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May 13, 2015

Support Is Growing for Government-Paid College

Several prominent Democrats are championing the idea of debt-free college, and a lot of Americans agree the government should pay for those who can’t afford to go. 

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May 13, 2015

Disobey! By John Stossel

Charles Murray, already controversial for writing books on how welfare hurts the poor, on ethnic differences in IQ and on (less controversial, but my favorite) happiness and good government, has written a new book that argues that it's time for civil disobedience. Government has become so oppressive, constantly restricting us with new regulations, that our only hope is for some of us to refuse to cooperate.   

May 13, 2015

Americans Put Even More Emphasis on Two-Parent Homes

Adults feel more strongly in the importance of a child growing up in a two-parent home, but they also think one of their parents was more influential than the other in their own upbringings.

May 12, 2015

Voters Worry Military Exercises May Lead to Federal Control Of States

Eight weeks of U.S. military exercises this summer in several southwestern states - dubbed Jade Helm 15 - have some wondering if the government is preparing for martial law. Most voters don’t oppose such exercises, but a surprising number worry about what the federal government is up to.

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May 12, 2015

Online Dignity: Give It Up by Froma Harrop

Three female professors at Eastern Michigan University were shocked to learn that some young scholars in their lecture hall had been on their cellphones attacking them with lewd public posts, complete with imagery. It was all done anonymously, courtesy of an unusually obnoxious social media app called Yik Yak.

May 12, 2015

Will A Republican Be the Next President?

There’s still a ways to go before Election Day 2016, but most voters – especially Republicans – think a GOP victory is likely.

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May 12, 2015

Big surprise in Britain: Conservatives Beat Labour --- and the Polls By Michael Barone

Big surprises in Thursday's British election. For weeks, the pre-election polls showed a statistical tie in popular votes between Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party and the Labour opposition led by Ed Miliband. It was universally agreed that neither party could reach a 326-vote majority in the House of Commons. A prominent British political website projected that Conservatives would get 280 seats and Labour 274.

May 11, 2015

28% Think U.S. Heading in Right Direction

Twenty-eight percent (28%) of Likely U.S. Voters now think the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey for the week ending May 7.

May 11, 2015

Illegal or Not, Voters Are More Supportive Than Ever of NSA

Following a federal appeals court ruling that the National Security Agency’s mass collection of Americans’ phone records is illegal, voters are actually more supportive of the agency’s actions and put even more emphasis on preventing a terrorist attack over protecting privacy.

May 11, 2015

Most Voters Oppose Obamacare’s Insurance Requirement

Opposition to Obamacare’s requirement that every American have health insurance is over 50% for the first time in months, even as more voters report that someone in their family has purchased health insurance through one of the exchanges established under the new law.

May 9, 2015

What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Week Ending May 9, 2015

As the Rolling Stones once told us, you can’t always get what you want. Voters know exactly what that means.

May 8, 2015

Generic Congressional Ballot: Republicans 38%, Democrats 38%

Republicans and Democrats are now tied on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey for the week ending May 7 finds that 38% of Likely U.S. Voters would vote for the Republican candidate in their district's congressional race if the election were held today, while another 38% would choose the Democrat instead. Twenty-four percent (24%) prefer a third-party candidate or are undecided.

May 8, 2015

Moms Will Feel The Love This Sunday

Americans place slightly more importance on Mother’s Day and the role of motherhood in general this year.

May 8, 2015

Voters Give Huckabee Best Shot at Nomination of This Week’s GOP Newcomers

Republicans think Mike Huckabee has the best chance of getting the GOP presidential nomination of the three new contenders in the race this week, but then he’s the best-known of the trio.

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May 8, 2015

Why Americans Oppose Economic Redistribution Despite Income Inequality by Michael Barone

Skeptics about democracy in the 18th and 19th centuries argued that the enfranchised masses would use their votes to seize the property of the relatively few rich. What could be more natural?

May 8, 2015

When is More Defense Spending Enough?

Congress and the president are battling over a federal budget that spends more on the military, but voters are less gung-ho about increasing defense spending than they were three months ago. Still, support for more spending on defense remains higher than it has been in several years.   

May 7, 2015

Americans Are Less Stressed Out Over the Economy

Some say you’re not supposed to discuss money or politics at the dinner table. Could that be for good reason?

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May 7, 2015

Getting the Sports Moguls off Our Backs By Froma Harrop

It was not out of a sense of decency that the National Football League recently let go of its tax-exempt status. You see, as a tax-exempt organization, the NFL had to disclose Commissioner Roger Goodell's compensation -- $44.2 million in 2012. That seemed an excessive sum for the head of a "nonprofit" freed from having to pay any federal income tax. Now the NFL can keep it secret.   

May 7, 2015

Note to 2016 Hopefuls: Don't Call Yourself a Socialist or Career Politician

The 2016 presidential race has its first self-described socialist candidate now that longtime Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is running for the Democratic nomination, but most voters see this political label as toxic.

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May 7, 2015

The Map: 11 Angles on the Electoral College By Geoffrey Skelley, Kyle Kondik, and Larry J. Sabato

Earlier this week, we debuted our initial Crystal Ball Electoral College ratings in Politico Magazine. We’ve reprinted that column below for those who did not see it. As promised, we have elaborated on the map and our reasoning for the initial judgments.