F&M Releases National Poll Results
For immediate release Thursday, April 28, 2011
Please find attached and below the results of the April, 2011 Franklin & Marshall College National Poll produced at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA in partnership with Hearst Television Inc. Complete results can be found in the attachment or at http://politics.fandm.edu. This is the third in a series of national surveys dealing with aspects of national healthcare policy, as well as government and politics. You can also follow poll director Dr. Terry Madonna on Twitter at http://twitter.com/terrymadonna.
Key Findings:
• Americans are generally satisfied with how well the current healthcare system meets their needs. More than one in three (36%) says the system meets their needs very well, and another two in five (43%) say it meets their needs pretty well, leaving about one in five (20%) Americans who feel the system is not serving their personal needs. These proportions have not changed since the health care reform law was passed.
• Americans are still divided about reforming the country’s health care system. About half (46%) of adults believe the system works well and needs only minor changes while about the same proportion (45%) believes the system needs a complete overhaul.
• Nearly nine in ten (85%) respondents report the health care they receive is about the same as it was before the health care reform law passed, and three in four (74%) say the reform law has had no effect on them personally.
• More people believe the health care reform law will make the health care system worse (42%) than better (32%) and fewer than one in three (30%) believes the law will bring down the long-run costs of health care.
• Two in five (44%) respondents believe the health care law should be repealed.
• More registered voters say that President Obama is doing only a fair (29%) or poor (29%) job as president than say he is doing an excellent (9%) or good (32%) job.
• More voters disapprove than approve of how President Obama has handled the economy (43% approve, 50% disapprove) and the situation in Libya (39% approve, 43% disapprove).
• More registered voters believe program cuts (30%) rather than tax increases (11%) should be used to balance the budget, but nearly half (46%) of voters believes that both spending cuts and tax increases should be used to balance the budget.
• Registered voters have more confidence in the president’s ability to handle the federal budget (54% express confidence) than in Congress’s ability to do so (41% express confidence).
• A majority (54%) of Americans approve of using nuclear power to produce energy, while one third (33%) oppose the use; however, half (50%) oppose building more nuclear power plants, while two in five (42%) would favor doing so.
The survey findings presented in this release are based on the results of interviews conducted April 5-25, 2011. The interviews were conducted at the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College under the direction of the poll’s Director Dr. G. Terry Madonna, Head Methodologist Berwood Yost, and Senior Project Manager Angela Knittle. The survey is funded with the support from Mrs. Katherine Shadek. The data included in this release represent the responses of 800 adults in the United States, of whom 652 are registered to vote. Telephone numbers for the survey were generated using random digit dialing with a cell phone supplement, and respondents were randomly selected from within each household. Survey results were weighted (age, education, race, region, and gender) using an iterative weighting algorithm. The sample error for this survey is +/- 3.5 percentage points. The sample error for registered adults is +/- 3.8 percentage points.
Dr. G. Terry Madonna
Director, Center for Politics and Public Affairs
Director, Franklin and Marshall College Poll
Professor of Public Affairs
Franklin & Marshall College
P.O. Box 3003
Lancaster, PA. 17604
(717) 291-4052 Office
(717) 575-2164 Cell
(717) 358-4666 Fax
[email protected]
