Americans want lower taxes and more government spending both at once, although their support for spending more tax dollars on health care has dropped dramatically. They’re likelier than ever to not feel connected to any particular religion, but no less likely to believe in God. And for the first time, most want to legalize marijuana.
Those are among findings from the 2014 General Social Survey, which has been measuring trends in American opinion and behavior since 1972.
The survey, which is conducted by the independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago, puts wide-ranging and long-running questions about a large array of issues to the public. Data from the 2014 survey was released earlier this month, and an analysis of its findings was conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the General Social Survey.
Five things to know about the survey’s findings:
LOWER TAXES, MORE SPENDING
It’s no wonder Washington is tied in knots trying to please the people. The people want more spent on many government programs, yet lower taxes for themselves..
Out of 22 spending items asked about in the survey, Americans are more likely to want cuts than increased spending on only four of them – welfare, foreign aid, assistance to big cities and the space program.
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