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June 4, 201440% Approve of POW/Taliban Prisoner Swap, 43% Oppose
Most voters oppose hostage negotiations with terrorist groups like the Taliban, but voters are almost evenly divided over the prisoner swap that freed the only known U.S. military POW in Afghanistan.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 40% of Likely U.S. Voters agree with the U.S. government’s decision to release five Taliban leaders from the Guantanamo terrorist prison camp in exchange for the one U.S. military prisoner of war behind held by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Slightly more voters (43%) disagree with that decision. Seventeen percent (17%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on June 2-3, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
June 4, 2014Popular Nonsense by John Stossel
"Young people are exploited!" "Income mobility is down!" "Poor people are locked into poverty!"
Those are samples of popular nonsense peddled today.
John Stossel is host of "Stossel" on the Fox Business Network. He's the author of "No They Can't: Why Government Fails, but Individuals Succeed." To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2014 BY JFS PRODUCTIONS INC.
DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM

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                            June 4, 2014Boehner, Pelosi Are Still Most Unpopular Congressional Leaders
House Speaker John Boehner is now the overall most unpopular leader in Congress, surpassing even House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi who has long held that title. 
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 26% of Likely U.S. Voters have at least a somewhat favorable opinion of Boehner, while 60% view him unfavorably. This includes four percent (4%) with a Very Favorable view of the Ohio Republican and 30% with a Very Unfavorable one. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The national survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on May 27-28, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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                            June 3, 2014Most Voters Still Agree School Food Standards Are Not A Federal Issue
School districts around the country have been pushing to opt out of the school food guidelines championed by First Lady Michelle Obama, and the House Appropriations Committee last week passed a bill that would allow them to do so for budgetary reasons. Most Americans continue to believe it's not the federal government's job to decide what school kids eat.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 25% of American Adults think the federal government should set nutritional standards for schools, although that's up from 18% last August. But 51% still believe those standards should be set locally, with 37% who say they should be decided by parent-teacher groups and 14% who see them as the responsibility of local government. Fifteen percent (15%) think school nutritional standards should be determined by state governments. Support for local or state control is unchanged from the previous survey. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Adults nationwide was conducted on May 28-29, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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                            June 3, 2014Rasmussen Employment Index Hits Six-Year High in May
The Rasmussen Employment Index which measures worker confidence jumped five points in May to its highest level in over six years of monthly tracking.
At 100.1, worker confidence is up from last month’s finding of 95.6. In March, the index had hit a previous six-year high of 96.2. The index fell to a recent low of 81.2 in October but gained steadily after that. It stood at 94.4 in May of last year.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 9,176 working Americans was conducted in May 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 1 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
June 3, 2014Massachusetts, Not VA, Is Obamacare's Future By Froma Harrop
Obamacare foes have portrayed the VA hospital scandal as a dystopian glimpse into the future of the Affordable Care Act. The temptation is understandable if one regards health care policy as just another battlefield for partisan strife.   

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                            June 3, 201452% Think More Help for the Mentally Ill Will Help Deter Mass Killings
Most Americans seem to accept mass killings like the recent one in southern California as an unavoidable fact of modern life but also continue to feel more treatment of the mentally ill will reduce the number of incidents like this.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only nine percent (9%) of American Adults believe a free society like ours can ever be made completely safe from a mass murder like the one in southern California. Seventy-one percent (71%) disagree and say a society like ours cannot totally avoid such incidents. Twenty percent (20%) are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on May 30-31, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
June 3, 2014Democrats' Nightmare Scenario for 2016 by Michael Barone
Last week I set out a 2016 nightmare scenario for Republicans -- not one that seems likely, but one that can be extrapolated from current polling.
June 3, 2014Director of Polling
The polling industry is looking to decrease reliance on data gathering via landlines. Rasmussen Reports is seeking a hands-on, innovative thinker to lead our efforts in this direction.  Innovative thinking about the future of polling, along with the quantitative and computational abilities to put your ideas into practice are definite must-haves. We aim to broaden our polling reach over the next years, to introduce a greater amount of data from a wide range of nontraditional polling sources, and to carefully calibrate and evaluate our efforts as we proceed.

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                            June 3, 2014Idaho Senate: Risch (R) 54%, Mitchell (D) 29%
Republican Senator Jim Risch has a nearly two-to-one lead over his Democratic challenger in his bid for reelection in Idaho.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Idaho Voters shows Risch with 54% of the vote to Democratic attorney Nels Mitchell’s 29%. Six percent (6%) prefer some other candidate in the race, while 11% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 750 Likely Voters in Idaho was conducted on May 28-29, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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                            June 2, 2014Generic Congressional Ballot: Democrats 41%, Republicans 38%
Democrats lead Republicans by three points on the Generic Congressional Ballot for the week ending Sunday, June 1.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 41% of Likely U.S. Voters would vote for the Democrat in their district’s congressional race if the election were held today, while 38% would choose the Republican instead.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook. 
The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports from May 26-June 1, 2014. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology. 

