As negotiations heat up over the massive federal stimulus package, newly-released results from last week's Washington Post-ABC News poll detail the public's priorities for the plan.
Of 12 specific items tested in the poll, the ones at the top of the list are extending unemployment insurance and health care coverage for those who've lost their jobs and increasing the country's production of alternative sources of energy.
At the back of the pack is expanding high-speed Internet access to rural areas, something 7 percent of those polled call one of "the highest priorities." Also lower on the list of particulars is a cut in business taxes, though Republicans are much more apt than others to call this a top priority.
Among all Americans, 51 percent said business tax cuts are a high priority, 47 percent said they are less important than that.
Other partisan differences abound, as Democrats and independents are more likely than Republicans to call each of the specific proposals high priorities, with the exception of those business tax cuts. At the other end of the scale, 52 percent of Democrats said an extension of unemployment and health benefits for laid-off workers was one of the highest priorities; just 21 percent of Republicans agree.
Overall, 84 percent of Democrats, 69 percent of independents and 52 percent of Republicans backed a broadly-defined plan for new federal spending of about $800 billion to try to revive the nation's economy.
Here's the full list on the specifics, followed by a table broken down by party identification:
Q: I'm going to mention some items that could be included in the economic stimulus plan. For each, please tell me what kind of priority it should receive - the highest priority, a high priority but not the highest, or a lower priority than that.
1/16/09 - Summary Table*
------- High -------
Lower/
NET Highest High none
Extending unemployment
insurance and health care
coverage for people who lose
their jobs 87 38 49 12
Doubling the production of
alternative energy in the next
three years 86 41 45 14
Rebuilding roads, bridges and
schools 85 30 55 15
Upgrading schools with new
technology 84 33 51 15
Improving energy efficiency in
homes and offices 78 26 52 21
Giving federal money to states
to avoid cuts in state services 68 18 50 32
Putting a moratorium on home
mortgage foreclosures 67 24 43 27
Updating power lines and the
system that distributes
electricity around the country 66 17 49 33
Giving most working Americans
a 500-dollar tax cut 63 23 40 36
Cutting taxes paid by
businesses and corporations 51 17 34 47
Computerizing all Americans'
medical records in the next
five years 48 14 34 50
Expanding high-speed internet
access to rural areas 26 7 19 73
*Questions asked of half samples.
By party identification:
Q. I'm going to mention some items that could be included in the economic stimulus plan. For each, please tell me what kind of priority it should receive - the highest priority, a high priority but not the highest, or a lower priority than that.
(% saying highest)
Dems Reps Inds
Extending unemployment insurance
and health care coverage for
people who lose their jobs 52 21 40
Doubling the production of
alternative energy in the next
three years 42 41 40
Rebuilding roads, bridges
and schools 38 21 29
Upgrading schools with new
technology 38 18 38
Improving energy efficiency in
homes and offices 31 17 26
Giving federal money to states to
avoid cuts in state services 29 7 14
Putting a moratorium on home
foreclosures 30 15 25
Updating power lines and the
system that distributes power
around the country 19 15 16
Giving most working Americans a
500 dollar tax cut 26 19 24
Cutting taxes paid by businesses
and corporations 13 22 17
Computerizing all Americans'
medical records in the next
five years 15 12 16
Expanding high-speed internet
access to rural areas 7 5 6
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