The holiday season is upon us, and Americans are off to races when it comes to shopping. But even as many will be watching their own spending, another opportunity to say something about how the government spends our money is on the horizon.
Voters are overwhelmingly clear: they want to believe that elections make a difference. But they remain deeply skeptical about the new Congress.
Voters expect tensions between the two Koreas to escalate, and a plurality is supportive of U.S. military assistance to South Korea if it’s attacked. At the same time, a plurality opposes sending more U.S. troops there.
Forty-one percent (41%) of voters now recognize that the majority of federal spending goes to just national defense, Social Security and Medicare. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 39% disagree and say it’s not true, while 20% are not sure.
Voters are clearly dubious about the size and scope of today’s federal government.
Sixty-six percent (66%) of voters nationwide favor a proposal to cut the federal payroll by 10% over the coming decade. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey found that just 22% are opposed and 12% are not sure.
Most voters continue to favor repeal of the national health care law, and they remain almost evenly divided over whether the law will force them to change their own health insurance coverage.
More than one-out-of-four Likely U.S. Voters (27%) now believe American society is generally unfair and discriminatory, the highest negative finding in over a year.
Talk about low expectations.
Rasmussen Reports gave voters nationwide a short list of issues that Congress will consider in the next couple of years, including immigration, government spending and taxes, and asked whether they were optimistic or pessimistic about what the legislators will accomplish in these areas.
A strong majority of voters continue to favor a candidate who works to cut federal spending over one who tries to get a fair amount of it for his home district. Most also think a member of Congress who tries to maximize federal spending for his or her district has selfish motives.
Earmarks. Pork barrel spending. Call it what you will. Congress views the recent elections as a mandate to cut government spending, and first on the list is a ban on allowing legislators to steer money to their favorite home projects. But voters aren’t quite as gung-ho.
Every night, Rasmussen Reports asks voters what issues are most important to them when voting, and economic issues have remained at the top of the list for the past two years.
As the controversy over new airport body scanners escalates, voters feel more strongly than ever that the U.S. legal system is more protective of individual freedoms than it is of the nation's overall security.
Thirty-nine percent (39%) of voters think the U.S. Supreme Court is too liberal, while 31% say it’s about right ideologically, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Maybe the new Congress should just take the next couple years off because voters sure aren’t very hopeful about what they are likely to accomplish.
A third Bush in the White House? Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has ruled out a presidential bid in 2012 but isn’t closing the door on running after that.
Looking at the future, most voters think investing in renewable energy sources, like wind and solar, is a better long-term investment for America than investing in fossil fuels.
As George W. Bush tours the country promoting his new memoir, “Decision Points,” voters are a bit less critical of the former president than they’ve been in previous years.
Voters continue to favor repeal of the new national health care plan, and most continue to believe the law will be bad for the country overall.
Now that the elections are behind us, 76% of voters think it’s at least somewhat likely that the outgoing Congress will try to pass major legislation during a lame-duck session before the newly elected Members of Congress take office. While most expect them to try, just 36% believe they should.
