After a week of revelations about government spying on reporters and the Internal Revenue Service targeting conservatives, most voters feel “like the federal government has gotten out of control and is threatening the basic civil liberties of Americans.” At the same time, a new Fox News poll finds disapproval of […] Read more »
Pre-Scandal Polls on IRS, Tea Party
The Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of tax-exemption applications from tea party and other conservative groups has driven the news cycle in Washington this week. The congressional hearings and resignations have already begun and the word “scandal” is again at the front of the Beltway lexicon. … Amid the headlines, we […] Read more »
Does immigration hurt support for the welfare state?
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 »
A new GOP bill would prevent the government from collecting economic data
In what’s becoming a biennial tradition, another House Republican wants to cut the Census down to size. Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) is rolling out the Census Reform Act this week, having formally introduced it April 18. … The bill states that the Census Bureau “may only conduct the decennial census of […] 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 »