We assess the reliability and stability of core items in the General Social Survey using Alwin’s (2007) implementation of Heise’s (1969) model. Of 265 core items examined we find mostly positive results. Eighty items (over 30 percent) have reliability coefficients greater than 0.85; another 84 (32 percent) have reliability coefficients between 0.70 and 0.85. Facts are generally more reliable than other items. Stability was slightly higher, overall, in the 2008-2010 period than the 2006-2008 period. The economic recession of 2007-09 and the election of Barack Obama in 2008 altered the social context in ways that may have contributed to instability.