A new Franklin and Marshall poll shows that the economy and unemployment are the most pressing issues facing the state.
Unemployment and economy beat out the other issues by a sizeable margin, with 31% saying those were the biggest problems. The second most important issue was education, according to 19% of respondents.
These issues also registered high responses based on a 1-10 scale of importance, with 10 being the most important: help create jobs, 9; improve the economy, 8.8; and improve public schools, 8.2.
The poll went on to ask respondents to scale other issues: protect the state’s environment, 8; increase spending to repair infrastructure, 7.4; reform the pension system, 7.3; expand Medicaid, 6.9; repair storm run off systems, 6.9; regulate the natural gas drilling, 6.7.
Privatization of state commodities didn’t fair too well when ranked in importance; privatizing liquor stores only earned 4.7 and doing the same with the lottery scored just 3.3.
Support for privatizing state liquor stores has taken a hit in the last year, falling from 53% support last February to 46% now. A majority, 62%, believe that the state stores should stay as they are or be modernized, as opposed to just 33% who believe they should be sold to private companies.
The legalization of medical marijuana fared very well in this poll, with 81% of respondents saying that they would support such a policy.
This differs from a full legalization policy, which wasn’t supported by respondents in this poll. A majority, 58% said it should not be legalized; 36% said it should and 6% did not know.
The survey findings are based on the results of interviews conducted January 22 – 27, 2014. The interviews were conducted at the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College under the direction of the poll’s Director Dr. G. Terry Madonna, Head Methodologist Berwood Yost, and Project Manager Jacqueline Redman. The data included in this release represent the responses of 580 Pennsylvania registered voters, including 289 Democrats, 214 Republicans, and 77 registered as Independent/Other. The sample of registered voters was obtained from Voter Contact Services.
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2 Responses
Privatization of government services and function is just part of the Republican ideology. Shrinking the size of government, reducing “burdensome taxes” and “burdensome regulations” are also part of this mindset. The “invisible hand of the free market” is their guiding principle. If government gets out of the way, jobs and prosperity for all will trickle down like magic. It has never happened and never will. Who and how are we going to pay for rebuilding our infrastructure of roads, bridges, tunnels, airports, railroads, mass transit, public schools, public universities water and sewage treatment plants? The private sector may build them, but it takes public tax money to pay for it. No one likes to pay taxes, but pay your fair share of taxes. How is it in PA, we have the “Delaware Loop Hole” that allows corporations like Wal-Mart to not pay state income taxes by incorporating in Delaware? And companies like General Electric, lobby for tax loop holes so that they get a refund and not pay any Federal income taxes after making billions from Federal contracts? This is unjust and unfair. It has to end. Why aren’t the people rising up to this and demanding justice? This is corporate welfare.
It seems one of the main GOP talking points involves privatizing state stores, yet this comes in next to last in citizen concerns. And privatizing the lottery is a dead letter except in Tom Corbett’s fevered imagination.