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                            June 2, 2014Obama’s Full-Month Approval Up Two Points in May
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 president’s monthly job approval rating climbed to 49% in May, up two points from April and matching his previous high for the year reached in February. His job approval held steady at 47% in March and April. Obama’s approval rating hit a two-year low of 45% in November during the troubled rollout period for the new national health care law. Through much of November and early December, his daily job approval ratings were at the lowest levels of his entire presidency. Since then, however, his approval ratings have returned to levels seen for much of his time in the White House.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
Daily tracking results are collected via telephone surveys of 500 likely voters per night. The monthly numbers in this article are based on approximately 15,000 interviews each month with likely voters. The margin of sampling error is less than +/- 1 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
June 2, 201448% Support Keeping Some U.S. Troops in Afghanistan, 44% Oppose
President Obama announced last week plans to withdraw all but 9,800 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year and fully withdraw troops by the end of 2016. Nearly half of voters support leaving some troops in Afghanistan through 2016, but most are not convinced America is any safer because of the U.S. mission there.
Forty-eight percent (48%) of Likely U.S. Voters believe some U.S. troops should remain in Afghanistan through 2016, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Nearly as many (44%), however, think the United States should withdraw all troops by the end of this year. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on May 29-30, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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                            June 2, 201451% Oppose Obamacare Mandate That All Must Be Insured
Opposition to the new health care law’s requirement that every American have health insurance has risen to its highest level this year.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds 39% of Likely U.S. Voters continue to believe the government should require every American to buy or obtain health insurance. That’s down slightly from the first of the year but consistent with surveys for the past couple months. However, 51% now oppose this so-called individual mandate, up six points from late April and the highest level of opposition since December. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on May 31-June 1, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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                            June 1, 2014Pennsylvania Governor: Wolf (D) 51%, Corbett (R) 31%
Republican Governor Tom Corbett trails his Democratic challenger Tom Wolf by 20 points in Rasmussen Reports’ first look at the Pennsylvania gubernatorial race.
A new statewide telephone survey of Likely Pennsylvania Voters shows Wolf with 51% of the vote to Corbett’s 31%. Four percent (4%) prefer some other candidate in the race, but 14% are still undecided at this point. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 750 Likely Voters in Pennsylvania was conducted on May 27-28, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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                            May 31, 2014What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Week Ending May 31
President Obama this week spoke of the diminished role of the military in his foreign policy and at week’s end dumped the former general in charge of veterans’ retirement benefits.

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                            May 30, 201475% Still Think It Will Be Tough for Young People to Find Jobs This Summer
As the school year comes to a close, American continue to strongly believe it is important for kids to have a summer job but also think they'll have a tough time finding one.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 93% of American Adults feel it is at least somewhat important for young people to have jobs during the summer when school's out, including 66% who say it’s Very Important. Just five percent (5%) rate a summer job not very or Not At All Important. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on May 26-27, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
May 30, 2014Why Prosecuting Snowden Is Unfair -- Until NSA Answers for Misconduct By Joe Conason
What America learned from Edward Snowden's interview with "NBC News" anchor Brian Williams on Wednesday evening was much less than what we still need to know. Snowden described himself as a highly trained espionage agent, rather than a low-level hacker; he insisted his actions were patriotic, not treacherous; and said he yearns to return to the United States. He claimed to have warned his superiors about the surveillance excesses committed by the National Security Agency, and he doesn't believe a fair trial would be possible for him under the Espionage Act if he did return.

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                            May 30, 201455% Have Read A Book or Poem by Maya Angelou
Poet Maya Angelou died this week at the age of 86, and she will be remembered fondly by most Americans, especially those familiar with her work.
Fifty-seven percent (57%) of American Adults have at least a somewhat favorable opinion of Angelou, also a performer and civil rights activist. Just 12% view her unfavorably, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. This includes 35% with a Very Favorable opinion and three percent (3%) with a Very Unfavorable one. One-in-three (31%) don’t know enough about her to offer an opinion. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on May 28-29, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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                            May 30, 2014Kentucky Senate: McConnell (R) 48%, Grimes (D) 41%
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell now holds a seven-point lead over Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race following last week’s state party primaries.
McConnell earns 48% support to Grimes’ 41% in the latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Kentucky Voters. Five percent (5%) like some other candidate in the race, and seven percent (7%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 750 Likely Voters in Kentucky was conducted on May 28-29, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.