These are the topline results of a YouGov/Economist survey of 1000 US adults interviewed November 16-18, 2013 on humanitarian aid. The results show that a majority of Americans think that the federal government should provide domestic aid regardless of budget in times of natural disaster, but to provide aid to foreign communities, many say there must be budget cuts in other areas. The margin of error is 4.6%.
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Do you think the severity of recent weather events, like the typhoon that recently hit the Philipines or Superstorm Sandy, are the result of climate change or do these kind of events just happen from time to time?
Result of climate change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 40%
Just happen from time to time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16%
How confident are you in the federal government’s ability to respond effectively to a major natural disaster in the United States?
Very confident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13%
Somewhat confident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38%
Not so confident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30%
Not confident at all . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19%
What is your opinion on providing federal aid to American communities affected by majornatural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina or Superstorm Sandy?
The federal government should provide aid, regardless of the impact on the federal budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51%
Any aid to affected communities should be offset by government spending cuts in other areas of the budget . . . .32%
The federal government should not provide any aid to affected communities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13%
What is your opinion on providing federal aid to foreign countries affected by major natural disasters, such as the typhoon that hit the Philipines?
The federal government should provide aid, regardless of the impact on the federal budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21%
Any aid to affected communities should be offset by government spending cuts in other areas of the budget . . . . 43%
The federal government should not provide any aid to affected communities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21%
