The ongoing debates in Washington, D.C. over gun control and illegal immigration highlight an uncomfortable reality for the Political Class: A lot of Americans just don’t trust their government.
Only three percent (3%) of Americans think graduates of Ivy League schools like Harvard and Yale make better workers than those who went to other colleges and universities. Still, every U.S. president for the last 25 years is an Ivy League graduate.
But only five percent (5%) of American Adults think it is better for America to have presidents only from Ivy League schools. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 85% believe it’s better for the country to have presidents who come from a variety of schools. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on April 6-7, 2013 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.For those students, Americans think contacts and the name of their school are as valuable as what they learn.
There is a huge racial divide when it comes to personal experience with crime and the justice system.
Twenty-five percent (25%) of all American Adults know someone who has been murdered. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 13% know someone who is currently in prison.
Seventy percent (70%) do not know a murder victim, and 84% do not know someone currently in jail. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on April 4-5, 2013 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.
Most Americans continue to believe it is important to secure the border to prevent future illegal immigration, but there’s little talk about how exactly the government should go about doing that. Rasmussen Reports tested some of the tools that have been mentioned to see how effective Americans think they would be.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds 78% of American Adults think it is at least somewhat important to secure the border to prevent future illegal immigration, including 57% who view it as Very Important. Seventeen percent (17%) see border security as not very or Not At All Important. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on April 10-11, 2013, 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.
Gun control advocates sound puzzled by congressional resistance to relatively modest gun control legislation.
Not only is a Senate plan for reforming the immigration program smart, it may actually become law. Those two things don't necessarily go together. That it is bipartisan would seem a near miracle.
The "Group of Eight" reformers -- led by Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York -- would demand concessions from both open-border and closed-border hardliners. Most importantly, they are the right concessions.
North Dakota recently enacted the most restrictive anti-abortion law in the nation, and several other states are considering similar legislation. While the number of pro-choice voters remains near an all-time high, more voters than ever already think it is too hard to get an abortion in this country, but even more still think it's too easy to get one.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 53% of Likely U.S. Voters consider themselves pro-choice when it comes to the issue of abortion, just below the record high of 54% reached in November. Forty percent (40%) say they are pro-life, up from January’s low of 36%. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on April 9-10, 2013 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.
Americans are almost evenly divided when asked if the United States has a free market economy or a crony capitalist one. This helps explain why they think more government involvement in the marketplace makes it less fair.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 36% of American Adults believe the United States has a system of free market capitalism. But nearly as many (34%) view it as a crony capitalist system. Twenty-nine percent (29%) are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on April 8-9, 2013, 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.
Voters make it quite clear that there’s no need for the federal government to raise taxes. They’d prefer more tax cuts instead but are much more closely divided on that question.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that just 28% of Likely U.S. Voters think additional tax hikes are needed to fund the federal government. More than twice as many (63%) disagree and feel more taxes are not necessary. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on April 9-10, 2013 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.
Amid all the suffocating claptrap celebrating Margaret Thatcher in the media, only the British themselves seem able to provide a refreshing hit of brisk reality. Over here, she is the paragon of principle known as the "Iron Lady," devoted to freedom, democracy and traditional values who bolstered the West against encroaching darkness. Over there, she is seen clearly as a class warrior, whose chief accomplishments involved busting unions and breaking the post-war social contract.
"Divisive." That's a word that appeared, often prominently, in many news stories reporting the death of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
One senses the writers' disapproval. You're not likely to find "divisive" in stories reporting the deaths of liberal leaders, although every electoral politician divides voters.
"Divisive" here refers to something specific. It was Margaret Thatcher's special genius that she systematically rejected the conventional wisdom, almost always well-intentioned, of the political establishment.
Instead, she insisted on hard, uncomfortable truths.
British Conservatives like Harold Macmillan accepted the tyranny of trade unionism because they had guilty memories of the slaughter of the working-class men who served under them in the trenches in World War I.
Thatcher, who as an adolescent before World War II saved money to pay for a Jewish girl to escape from Austria to England, felt no such guilt.
Education is the most important thing students get out of a state university or a community college as far as most Americans are concerned. But for those who attend elite colleges and universities, contacts and the name of their school are considered as valuable as what they learn.
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The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on April 6-7, 2013 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 byPulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Thirty-four percent (34%) of Likely U.S. Voters say the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey taken the week ending Sunday, April 7.
Voter optimism in the nation’s current course is down a point from the previous week. However, it appears to have recovered from a downturn prompted by the political impasse in Washington, D.C. over the so-called sequester budget cuts. Belief that the country was heading in the right direction fell to 28% in late February-early March as political leaders were desperately looking for ways to avoid even modest reductions in the growth of federal spending. Now that the threat to undo the sequester has passed, confidence in the country's direction has returned to earlier levels.
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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen April 1-7, 2013. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Fieldwork for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
While most voters know the United States spends more on national security than any other nation, just one-in-three (33%) think the amount spent is too much.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that nearly as many Likely U.S. Voters (29%) believe the United States does not spend enough on its military and national security. Thirty-two percent (32%) think the level of spending is about right. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on April 7-8, 2013 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.
Americans are fairly evenly divided as to whether law enforcement agencies can dramatically reduce gun violence among inner city gangs. Forty percent (40%) say it is possible; 33% disagree, and 27% are not sure, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
As for the members of these gangs, criminologist David Kennedy says in his book Don’t Shoot that, contrary to popular opinion, they don’t make a lot of money and don’t like the violent life style.
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The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on April 4-5, 2013 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.
People say government must "help the little guy, promote equality, level the playing field."
Americans have a strongly favorable view of Margaret Thatcher, the former British prime minister who died on Monday.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 68% of American Adults have at least a somewhat favorable opinion of Thatcher, including 36% who have a Very Favorable one. Just 15% view her somewhat or Very Unfavorably. But 17% are not sure what they think of the woman who served as Britain’s political leader from 1979 to 1990. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on April 8-9, 2013 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.
Voters remain more conservative on money issues than on social policy.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 44% of Likely U.S. Voters identify themselves as conservative on fiscal issues such as taxes, government spending and business regulation. Just 14% are liberal in this area, while 39% view themselves as moderates. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on April 3-4, 2013 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.
Most voters favor the use of U.S. military on the Mexican border to keep drug violence out, but they also still think the U.S. should continue building a fence along the border.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 57% of Likely U.S. Voters think the United States should continue building a border fence, while 29% disagree. Fourteen percent (14%) are not sure if the government should keep building a fence along the Mexican border. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on April 3-4, 2013 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.
The New York Times in December ran a story expressing concern over a new trend in Montana. The state’s energy boom was forcing companies to offer $50,000 a year jobs to high school graduates (and $50,000 goes further in Montana than in New York City). The Times article highlighted concerns that such well-paying jobs might lure students into the workforce rather than college.
However, 51% of American Adults believe it would be better for our country if more businesses offered jobs to high school graduates rather than requiring a college degree. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 33% disagree. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Still, 54% think just about any good student who wants to attend college can find a way to do so. Just 32% disagree. Younger adults are even more convinced that good students can find a way to finance a college education.
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The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on April 6-7, 2013 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.
