What they told us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls

Health care reform, one of President Barack Obama’s top priorities, was in the news a lot this past week.Just 35% of Americans rate the nation’s health care system as good or excellent, suggesting that most see plenty of room for improvement. However, while the Administration is touting health care reform as a cost-saving measure, just 19% think that’s likely to happen. Nearly half (45%) say that government reform will end up increasing the cost of health care services.Perhaps the biggest challenge for reformers is that Americans are generally satisfied with their own situation--70% of those with insurance rate their own coverage as good or excellent. At the same time, however, 26% of all Americans say that, at some point, the cost of health care has caused them to miss credit card, rent, or mortgage payments.As Congress wrestles with health care, it’s trying to find ways to cover the costs and answers are hard to find. Just 32% of Americans are willing to pay higher taxes to provide health insurance for all. Only 11% think that the insurance benefits provided by employers should be taxed.Americans aren’t willing to pay higher taxes to help protect the environment either--81% oppose a gas tax hike as a way to encourage the sale of more fuel efficient cars. Americans are evenly divided as to whether or not major lifestyle changes are needed to save the planet. There is a similar divide on the question of whether American consumerism is to blame for the planet’s environmental problems.Some in Congress have been pushing major environmental legislation known as Cap and Trade, but just 24% of voters know what it is. When you get beyond the labels, voters think that health care reform is a much higher priority that environmental concerns. Other polling shows that the number of Americans who believe human activity is driving global warming has fallen dramatically over the past year.Former Vice President Dick Cheney remained in the news this week, but only 38% agree with his view that Obama has hurt National Security. Overall, 53% rate the President as good or excellent on national security matters. At the same time, confidence in the War on Terror remains near the lowest level of the past year.In this environment, the President decided to resume military tribunals for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo. That decision irked some of his supporters on the political left but most Americans support the use of tribunals. As Senate Democrats are pressing the President for details on where the prisoners will go if Guantanamo is closed, most Americans say they should not be released in the USA.Moving to state politics, California voters are preparing for a special election on Tuesday. As they do so, they’re in a mood to oppose tax hikes, favor spending cuts, and reduce the pay of state legislators.In Arizona, 50% of Republicans voters say Senator John McCain is out of touch with the GOP base. Overall, most of the state’s voters believe that the get-tough tactics on illegal immigration employed by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio have been good for the state’s image.New Jersey is one of two states to elect a Governor in 2009 and the Democratic incumbent finds himself in potential trouble. Republican Chris Christie leads Jon Corzine by nine. Corzine is essentially even with Steve Lonegan, another potential Republican nominee. In the GOP Primary, it’s Christie 39%, Lonegan 29%.Other findings from this past week include:--Eighty-four percent (84%) believe that English should be America’s official language. That’s little changed over the past several years.--Only 37% of GOP voters now say their party is leaderless. But, the rest don’t agree on who the leader is.--Overall confidence keeps growing and 40% now say the U.S. is heading in the right direction. That’s the highest level of optimism since the fall of 2004. But, Republicans are hanging on to a one-point advantage on the Generic Ballot.-- Just 49% of homeowners now say their home is worth more than their mortgage. Among those who owe more than the home is worth, just half expect the value to improve over the next five years.-- One out of four Americans (23%) are likely to miss a credit card payment over the next six months.-- As the economy continues to offer mixed signals, voters are evenly divided as to whether they trust Democrats or Republicans when it comes to the economy.--President Obama is weighing his first Supreme Court appointment. Forty-five percent (45%) of voters say that legal skills should trump issues and diversity as the top factor in his decision.--Not surprisingly, among the branches of the federal government, Congress comes in dead last in voter trust.--Finally, 65% say daily papers will be history within a decade. When asked what they would miss most when papers were gone, half didn’t cite any editorial content. Twenty-two percent (22%) said they’d miss nothing, 20% named ads and coupons, and 9% were not sure.