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<\/figure>\n\nThe latest Pew Research Center nationwide survey, conducted Aug. 21-Sept. 5, shows little change in public attitudes on the leading priorities since January, when the economy and education led the list. But there has been a decline in the number of Americans giving top priority to proposals to provide prescription drug benefits under Medicare and regulate health maintenance organizations (HMOs), which are major Democratic agenda items.<\/p>\n\n
Six-in-ten now rate the provision of prescription drug benefits under Medicare as a top priority, down from 73% who felt that way in January. Increased partisanship is a factor in the decline – 44% of Republicans rate this as a major goal now, compared to 60% in January. But Democrats also attach less importance to this issue – 70% rate it a top priority, compared to 80% in January.<\/p>\n\n
A modest majority (54%) cite regulating HMOs as a top priority, down from 66% in January. Democratic concern over this issue is down substantially; 61% regard it as a top priority now, compared to 77% in January. The drop among Republicans is not as large (from 54% to 48%). Some respondents were asked about the proposed patients’ bill of rights, instead of HMO regulations. Among those who received the alternative wording, 45% cited it as a top priority.<\/p>\n\n
The public attaches relatively little importance to several of the most controversial issues. Four-in-ten give top priority to raising the minimum wage. This item provoked the widest partisan split, with 53% of Democrats and just 28% of Republicans rating it as a major priority. Developing a missile defense system, permitting “faith-based” groups to receive government funding, and reforming the campaign finance system are cited as major goals by fewer than four-in-ten Americans.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction and Summary As President Bush and Congress return to work, a trio of long-standing concerns dominate the public’s list of policy priorities. The economy is the public’s leading priority, cited by eight-in-ten Americans, followed closely by education (76%) and Social Security (74%). Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill hold a 44%-37% edge over the president […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","bylines":[],"acknowledgements":[],"displayBylines":true,"prc_watchers":[],"relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[{"key":"_migrate_0","postId":54344}],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[235,93],"tags":[],"bylines":[],"collection":[],"datasets":[1608],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[458],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[],"research-teams":[520],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-54329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economic-policy","category-issue-priorities","datasets-americas-place-in-the-world-iii-general-public","formats-report","research-teams-politics"],"label":false,"post_parent":0,"word_count":334,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2001\/09\/06\/economy-education-social-security-dominate-publics-policy-agenda\/","art_direction":false,"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[{"id":54329,"title":"Economy, Education, Social Security Dominate Public\u2019s Policy Agenda","slug":"economy-education-social-security-dominate-publics-policy-agenda","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2001\/09\/06\/economy-education-social-security-dominate-publics-policy-agenda\/","is_active":true},{"id":54344,"title":"Methodology","slug":"methodology-162","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2001\/09\/06\/methodology-162\/","is_active":false}],"report_materials":"","report_pagination":{"current_post":{"id":54329,"title":"Economy, Education, Social Security Dominate Public\u2019s Policy Agenda","slug":"economy-education-social-security-dominate-publics-policy-agenda","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2001\/09\/06\/economy-education-social-security-dominate-publics-policy-agenda\/","is_active":true,"page_num":1},"next_post":{"id":54344,"title":"Methodology","slug":"methodology-162","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2001\/09\/06\/methodology-162\/","is_active":false,"page_num":2},"previous_post":null,"pagination_items":[{"id":54329,"title":"Economy, Education, Social Security Dominate Public\u2019s Policy Agenda","slug":"economy-education-social-security-dominate-publics-policy-agenda","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2001\/09\/06\/economy-education-social-security-dominate-publics-policy-agenda\/","is_active":true,"page_num":1},{"id":54344,"title":"Methodology","slug":"methodology-162","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2001\/09\/06\/methodology-162\/","is_active":false,"page_num":2}]},"parent_info":{"parent_title":"Economy, Education, Social Security Dominate Public\u2019s Policy Agenda","parent_id":54329},"materialsOrdered":[],"chaptersOrdered":[{"key":"_migrate_0","postId":54344}],"partsOrdered":[],"partsEnabled":false,"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Economy, Education, Social Security Dominate Public\u2019s Policy Agenda","description":"Introduction and Summary As President Bush and Congress return to work, a trio of long-standing concerns dominate the public's list of policy priorities. 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