CBS News Survey, January #1, 2011

This poll, fielded January 5-9, 2011, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on a range of political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling his job as president, the economy, the war in Afghanistan, and the federal budget deficit, whether they felt things in this country were going in the right direction, and how they would rate the condition of the national economy. Opinions were gathered on health insurance requirements for all Americans, the Republican and Democratic parties, and Congress' accomplishments in the next two years. Information was collected on whether respondents thought that Obama and the Republicans in Congress would work together to get things done, whether Obama and the Republicans in Congress had a clear plan for creating jobs, whether they had a favorable opinion of John Boehner, and whether they thought Obama had the same priorities for the country as they did. Respondents were queried on whether they approved of the new health care reform and whether they thought it would help them personally, and whether they thought that Congress should try to repeal all of the health care law or certain parts. Respondents were asked how serious a problem they thought the federal budget deficit was for the country, whether reducing the deficit would help or hurt the national economy, whether they favored cutting government spending or increasing taxes as a way to reduce the deficit, whether the salaries and benefits for Wall Street employees, government employees, and members of Congress were too high, and their opinion of what percentage of the total federal budget is spent on welfare programs, foreign aid, Medicare and Medicaid, Social Security, defense and military spending, and earmarks. Additional topics included respondents' perception of their state's budget, whether they would be willing to cut funding for police, fire, and other public safety departments in order to help reduce state government spending, the Guantanamo Bay prison, how concerned they were about the possibility of future unemployment, whether they or their friends knew someone who was killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, and whether they consider themselves to be a supporter of the Tea Party movement. Demographic information includes sex, age, race, marital status, education level, household income, employment status, religious preference, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), political party affiliation, political philosophy, and voter registration status.