Voter confidence that health care reform is the budget priority President Obama is most likely to achieve has dropped dramatically over the past month.

New Rasmussen Reports national telephone polling now finds that health care reform is still the budget goal voters think the president is most likely to accomplish, but only 30% believe that to be true now.

That’s the lowest level of confidence expressed since August at the height of the tea party protests. In mid-December, 47% thought health care was the goal most likely to be achieved.

Twenty-three percent (23%) now say energy development is the goal the president is most likely to achieve. Nearly as many (21%) think education reform is the most achievable. Confidence in both these goals has increased as belief in the passage of health care reform has fallen.

At the other end of the spectrum, cutting the deficit is by far the goal voters say Obama is least likely to achieve. Sixty-five percent (65%) now say that’s the case.

Of the four budget priorities laid out by Obama at the start of his presidency, cutting the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term is still the most important for a plurality (37%) of voters. Unchanged from the previous survey is the 22% who list health care reform as number one. The order of these priorities has remained the same since the president detailed his top goals in a speech to Congress last February.

For 19% of voters, the development of new sources of energy is the president’s most important budget priority, while 15% think ensuring that every child has access to a complete and competitive education should come first.

Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party continue to put deficit reduction first. For Democrats, health care is still the top budget priority.
In Massachusetts, while election Scott Brown to the Senate, 40% of voters said deficit reduction was the top priority while 26% name health care legislation.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

Just 38% of voters nationwide favor the health care reform plan proposed by the president and congressional Democrats, matching the lowest level of support yet.

Fifty-six percent (56%) of voters oppose the plan. Most voters think passage of the plan will increase the federal deficit and result in a middle-class tax hike.

Forty-seven percent (47%) of voters now rate the president’s handling of the health care issue as poor, while 32% say he has done a good or excellent job on the issue that has increasingly come to dominate the national political debate.

Sixty-six percent (66%) of voters prefer a smaller government with fewer services and lower taxes over a more active government with more services and higher taxes. But most voters believe taxes and government spending will go up during the Obama years.

Fifty-six percent (56%) of Massachusetts voters say the health care plan was the most important issue in that state’s special election on Tuesday. The upset victory there by GOP candidate Scott Brown has Democratic officeholders nationwide reassessing their support of the plan.

Please sign up for the Rasmussen Reports daily e-mail update (it’s free) or follow us on Twitter or Facebook. Let us keep you up to date with the latest public opinion news.

See survey questions and toplines. Crosstabs are available to Premium Members only.