Here in the United States, opponents of immigration reform frequently talk about the dangers of rewarding people who came without authorization or the prospect that immigrants might take jobs from native-born Americans. But there is another concern about immigration that they don’t typically raise, one that you are more likely [...] Read more »
Few Signs Yet That Sequestration Has Affected Average American
The sequestration that went into effect on March 1 does not appear to be a major issue for most Americans. At least, not according to the available evidence measuring public attitudes that I have seen. We have tracked a set of two questions four times since March 1 — one [...] Read more »
GOP Won FAA Battle, Not Bigger Economic Argument
Folks in Congress don’t agree on much these days, but there’s general agreement that the GOP got the better of President Obama and the Democrats on the FAA budget sequester. … However, while Republicans may have won this battle, this doesn’t mean that they are winning the war on economic [...] Read more »
Americans’ Unity on Big Issues Doesn’t Bridge Partisan Gap
While the public overwhelmingly supports background checks for gun buyers and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, Americans largely retreat into their partisan camps when asked whether President Obama or Congressional Republicans will make the right decisions on those and other domestic issues facing the nation, according to the [...] Read more »
Majority Still Not Concerned About Sequestration
The majority of Americans still don’t know enough to say whether the federal budget sequestration cuts are a good thing or a bad thing for the country — as has generally been the case since they went into effect. But of those who do who have an opinion, more continue [...] Read more »
Political Blame for Flight Delays Spread Evenly
As Washington sprang into action late last week to end the furlough of federal air-traffic controllers and delays at airports across the country, the public blamed both sides for the situation. Nearly equal percentages say congressional Republicans (34%) and the Obama administration (32%) are more to blame for the Federal [...] Read more »
Austerity is hurting our health, say researchers
Austerity is having a devastating effect on health in Europe and North America, driving suicide, depression and infectious diseases and reducing access to medicines and care, researchers said on Monday. Detailing a decade of research, Oxford University political economist David Stuckler and Sanjay Basu, an assistant professor of medicine and [...] Read more »
The 1 Percent’s Solution
… What, after all, do people want from economic policy? The answer, it turns out, is that it depends on which people you ask — a point documented in a recent research paper by the political scientists Benjamin Page, Larry Bartels and Jason Seawright. The paper compares the policy preferences of [...] Read more »
Trust in Government, Obama Approval Slip
President Barack Obama’s re-election glow is gone. Congress’ reputation remains dismal. And only about one in five Americans say they trust the government to do what’s right most of the time, an Associated Press-GfK poll finds. [cont.] Charles Babington & Jennifer Agiesta, AP Read more »
Obama budget starts underwater with public
President Obama’s courtship of Republicans hit a critical point last week when he unveiled a budget proposal pitched as an effort at compromise. But a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds Americans’ initial reactions to the framework tilting negative, with broad opposition from Republicans and little public support for a [...] Read more »