losing ground on the availability of good-paying jobs – up 25 points since February 2007. Nearly as many (69%) say the country is losing ground on the cost of living.
Notably, the only issue where most people see progress being achieved is no doubt related to Obama's historic election: 53% say the country is making progress on discrimination against minorities, compared with just 15% who say the country is losing ground, and 28% who see little change. During the mid-1990s, far fewer people said progress was being achieved reducing discrimination (40% in 1995, 38% in 1994).
The survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Dec. 3-7 among 1,489 adults reached on landline phones and cell phones, finds that Republicans and Democrats generally agree that the country is losing ground on the budget deficit and jobs. In addition, majorities of Democrats (59%) and Republicans (54%), as well as 62% of independents, say the country is losing ground in competing with other countries economically.
Read the full report Gains Seen On Minority Discrimination - But Little Else on the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press Web site.