For the second week in a row, just 23% 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, December 19. This remains the most pessimistic finding since January 2009.
Most voters think the most important role for government is to protect their individual rights.
Americans overwhelmingly plan to celebrate Christmas with their families this year, but many indicate that they are having difficulty getting into the holiday spirit.
Voters continue to send mixed signals about the $787-billion economic stimulus plan approved last year by Congress, even as spending for some portions of the plan begin to run out.
President Obama in a meeting last week with top U.S. business leaders urged them to use some of their ample cash reserves to create new jobs, and most voters think that’s a good idea. But they draw the line at the government making the businesses spend their money that way.
As the year draws to a close, it's time to get a little philosophical and take a longer-range view of some things that are happening in the world.
It's been tough watching fellow shoppers fill their carts with Chinese imports as the People's Republic stomps on American interests and values. At WalMart, Bed Bath & Beyond and other big chains, it's hard to find goods NOT-made-in-China. Lamps, popcorn makers, kitty scratch boards. Cuisinart toasters and Emeril cookware. Made in China.
Once upon a time in America, when George W. Bush served as America's 43rd president, Democrats criticized the Bush tax cuts, especially for the wealthy. This month, President Obama called a measure extending all the Bush tax rates "a win for our economy" -- after excoriating liberal critics of his compromise tax package as "sanctimonious."
Though a sizable number of voters view the religious faith of political candidates as important, they don’t want their local religious leaders telling them who to vote for.
While the midterm elections initially brought some good will to the voter ratings for the top congressional leaders, the subsequent month seems to have taken it away. Ratings for the four leaders as the current session of Congress draws to a close have now fallen back to their pre-election levels, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters.
Republicans hold a seven-point lead over Democrats on the Generic Congressional Ballot for the week ending December 19, 2010.
With Christmas this Saturday, the number of Americans who’ve completed their holiday gift shopping has doubled from a week ago. But just over half still have shopping to be done.
Voters have mixed feelings about how much influence religious leaders have when it comes to U.S. government policy, but very few believe most politicians put their religious faith first.
The Tea Party was widely credited (or blamed) with playing a major role in Election 2010 and most voters expect that the grass roots movement will have as much, if not more, influence on the 2012 political campaigns.
Elections have consequences. The consequences of the November 2010 elections -- and one might add the November 2009 elections in New Jersey and Virginia and the January 2010 special Senate election in Massachusetts -- became clear as lights shined over the snow at both ends of the Capitol on Thursday night.
For the first time since Democrats in Congress passed the health care bill in March, a majority of U.S. voters believe the measure is likely to be repealed.
There has been much controversy over the new National Football League helmet-to-helmet contact rules, but a strong majority of professional football fans support these safety penalties.
Two of the more compelling stories in the National Football League this year are the resurrection of Michael Vick’s career and the impending end of Brett Favre’s.
In the last decade, the symbol for profligate federal spending was the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" -- a huge proposed span that would link the town of Ketchikan, Alaska, population 7,500, to an airport on Gravina Island. Powerful Alaska Republican lawmakers tried to stick American taxpayers with a huge chunk of the tab for this dubious project.
The New England Patriots were the first team in the National Football League to punch their ticket to the playoffs, and now one in three football fans expects they will win this year’s Super Bowl.
