It’s been three long years since the Bush Administration told voters that the government needed $700 billion right away to avoid a financial industry meltdown. That legislation, known in the political world as TARP, remains very unpopular with voters nationwide and is a potentially potent factor in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Although voters are skeptical that federal spending will actually be cut following the debt ceiling debate, a majority opposes automatic spending cuts if Congress doesn’t reach its reduction goals. A so-called Super Committee has been tasked with finding cuts of $1.5 trillion over a decade and recommending those cuts to the full Congress. If no cuts are agreed upon, automatic cuts are supposed to go into effect.
Congress just can’t win. Most voters still lack confidence even their own local representative and want to replace every single one of them.
Voters continue to believe U.S. society is fair and decent, while the number who believes immigrants should adopt American culture hovers around the all-time low.
The debate over global warming has intensified in recent weeks after a new NASA study was interpreted by skeptics to reveal that global warming is not man-made. While a majority of Americans nationwide continue to acknowledge significant disagreement about global warming in the scientific community, most go even further to say some scientists falsify data to support their own beliefs.
Most Americans disapprove of the debt ceiling agreement reached by the president and Congress earlier this week and most doubt it will actually reduce government spending.
Americans think the Constitution calls for a separation of church and state, but they overwhelmingly believe that separation is not violated by plans to include the so-called 9/11 cross in a memorial on the site of the World Trade Center.
A generic Republican candidate now leads President Obama by five points in a hypothetical 2012 election match-up.
An overwhelming majority of voters nationwide want members of Congress to take a pay cut until the federal budget is balanced, and a plurality also thinks the president should chop his salary in half until that time.
Candidates will fall by the wayside as the primary battle for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination gets under way. If the race were already down to just the three top candidates, Mitt Romney would still be just slightly ahead.
When tracking President Obama’s job approval on a daily basis, people sometimes get so caught up in the day-to-day fluctuations that they miss the bigger picture. To look at the longer-term trends, Rasmussen Reports compiles the numbers on a full-month basis, and the results can be seen in the graphics below.
The debt ceiling debate has highlighted the political difficulty of coming to grips with the federal government’s massive debt. Voters now are almost evenly divided over whether they prefer a congressman who would reduce that debt with spending cuts only or opt for a mix of spending cuts and tax increases.
The inclusion of likely candidate Rick Perry has tightened the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination dramatically, with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney still ahead – but just barely.
The number of voters who see President Obama's leadership style as too confrontational has reached its highest level since the health care issue was front and center.
Take this economy, puh-leez. And while you’re at it, take this Congress and this president with you, too. That’s the message from most Americans these days.
With the debate over the nation’s debt ceiling dragging on and consumer confidence near two-year lows, voters are souring even more on President Obama's handling of economic issues.
Positive ratings for the U.S. health care system peaked last year in the midst of the health care reform debate, but they have fallen since.
With less than five days left until the federal government could begin defaulting on its debts, voters continue to express unhappiness with both sides of the debt ceiling debate. While most voters continue to believe the debt ceiling will be raised before the government defaults, most don’t think the president and Congressional Republicans will agree on significant long-term spending cuts before the 2012 elections.
Though a majority of voters believe the system of employers providing health insurance to their workers is a good one, most believe employees should be allowed to pick their own.
Voters are more convinced than ever that most congressmen are crooks.
