There are certain statements that politicians and those in the political arena make every day as if they are things that everyone agrees on. The problem is, in many cases, people don’t agree on them – or do they?
Members of public employee unions prefer Democrats over Republicans on the Generic Congressional Ballot by a 28-percentage-point margin. Among private sector union members, the gap is half that size.
Communism as an ideological force largely died with the collapse of the Soviet Union 20 years ago, but even with many of its horrors increasingly forgotten, U.S. voters overwhelmingly reject the ideology that contended for world dominance for much of the 20th Century.
President Obama announced as one of his first acts in office that he planned to close the Guantanamo prison camp for terrorists in Cuba, but political and legal complications have brought that effort to a halt. The president announced recently that the facility will remain open indefinitely and that trials of the inmates by military tribunals will resume there. Voters continue to support both decisions.
Most voters don’t believe their fellow citizens are unfair to Muslim Americans. They also think Muslims in this country should be louder in their criticism of potential domestic terrorist attacks.
A House committee is expected to begin controversial hearings today about the potential danger of domestic Islamic terrorism, and a sizable number of voters think the government is not paying enough attention to this possible threat. Most voters still worry, too, about homegrown terrorist attacks.
A plurality of U.S. voters classifies themselves as fiscal conservatives. But when it comes to social issues, voters are more evenly divided on which viewpoint they hold.
As official Washington buzzes with talk of possible U.S. military intervention in Libya, the majority of U.S. voters continue to favor a hands-off approach.
“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Less than two months after President John F. Kennedy uttered these famous words in his inaugural address, he created the Peace Corps by executive order. Fifty years later, most Americans continue to have a favorable opinion of the government-run volunteer program.
Fewer than half the nation’s voters believe the congressional agenda of either major party is in the political mainstream.
Congress is stalemated as Democrats fight $57 billion in spending cuts Republicans want to make in the federal budget for 2011, but most voters continue to believe that even the proposed GOP cuts won’t make a significant dent in the deficit.
As Republicans and Democrats in Congress haggle over the budget, most voters would rather have a partial shutdown of the federal government than keep its spending at current levels.
Americans continue to believe strongly that being a teacher is an essential job, but a plurality thinks it’s a bad thing that most teachers are unionized.
Half of America’s voters favor public sector unions for government workers, but they strongly oppose the tactic by Wisconsin state senators to flee their state to prevent a vote that would limit the rights of such unions.
Voters have more confidence now that Republicans rather than Democrats have a plan for the future, and they’re almost evenly divided over whether either political party is really the party of the American people.
A sizable number of voters are following new Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s showdown with unionized public employees in his state, and nearly half side with the governor.
Americans view Ronald Reagan as America's most influential president in the past half-century.
Many people believe the United States and its allies should cooperate more, and a solid majority of U.S. voters still think that the better way for that to happen is for America's allies to follow our lead.
Most voters still feel there’s a disconnect between themselves and Congress, but they appear a bit more confident that members of Congress can outperform the average Joe.
Americans like the general idea of investing in infrastructure, but most want to stop underwriting the Amtrak rail service.
