What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Week Ending February 6, 2009
President Obama is quickly learning that being president is harder than just talking about it.
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February 7, 2009
February 7, 2009
Jobs Down, Stocks Up? By Lawrence Kudlow
How do you explain it when jobs plunge and stocks surge? That's what happened Friday, as the January employment report revealed a disastrous 598,000 drop in payrolls. Actually, the job loss was 664,000, if you count downward revisions to the prior two months. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate moved up from 7.2 percent to 7.6 percent. So there's no sugar coating it: It was a terrible report.
February 7, 2009
Calm and Cool on a No Good, Very Bad Day By Michael Barone
Tuesday, Feb. 3, was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for Barack Obama.
February 6, 2009
64% of Illinois Voters Say Blagojevich Got Fair Trial
Sixty-four percent (64%) of Illinois voters say that former Governor Rod Blagojevich received a fair impeachment trial in the Illinois Senate. A Rasmussen Reports telephone survey found that just 23% disagree and 13% are not sure.
February 6, 2009
Voters Divided Over GOP Economic Plan To Put Housing First
Voters are evenly divided over whether Congress should attempt to fix the country’s troubled housing market before it takes any other action to help the economy.
February 6, 2009
On Her Shoulders, In Her Shoes By Susan Estrich
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is small in stature, but she has very big shoulders. Alongside a generation of women lawyers, I stand on them, with gratitude and pride. The news that the only woman on the United States Supreme Court has been hospitalized for surgery for pancreatic cancer brings an opportune moment to say thank you.
February 6, 2009
54% Say Media Hype Global Warming Dangers
More bad news for the media. Fifty-four percent (54%) of U.S. voters say the news media make global warming appear worse than it really is. Only 21% say the media present an accurate picture, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
February 6, 2009
62% Say U.S. & Allies Winning the War on Terror
Sixty-two percent (62%) of likely voters now say the United States and its allies are winning the War on Terror. That’s the highest level of confidence found in five years of tracking, and is up from 55% in late January.
February 5, 2009
69% Would Rather Cut Mail Delivery Than Pay More for Stamps
The U.S. Postal Service is facing a budget squeeze as customers flock to the Internet and has proposed cutting mail delivery back from six-days-a-week to five. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of Americans say five-day-a-week service is preferable to them than another increase in postal rates.
February 5, 2009
GOP’s McDonnell Has Edge Over All Democrats In Virginia Governor’s Race
Republican Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell has a three-to-nine point lead against three hopefuls for the Democratic nomination in this year’s closely-watched Virginia gubernatorial contest.
February 5, 2009
55% Say Congress Members Don’t Pay All Their Taxes
The majority of Americans say most members of Congress don’t pay all the taxes they owe. In fact, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 15% are confident that their elected representatives do pay the taxes they levy on others.
February 5, 2009
Stimulus in Spend City By Debra J. Saunders
Back in October, after the Obama economic stimulus plan had grown from $60 billion to $175 billion and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had doubled the amount she wanted to spend to $300 billion, I asked, "Do I hear $450 billion?"
February 5, 2009
23% Fear Global Warming Will End World - Soon
Nearly one-out-of-four voters (23%) say it is at least somewhat likely that global warming will destroy human civilization within the next century. Five percent (5%) say it’s very likely.
February 5, 2009
Stimulus Skeptics Wrong (Again) By Joe Conason
Mythology is overshadowing history in the debate over President Barack Obama's plan to stimulate the depressed economy. Excessive airtime isdevoted to the prejudices of cable hosts and radio personalities who regurgitate ideas they barely understand (and who haven't entertained an original thought since the Reagan era).
February 4, 2009
29% Say America is Heading in the Right Direction
Despite ongoing economic concerns, more voters now believe the nation is heading in the right direction.
February 4, 2009
78% of Women Say No Equal Pay For Equal Work
Seventy-eight percent (78%) of American women say men and women do not receive equal pay for equal work in the United States. A majority of men (53%) agree, but 37% do not.
February 4, 2009
50% Say Stimulus Plan Likely to Make Things Worse
Fifty percent (50%) of U.S. voters say the final economic recovery plan that emerges from Congress is at least somewhat likely to make things worse rather than better, but 39% say such an outcome is not likely.
February 4, 2009
Support for Stimulus Package Falls to 37%
Support for the economic recovery plan working its way through Congress has fallen again this week. For the first time, a plurality of voters nationwide oppose the $800-billion-plus plan.
February 4, 2009
Another Two Bite the Dust By Susan Estrich
It was not a good day for ethics in government.
February 4, 2009
Discover (R) U.S. Spending Monitor (SM) Rises 1.2 Points; First Upturn in Five Months
The Discover U.S. Spending Monitor rose 1.2 points in January, mainly due to a slight increase in economic confidence from consumers. The rise in optimism was largely offset by continued restraint on spending intentions, as consumers, buffeted by dismal housing, labor and financial news continue to keep a tight hold on their purse strings.
