State of the Nation

At the end of July, 67% said the country is on the wrong track. That is pretty much what the mood has been for the last several months.

The number who think the country is headed in the right direction, 19%, is the same as it was in June, and is the lowest right direction number during President Bush's tenure. [NBC/WSJ 7/07]

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49% of Republican voters and 71% of Independents say the country is on the wrong track.  Not surprisingly, 89% of Democrats also have this view.  [Battleground Poll 2008 7/07]

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Although it has bounced about a bit, the perception of the U.S. economy by American consumers is down substantially since the first of the year.

33% now describe current conditions as excellent/good, whereas 52% gave it that rating in January.  Only 20% think it is getting better, as opposed to 38% who had that view in January. [Gallup 8/07]

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30% of Americans think that their personal economic situation has gotten worse in the past 12 months, while 22% say it has gotten better.  [NBC/WSJ 7/07]

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"Healthcare costs" heads the list of the most important financial problems facing families today.  19% volunteered this issue, followed by "a general lack of money/low wages" offered up by 15%.  In 3rd place, with 8% each, are "cost of owning/renting a home" and "energy costs/oil and gas prices."  [Gallup 7/07]

When given the option of selecting one or two items from a list of possible economic concerns, 44% selected the "cost of healthcare" with "jobs going overseas" being noted by 34%, and 22% selecting "the gap between rich and poor."  [NBC/WSJ 7/07]

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Respondents to surveys are often asked to state one or two problems that are most important, or that the President or the Congress should tackle.  Issues of a particular ilk are often lumped together for purposes of reporting results, e.g., all issues that relate to the economy.

Alternatively, respondents are asked to select the most important issue from a group of 6 to 10 issues selected by the pollster.

In a mid-July, Lake Research/Tarrance Group did a survey in which they asked respondents what they thought was the number 1 problem facing the country, i.e, what problem they and their family are most concerned about.  Here are the results.

Iraq (23%), immigration (10%), healthcare (cost/quality) (9%), economy (6%), terrorism (5%), energy costs (gas for car) (4%), jobs (3%).  7 other issues each garnered (2%) and 15 additional issues each garnered (1%).  [Abortion drew 1%]

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The confidence of the American public in all institutions of national government, except for the military, has fallen appreciably in the last 7 years.

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73% support legislative action by the Congress to spend over $100 billion to repair and rebuild bridges.  Among Democrats 84% support the idea.  Among Independents the support is 72%.  Only 62% of Republicans favor such a program.  [Gallup 8/07]

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61% believe that China is currently a serious economic competitor to the United States.  For an additional 29% of us it is only a matter of time before it becomes a serious economic competitor.

65% of Americans have little or just some confidence that food products produced in China are safe to eat.  Only 8% have quite a bit or a great deal of confidence in those products. [NBC/WSJ 7/07]

72% of Americans say they are paying more attention to the country of production for goods they buy.  And 85% are following the news about Chinese products at least somewhat closely. Interestingly, 66% blame either U.S. safety inspectors or U.S. businesses for the problems with the safety of these products. Only 32% blame Chinese manufacturers or Chinese inspectors.  [Gallup 8/07]

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Do you think that taking military action in Iraq was the right or wrong thing to do? Here is what other Americans believe.

	8/07	9/06	7/05	9/04	9/03
Right thing	35	39	38	43	55
Wrong thing	46	44	49	43	32
Not sure	20	17	14	13	13

Do you think the situation for U.S. troops in Iraq is getting better or worse or not changing?  Here is what others believe.

	8/07	9/06	9/05	9/04
Getting better	20	17	19	15
Getting worse	42	45	43	54
No real change	30	31	33	26

U.S. actions in Afghanistan continue to have substantial support in this country.

- 70% say it was not a mistake to send military forces to Afghanistan

- 56% support sending additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan
 
- 52% favor moving U.S. troops from Iraq to Afghanistan

- 52% support the U.S. taking military action against terrorists in Pakistan, if it had actionable intelligence and the Pakistani government was not acting [Gallup 8/07]

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American workers spend 46 minutes commuting to and from work on a typical day.  17% have a commute of 1 to 1.5 hours, and another 17% spend more than 1.5 hours a day commuting.  (This calculation includes those who report spending 0 minutes commuting.)  [Gallup 8/07]

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30 years ago, 45% of Americans reported smoking cigarettes in the past week.  In July, only 21% reported smoking in the past week.  [Gallup 7/07]

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The U.S. leads the list in ownership of firearms.  U.S. citizens own 270,000,000 of the 875,000,000 known firearms in the world.  This is approximately 9/10th of a gun for every adult and child in this country.

Of the 8,000,000 new guns manufacture red worldwide each year, 4,500,000 are purchased in the United States.

Of the 875,000,000 firearms, it is estimated that 650,000,000 are in the hands of civilians, and 275,000,000 are in the hands of law enforcement and the military.

Only about 12% of civilian-owned guns are thought to be registered with authorities.

[Small Arms Survey 2007, Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies]

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28% of Americans expect to inherit money or other valuables from a relative, while 72% believe that they will have money or
other valuables to pass on to children or other relatives. [Gallup 8/07]

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60% of us approve of labor unions - 82% of those who reside in union households and 55% of those who do not.  No surprise, 78% of Democrats approve labor unions, but only 41% of Republicans.  Independents weigh in at 58%. [Gallup 8/07]

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50% of women and 68% of men would prefer to "work outside the home rather than stay at home to take care of their house and
family."  [Gallup 8/07]

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