All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

The Supreme Court today ruled in favor of white firefighters in the closely watched New Haven, Conn., case, finding that they were unfairly denied promotion.

With that in mind, we took a look at recent polling on the public's opinion about affirmation action, which shows that slightly more Americans favor than oppose affirmative action generally.

In this particular case, the group of white firefighters, the plaintiffs, believed they were discriminated against when the city of New Haven threw out the results of an exam because too few minorities scored high enough.

A CBS News/New York Times Poll, conducted June 12-16, found 50 percent in favor of programs that make special efforts to help minorities get ahead, with 41 percent opposed. For over a decade more Americans have favored affirmative action programs than opposed them.


Six in ten Republicans oppose such programs, while 67 percent of Democrats favor them. Independents are divided, with 44 percent in favor and 46 percent opposed.

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How do Americans really feel about taxes? Well, it depends. It depends on who's getting taxed and what the money is being used for. One's political party and income bracket play a role too.

As "tea party" gatherings to protest taxes and government spending take place across the country, some recent polling data suggests that Americans are not necessarily opposed to taxes.

While solid majorities of Democrats favor increasing taxes to help pay for such things as health care, Republicans are more inclined to oppose such taxes but not in large numbers.

A CBS News/New York Times Poll conducted April 1 - 5 found that most Americans (74 percent) think it is a good idea to raise taxes on people making more than $250,000 per year in order to help improve access to health care and provide tax cuts for households making less – something President Obama has proposed.

Nearly nine in 10 Democrats think it's a good idea, while Republicans divide: 50 percent support the idea and 47 percent do not.



But when Americans are presented with the notion that taxing those earning higher incomes might hurt the economy, support for a tax hike on those making $250,000 or more drops from 74 percent to 39 percent.

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is now receiving her most positive ratings since coming on to the national political scene nearly two decades ago. As she heads to London for the G-20 summit, a recent CBS News Poll conducted March 12-16 finds that 58 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of her – the highest percentage since CBS News started asking about her in 1992 and a significant improvement from when she was a candidate for president.

Throughout much of Clinton’s campaign for president, voters’ opinions were divided and often slightly more negative than positive, but since ending her presidential bid and being named Secretary of State, favorable opinions of her have risen. In fact, one year ago, just 39 percent of voters held a favorable view of Clinton.

FAVORABLE VIEW OF HILLARY CLINTON





*among registered voters

During her time as first lady, Clinton’s favorable ratings were mostly in the 30s and 40s. Views of her were more positive during her husband, Bill Clinton’s, second term as president than his first, reflecting public support for her during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

As first lady, Clinton received her highest favorable rating (55 percent) in January 1999, shortly after the House of Representatives voted to impeach then-President Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton’s lowest favorable rating while first lady (31 percent) occurred in August 1995, following weeks of Congressional hearings on the Clintons’ Whitewater land deal.

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This post was written by Sarah Dutton and Jennifer De Pinto.

There has been talk recently about the possibility of nationalizing ailing U.S. banks, especially as the government’s ownership stake rises with additional bailout money. Americans overwhelmingly reject government ownership and control of the banks, but that notion received a lukewarm reception even in the midst of the Great Depression.

In a CBS News Poll conducted in early February, Americans said they trusted the federal government (54 percent) more than the financial institutions (27 percent) when it comes to deciding how bailout money should be spent.

But the public stopped short of endorsing a government takeover of the nation’s banks -- in fact, most opposed it. In that poll, 76 percent of Americans said the government should not own and control the banks, and just 14 percent thought the government should do that.

Interestingly, back in 1937 when the country was still mired in the Great Depression, a Gallup poll asked the same question and found that while there was more support for government control of the nation’s banks than there is now, Americans were divided about it even then.



That question asked about the government "owning and controlling" the banks, without mentioning "nationalization." There is evidence suggesting that including the word "nationalization" in a poll question makes a real difference in how Americans react to the idea.

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