All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

With the unemployment rate at 9.4 percent, the highest level since 1983, Americans are expressing increasingly pessimistic views about the national economy, a new CBS News/New York Times poll finds.

More than eight in ten Americans now describe the economy in negative terms. Forty-eight percent characterize it as "fairly bad," while another 36 percent call it "very bad."

Just 14 percent say the economy is "fairly good," and a mere one percent describe it as "very good."

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Health care reform has been a priority for President Obama, who promised to make significant changes to the country’s health care system while campaigning for the presidency. It is also a high priority for Americans; in a CBS News/New York Times Poll conducted in April 2009, it was cited as the most important domestic issue facing the country other than the economy.

Most Americans think health care needs no less than a major overhaul. A late April CBS News/New York Times Poll found 49% of the public saying it had some good elements but needed fundamental changes, and another 38% felt there is so much wrong with it that it needs to be completely rebuilt. Just 12% thought it works pretty well and only minor changes are necessary. Americans have expressed similar views since the early 1990s, when the question was first asked by the CBS News Poll.

U.S. HEALTHCARE SYSTEM NEEDS:
(CBS News/New York Times Poll, April 2009)
12% Minor changes
49% Fundamental changes
38% Rebuilding

Criticism of the current health care system is non-partisan, shared by Republicans, Democrats and independents alike.

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The CBS News Poll has been asking questions of the public for over thirty years, and it seemed about time for us to ask the people who follow our polls what they would like to know.

To that end, CBSNews.com solicited suggestions from the public for topics to ask about in our CBS News/New York Times 100 days poll that was released last night. We received so many good suggestions -- far more than we could accommodate in a single poll. We included quite a few of these reader suggestions in our poll, and hope to include more in the future.

The wording of the questions was determined by the CBS News Polling Unit, wherever possible matching that of questions previously asked in CBS News Polls to facilitate trend comparisons.

So here are the results to questions we received from users:

Question: Compared to the way the news media have treated other presidents, have the news media been harder on Barack Obama, easier on Barack Obama, or have they treated him the same as other presidents?

Harder: 18%
Easier: 40%
The same: 38%
Don't know/No answer: 4%

Question: Many Republican members of Congress have the Obama Administration's economic plans on taxes and government spending. Do you think they are opposed to these plans mostly because they think they are bad for the economy or mostly for political reasons?

Bad for the economy: 23%
Political reasons: 70%
Both (Vol.): 3%
Don't know/No answer: 4%

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CBS News and the New York Times released several polls tonight in conjunction with President Obama's first 100 days in office.

Here are links to our stories on the polls:

100 Days In, High Marks For Obama

Blacks See Improved Race Relations

Support For Same Sex Marriage Grows

Public Does Not Want Torture Probe

CBSNews.com Editor-In-Chief Daniel Farber discussed the findings with CBS News director of Surveys Sarah Dutton. You can watch the video below.

A new CBS News poll released tonight shows that only three in 10 Americans approve of the way Congress is doing its job. Meanwhile, more than half – 56 percent – disapprove. That's a slight improvement over last month, when 26 percent approved and 63 percent disapproved.

Americans view Republicans and Democrats in Congress differently, however. Half of all Americans have a favorable opinion of the Democrats in Congress, but only 29 percent have a favorable view of Republicans in Congress. Forty percent have a unfavorable view of the Democrats, and 61 percent have a negative opinion of the Republicans.

But positive views of Democrats in Congress have not translated into a positive opinion of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Thirty-five percent have an unfavorable view of the California Democrat, while 18 percent have a favorable view. Nearly half of all Americans haven't formed an opinion either way.

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