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August 4, 2011

62% Would Vote to Replace Entire Congress

Congress just can’t win. Most voters still lack confidence even their own local representative and want to replace every single one of them.

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August 3, 2011

14% Say U.S. Heading In Right Direction, Lowest Level Since November 2008

Just 14% of Likely U.S. Voters now say the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey taken the week ending Sunday, July 31.  That finding is the lowest measured since November 2, 2008, just before Barack Obama was elected president.

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August 3, 2011

68% Say U.S. Society is Fair and Decent

Voters continue to believe U.S. society is fair and decent, while the number who believes immigrants should adopt American culture hovers around the all-time low.

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August 3, 2011

69% Say It’s Likely Scientists Have Falsified Global Warming Research

The debate over global warming has intensified in recent weeks after a new NASA study was interpreted by skeptics to reveal that global warming is not man-made. While a majority of Americans nationwide continue to acknowledge significant disagreement about global warming in the scientific community, most go even further to say some scientists falsify data to support their own beliefs.

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August 3, 2011

Just 22% Approve of Debt Ceiling Deal, Most Doubt It Will Cut Spending

Most Americans disapprove of the debt ceiling agreement reached by the president and Congress earlier this week and most doubt it will actually reduce government spending.

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August 3, 2011

Debt Status Quo Triumphs Over Future -- Again. By Tony Blankley

The debt deal, if it sticks, is a triumph for the bipartisan, status quo-clinging Washington establishment. Here is a prediction: Between now and January 2013, total actual spending cuts will be minimal. That will result from the following:  (1) The $900 billion deficit reduction is almost all back-loaded to the years beyond 2012. (2) The select committee created by the budget deal will fail to pass a "second tranche" deficit-cut package of an additional $1.5 trillion. (3) The "trigger" will be pulled that will identify an additional $1.2 trillion. (4) The pulled trigger won't require any more deficit reductions to go into effect until 2013, when a new Congress and either a new president or a re-elected President Obama will be able to re-decide (or repeal) all these decisions.  That president will also have to decide what to do with the expiring Bush tax cuts, which if extended would be scored to increase deficit by $3.5 trillion over ten years. (5) The debt ceiling will not need to be raised until 2013.

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August 3, 2011

72% Favor Inclusion of 9/11 Cross in World Trade Center Memorial

Americans think the Constitution calls for a separation of church and state, but they overwhelmingly believe that separation is not violated by plans to include the so-called 9/11 cross in a memorial on the site of the World Trade Center.

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August 2, 2011

Election 2012: Generic Republican 47%, Obama 42%

A generic Republican candidate now leads President Obama by five points in a hypothetical 2012 election match-up.

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August 2, 2011

Only 32% Say America’s Best Days Are In The Future

Voter confidence in the future of the country has returned to the lowest levels found in nearly five years of surveys.

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August 2, 2011

Rasmussen Employment Index Down Sharply: Just 18% Report Their Firms Are Hiring

The Rasmussen Employment Index, which measures workers’ perceptions of the labor market each month, fell nearly eight points in July to the lowest level since March.

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August 2, 2011

Voters Favor Pay Cuts for Congress, President Until Budget Is Balanced

An overwhelming majority of voters nationwide want members of Congress to take a pay cut until the federal budget is balanced, and a plurality also thinks the president should chop his salary in half until that time.

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August 2, 2011

Democrats Also Need a Presidential Primary in 2012 By Froma Harrop

Ed Rendell, do you have plans for 2012? Hillary Clinton? If you, the former Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, or you, the secretary of state, are free next year and wouldn't mind, would you please launch a primary challenge against President Obama?

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August 2, 2011

Three-Way Race: Romney 34%, Bachmann 27%, Perry 26%

Candidates will fall by the wayside as the primary battle for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination gets under way. If the race were already down to just the three top candidates, Mitt Romney would still be just slightly ahead.

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August 1, 2011

Generic Congressional Ballot: Republicans 43%, Democrats 39%

Republicans hold a four-point lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot for the week ending Sunday, July 31.  

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August 1, 2011

Partisan Trends: 34.8% of Americans are Democrats, 33.1% Republicans

The number of Americans who consider themselves Republicans fell for the second straight month in July. For the first time since last fall, the number of Democrats in the country has topped the number of Republicans in two consecutive months.

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August 1, 2011

Obama’s Full-Month Approval in July Falls to 2011 Low

When tracking President Obama’s job approval on a daily basis, people sometimes get so caught up in the day-to-day fluctuations that they miss the bigger picture. To look at the longer-term trends, Rasmussen Reports compiles the numbers on a full-month basis, and the results can be seen in the graphics below.

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August 1, 2011

Voters Divided Between Candidate Who Promises Debt Reduction with Only Spending Cuts and One Who Calls for “Balanced Approach”

The debt ceiling debate has highlighted the political difficulty of coming to grips with the federal government’s massive debt. Voters now are almost evenly divided over whether they prefer a congressman who would reduce that debt with spending cuts only or opt for a mix of spending cuts and tax increases.

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August 1, 2011

55% Favor Repeal of Health Care Law

Most voters nationwide continue to favor repeal of the national health care law, but those who already have health insurance are less convinced the new law will force them to change their coverage.

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August 1, 2011

Romney, Perry, Bachmann Run Close Among GOP Primary Voters

The inclusion of likely candidate Rick Perry has tightened the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination dramatically, with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney still ahead – but just barely.

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August 1, 2011

Republicans Win When the Fight Is Over Cuts Not More Taxes By Michael Barone

Everyone seems pretty cross at this juncture in the fight over raising the debt limit. As this is written, the House has just passed the bill that Speaker John Boehner yanked from the floor Thursday night and then revised with a balanced-budget amendment on Friday. The Senate has yet to pass Majority Leader Harry Reid's measure that in many but not all respects is not that much different.