Most Americans have an image of Mexico as a nation convulsed by violent drug wars and sending hundreds of thousands of desperate immigrants across our southern border.
That image is out-of-date. The drug war has largely quieted down and scarcely affects most of the country while, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, net migration from Mexico to the United States since 2007 has fallen to zero.
As 2013 comes to a close, Republicans and Democrats are running even - for the second time this month - on the Generic Congressional Ballot.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey for the week ending December 29 finds that 40% of Likely U.S. Voters would vote for the Republican in their district’s congressional race if the election were held today, while 40% would choose the Democrat instead. The previous week, the GOP candidate held a three-point lead.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports from December 23-29, 2013. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
One-in-four Americans used the U.S. Postal Service less this holiday season compared to past years, although the vast majority still rely on the post office to handle their holiday gifts.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 59% of American Adults used the USPS about the same amount this holiday season as they did in previous years. Just 14% used the Postal Service more, while 25% used it less than they have in previous years. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on December 28-29, 2013 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
The polling industry is looking to decrease reliance on data gathering via landlines. Rasmussen Reports is seeking a hands-on, innovative thinker to lead our efforts in this direction. A background in polling is not required for the position. Innovative thinking about the future of polling, along with the quantitative and computational abilities to put your ideas into practice are definite must-haves. We aim to broaden our
polling reach over the next years, to introduce a greater amount of data from a wide range of nontraditional polling sources, and to carefully calibrate and evaluate our efforts as we proceed.
Most voters think Egypt is unlikely to assume a democratic course anytime soon, but they are slightly less opposed to further financial aid for the longtime U.S. ally.
Egypt has largely been in political chaos since the United States helped pressure dictator Hosni Mubarak out of power in early 2011, and a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just seven percent (7%) of Likely U.S. Voters now think the changes in the government of Egypt over the past several years have been good for the United States. This finding has been steadily declining from a high of 29% in February 2011.
Forty-three percent (43%) believe those changes have been bad for this country, up from 20% in 2011. Twenty-seven percent (27%) say they have had no impact, but nearly as many (24%) are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on December 27-28, 2013 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
At the end of the year that Obamacare made its official debut, most voters still believe the new law will drive up health care costs, increase the deficit and hurt the quality of health care in this country.
Fifty-six percent (56%) of Likely U.S. Voters view the health care law at least somewhat unfavorably, with 41% who have a Very Unfavorable opinion of it. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 40% share a favorable view of the law, including 17% with a Very Favorable one. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on December 27-28, 2013 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Most voters now see marriage as a religious institution rather than a civil one and still overwhelmingly believe in the importance of marriage before having children.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 53% of Likely U.S. Voters now view marriage as a religious institution, up from 48% in October. Forty percent (40%) consider marriage a civil institution, a five-point drop from 45% in the previous survey. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on December 22, 2013 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
So where does the nation stand just before we launch into a tempestuous congressional election year?
The national health care law passed back in 2010 finally rolled out officially beginning October 1, and to say the transition was rocky would have been an understatement.
The Obama administration has been quietly supplying the Iraqi military with missiles and drones to help fight an al-Qaeda led insurgency that is ratcheting up the violence in that country. Half of U.S. voters approve of that military aid, but they overwhelmingly oppose the return of U.S. troops to Iraq.
Forty-nine percent (49%) of Likely U.S. Voters favor the U.S. government sending drones and missiles to Iraq to help fight the terrorist-led insurgents. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 29% oppose that military assistance, but another 21% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on December 26, 2013 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Christmastime is an occasion for families to come together. But the family is not what it used to be, as my former American Enterprise Institute colleague Nick Schulz argues in his short AEI book "Home Economics: The Consequences of Changing Family Structure."
It's a subject that many people are uncomfortable with. "Everyone either is or knows and has a deep personal connection to someone who is divorced, cohabiting, or gay," Schulz writes. "Great numbers of people simply want to avoid awkward talk of what are seen as primarily personal issues or issues of individual morality."
Just over half of Americans think buying a home is a family's best investment, but confidence that now is a good time to sell where they live has fallen to its lowest level in several months.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 29% of American Adults say now is a good time for someone in their area to sell a house. That's down from 32% last month and from 39% in September, the highest finding in regular surveying since April 2009. It's the most pessimistic finding since March. Forty-three percent (43%) disagree and say now is not a good time to sell, while 27% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on December 19-20, 2013 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Sometimes it seems like things are upside down.
Barack Obama and his Obamacare administrators are continually making laws, through blogpost (suspending the employer mandate) and bulletin (suspending the individual mandate).
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Fewer voters now identify themselves as “socially liberal” than they have in the past.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 29% of Likely U.S. Voters now consider themselves liberal on social issues such as abortion, public prayer and church-state topics. That’s the lowest number of self-identified social liberals since early last year. Just as many (30%) consider themselves moderate on such issues, the highest since October 2012, while 37% say they are conservative, up four points from September. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on December 20-21, 2013 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
More voters than ever think the National Security Agency’s secret monitoring of Americans’ phone calls and e-mail messages will be the controversy that outlasts the others dogging the Obama administration.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 43% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the NSA matter will still be a major news story a year from now. That’s a jump from 26% in early July just after the spying program was first disclosed and 30% in September.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on December 22, 2013 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Proposals to raise Social Security benefits are a refreshing antidote to portrayals of the program as a mere drain on the Treasury. Details of some such plans are troubling -- for reasons I'll go into -- but the change in tone is most welcome.
Democratic Senators Tom Harkin of Iowa and Sherrod Brown of Ohio are leading a campaign to raise benefits by about $70 a month and alter the cost-of-living adjustments to the beneficiary's advantage. The higher payments would be covered by raising the income cap, which is now $113,700, on paying Social Security taxes.
Follow Froma Harrop on Twitter @FromaHarrop. She can be reached at fharrop@gmail.com. To find out more about Froma Harrop and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Web page at www.creators.com.
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Most homeowners continue to say they have not missed a mortgage payment in the last six months, but their outlook for the next six months is less optimistic.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just seven percent (7%) of U.S. Homeowners admit to missing a mortgage payment or paying late over the last six months. Ninety-one percent (91%) have not missed or been late on a payment, up slightly from 89% in September which was the first time that number had dipped below 90% since March 2011. (To see survey question wording, click here).
Regulators want their fingers in everything. A new idea gives them an excuse to draw attention to themselves as "consumer protectors." In addition, existing taxi companies request regulation. They want politicians to regulate new competition out of existence.
Luckily, technology and capitalist innovation sometimes move faster than the lazy dinosaur that is government. Lyft, Uber and Sidecar have quickly become popular, and this may help them avoid being crushed. By contrast, politicians don't hesitate to destroy things that people think of as weird or dangerous.
Twenty-nine percent (29%) of Likely U.S. Voters think the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey for the week ending December 22.
That’s up three points from 26% the previous week and the highest level of confidence since early September. In early October during the federal government shutdown, confidence in the country’s course fell to 13%, the lowest finding in five years. A year ago, 35% said the country was heading in the right direction.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on December 16-22, 2013. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Fieldwork for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Most Americans continue to see Christmas as one of the nation’s most important holidays and will be spending it at home or with family.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 60% of American Adults consider Christmas to be one of the nation’s most important holidays, while just six percent (6%) consider it one of the least important. Thirty percent (30%) see it as somewhere in between the two. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on December 21-22, 2013 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
