What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Week Ending February 18, 2011
Money, money, money. The conservative backlash witnessed in last November’s elections is now hitting the bottom line.
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February 19, 2011
February 19, 2011
Endangered Women By Susan Estrich
Yes, Lara Logan was sexually assaulted and badly beaten. Yes, that is a terrible thing. She is, however, reported to be in "remarkably good spirits." Indeed. She is alive, not beheaded, not held hostage, not any number of terrible things. Being raped is bad, but it isn't the worst thing. Not getting out alive is the worst thing.
February 18, 2011
48% Say America’s Best Days Are in the Past
While a plurality of voters continue to feel America’s best days are behind us, most still feel U.S. society is fair and decent.
February 18, 2011
27% Say Reagan Most Deserving of a Federal Holiday, 20% Say JFK
George Washington is the only U.S. president who is officially honored with a federal holiday, but given a list of some of America’s most influential other past presidents, more than one-in-four Americans choose Ronald Reagan as the one if another were to be recognized with a holiday. John F. Kennedy comes in second.
February 18, 2011
67% Say States Should Be Able To Enforce Immigration Laws If Feds Are Not
In response to the Justice Department challenge of its effort to crack down on illegal immigration, Arizona has sued the federal government for failing to enforce immigration laws. Most voters continue to support Arizona’s new immigration law and strongly believe states should be able to fight illegal immigration if the federal government is not.
February 18, 2011
Entitlements: A Debate Deferred By Howard Rich
Washington politicians have worked themselves into a fine lather lately debating spending cuts. Yet as familiar rhetorical jabs are exchanged over proposed reductions to things like NPR and the National Archives, the real spending debate is being ignored.
February 18, 2011
Profits Squeeze By Lawrence Kudlow
“Don’t fight the Fed” is an old stock market adage. Successful investors pay a lot of attention to it. It means that when the central bank is easy, it’s bullish for stocks. And when the bank turns tight, it’s bearish for stocks. Obviously, the Bernanke Fed has been ultra-easy for a couple of years now: The bullish stock market has just doubled its value from the early March 2009 bottom.
February 18, 2011
28% Say There Are Too Many Federal Holidays
Ask Americans about the number of federal holidays, and the answer is – enough is enough.
February 18, 2011
Birthers, Truthers and Spreaders By Debra J. Saunders
My first reaction to stories about the Public Policy Polling survey that found that 51 percent of GOP primary voters believe President Obama was not born in the United States was disbelief.
February 17, 2011
Half of U.S. Voters are Pro-Choice, But 53% Say Abortion's Usually Morally Wrong
Voters remain as divided as ever on the issue of abortion.
February 17, 2011
Just One-in-Four Voters Have Favorable Opinion of Geithner, Holder
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is at the heart of the Obama administration's decisions about the economy, the issue voters consistently rate as most important, but more than one-third of voters now say they don't know enough about him to venture an opinion of the longtime government official.
February 17, 2011
Voters Think They’re Far More Eager To Cut Spending Than Politicians Are
Voters clearly don’t have much confidence in their elected leaders to make the spending cuts necessary to reduce the nation’s historic-level budget deficit.
February 17, 2011
Don't Buy Simple Talk on Budget By Froma Harrop
In politics, simple phrases can hide complex agendas. The budget debate offers the perfect stage for mouthing "home truths" that are not quite true. Let's air a few examples.
February 17, 2011
Why Do They Hate Social Security? By Joe Conason
Among the mysteries of modern politics in America is why so many of our leading pundits and politicians persistently seek to undermine Social Security, that enduring and successful emblem of active government. In the current atmosphere of budgetary panic, self-proclaimed "centrists" are joining with ideologues of the right in yet another campaign against the program -- and yet again they are misinforming the public about its purposes, costs and prospects.
February 17, 2011
Only 39% Expect Federal Spending to Exceed $4 Trillion in Near Future
The documents the White House includes with President Obama's $3.7 trillion proposed budget for 2012 project that government spending will top $4 trillion in the next two to three years, but most voters aren't aware of that increase amidst all the talk of spending cuts.
February 17, 2011
Obama Budget Offers Inertia, Not Hope and Change By Michael Barone
One way to judge the merits of the budget Barack Obama unveiled this week is by the comments of his political allies. "It's not enough to focus primarily on the non-security discretionary part of the budget," said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad.
February 16, 2011
31% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction
Thirty percent (30%) 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, February 6. That’s down two points from the previous two weeks.
February 16, 2011
Just 28% Say Federal Government Has Consent of Governed
Most voters still feel there’s a disconnect between themselves and Congress, but they appear a bit more confident that members of Congress can outperform the average Joe.
February 16, 2011
55% Say Obama’s Budget Doesn’t Cut Enough
Most voters don’t think President Obama’s proposed $3.7 trillion federal budget includes enough spending cuts, and despite House Republican plans to cut substantially more, a plurality of voters don’t think the GOP goes far enough either.
February 16, 2011
It's the Deficits That Are Draconian, Not Their Cuts By Tony Blankley
After the riots in Athens, the Greek authorities decided to enact new laws to deal with their obvious problems. The new laws, which treat rich and poor alike for the first time, have been seen has harsh. The name of the legislator who wrote the laws is a man called Draco. The date is believed to be 621 B.C. And more than 2,600 years later, the adjectival form of his name -- draconian -- is still tossed around here in Washington anytime someone proposes real budget cuts.
