Poll Finds Many Americans Unsure of Senate Procedure

3 years ago

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A new poll of general news knowledge released Friday found only 26 percent of Americans knew that it takes 60 votes to break a filibuster in the Senate and force a vote on a bill.

In Pew Research Center's latest News IQ Quiz just 32 percent knew that the Senate passed its version of President Obama's health care reform legislation without a single Republican vote.

The survey conducted Jan. 14-17 asked 12 multiple choice questions on topics such as politics, economics, foreign affairs, and prominent people in the news.

Take the Pew news quiz here.

Respondents answered an average of just 5.3 questions correctly, according to Pew:

About six-in-ten (59%) correctly identify China as the foreign country holding the most U.S. government debt. Nearly as many (57%) know that the United States imports two-thirds of the oil it consumes. As was the case in previous knowledge surveys, a majority (55%) knows the current unemployment rate is about 10%. However, far fewer (36%) correctly estimate the current level of the Dow Jones Industrial Average at about 10,000 points.

Filed Under: Poll Watch, Congress

Tagged: Daily Guidance, DailyGuidance, news polls, NewsPolls, pewresearchcenter

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