Thread: 56% Oppose Justice Department Challenge of Arizona Law; 61%

56% Oppose Justice Department Challenge of Arizona Law; 61% Favor Similar Law In Their State
Thursday, July 08, 2010

Voters by a two-to-one margin oppose the U.S. Justice Department’s decision to challenge the legality of Arizona’s new immigration law in federal court. Sixty-one percent (61%), in fact, favor passage of a law like Arizona’s in their own state, up six points from two months ago.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 28% of voters agree that the Justice Department should challenge the state law. Fifty-six percent (56%) disagree and another 16% are not sure.

These findings are unchanged from late May when the possibility of such a challenge first surfaced in news reports.

Eighty-six percent (86%) of all Likely Voters say the immigration issue is at least somewhat important to how they will vote for Congress this November, with 55% who say it is Very Important.

Those who say the issue is Very Important to their vote are even more likely to oppose the government action. Seventy-two percent (72%) of those who rate the immigration issue Very Important to their vote disagree with the Justice Department challenge.

On the other hand, the nation’s Political Class thinks the legal challenge is a great idea. Seventy-three percent (73%) of Political Class voters agree with the Justice Department decision to challenge the Arizona law, while 67% of Mainstream voters disagree and oppose that challenge.

But then 71% of Mainstream voters favor passage of an Arizona-like immigration law in their home state. Seventy-two percent (72%) of Political Class voters oppose passage of such a law.

Among all voters nationwide, just 28% oppose passage of an immigration law like Arizona’s in their state.

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on July 6-7, 2010 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.

Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party strongly favor passage of a law like Arizona’s in their state and disagree with the Justice Department challenge. Democrats lean in favor of a challenge and against a similar law in their home state but by much narrower margins.

Supporters of the law in Arizona say it’s necessary because the federal government is not enforcing immigration policy and illegal immigrants are an increasing budget and public safety burden on the state. The law requires local police to check the immigration status of those they suspect of being illegal immigrants.

President Obama, the president of Mexico and others including several major Hispanic organizations have complained that the law may lead to racial profiling. The Justice Department suit challenges Arizona’s law on the grounds that it tries to usurp legal responsibilities reserved to the federal government.

Sixty-four percent (64%) of voters believe the federal government by failing to enforce immigration law is more to blame for the current controversy over Arizona’s new statute than state officials are for passing it.

The Justice Department challenge takes on even more importance since several other states are already considering laws similar to Arizona’s to crack down on illegal immigration.

The president has indicated that he hopes the debate over the Arizona law will force Republicans and Democrats in Congress to agree on immigration reform legislation. That seems highly unlikely in an election year in which the issue puts a number of Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, at risk.

Sixty-eight percent (68%) of voters say that when it comes to immigration reform, gaining control of the border is more important than legalizing the status of undocumented workers already living in the United States. Just 24% say legalizing the status of illegal immigrants is more important. These findings have remained consistent for several years.

Again, the difference between the Political Class and Mainstream voters is striking. Seventy-six percent (76%) of Mainstream voters say gaining control of the border is the priority, but 71% of the Political Class think it is more important to legalize the status of undocumented workers.

Among voters who rate immigration as Very Important to how they will vote for Congress this November, 82% say gaining control of the border is more important.

It’s important to note, however, that 59% of all voters favor a welcoming immigration policy that excludes only national security threats, criminals and those who would come here to live off the U.S. welfare system. Twenty-five percent (25%) disagree with such an immigration policy, and 15% more are undecided.

This suggests that voters make a significant distinction between legal and illegal immigration. That distinction is often ignored in Washington policy discussions.

These views, too, have changed little over the past four years since the last congressional debate over immigration reform.

It’s also important to note that voters consistently blame the federal government, not immigrants, for the problem.

By a two-to-one margin, voters believe the policies of the federal government encourage people to enter the United States illegally.

As the country wrestles with a future of historic-level deficits, 67% say that illegal immigrants are a significant strain on the U.S. budget.

www.rasmussenreports.com

I just tried 3 of Arizona's websites to donate money and they all said that it was an unsecure site and not to post personal information. Is this our government at work again?

OK who is "The Political Class" ?

Originally Posted by USPatriot

OK who is "The Political Class" ?

The Political Class Index is based on three questions. All three clearly address populist tendencies and perspectives, all three have strong public support, and, for all three questions, the populist perspective is generally shared by Democrats, Republicans and those not affiliated with either of the major parties. We have asked the questions before, and the results change little whether Republicans or Democrats are in charge of the government.

The questions used to calculate the Index are:

-- Generally speaking, when it comes to important national issues, whose judgment do you trust more - the American people or America’s political leaders?

-- Some people believe that the federal government has become a special interest group that looks out primarily for its own interests. Has the federal government become a special interest group?

-- Do government and big business often work together in ways that hurt consumers and investors?

To create a scale, each response earns a plus 1 for the populist answer, a minus 1 for the political class answer, and a 0 for not sure.

Those who score 2 or higher are considered a populist or part of the Mainstream. Those who score -2 or lower are considered to be aligned with the Political Class. Those who score +1 or -1 are considered leaners in one direction or the other.

In practical terms, if someone is classified with the Mainstream, they agree with the mainstream view on at least two of the three questions and don’t agree with the Political Class on any.

From Rasmussen article found here

That's Rasmussen's own brief explanation of it.

Originally Posted by orchid_noir

Originally Posted by USPatriot

OK who is "The Political Class" ?

The Political Class Index is based on three questions. All three clearly address populist tendencies and perspectives, all three have strong public support, and, for all three questions, the populist perspective is generally shared by Democrats, Republicans and those not affiliated with either of the major parties. We have asked the questions before, and the results change little whether Republicans or Democrats are in charge of the government.

[quote:2ye2rrlo]The questions used to calculate the Index are:

-- Generally speaking, when it comes to important national issues, whose judgment do you trust more - the American people or America’s political leaders?

-- Some people believe that the federal government has become a special interest group that looks out primarily for its own interests. Has the federal government become a special interest group?

-- Do government and big business often work together in ways that hurt consumers and investors?

To create a scale, each response earns a plus 1 for the populist answer, a minus 1 for the political class answer, and a 0 for not sure.

Those who score 2 or higher are considered a populist or part of the Mainstream. Those who score -2 or lower are considered to be aligned with the Political Class. Those who score +1 or -1 are considered leaners in one direction or the other.

In practical terms, if someone is classified with the Mainstream, they agree with the mainstream view on at least two of the three questions and don’t agree with the Political Class on any.

From Rasmussen article found here

That's Rasmussen's own brief explanation of it.[/quote:2ye2rrlo]

Thanks Orchid for the info.

This definition is still about as clear as mud to me. Does this mean BOTH Dem & Repub Government officials are "The Political Class" ? If so that would mean we can't trust anyone on Capitol Hill.

Originally Posted by USPatriot

Thanks Orchid for the info.

This definition is still about as clear as mud to me. Does this mean BOTH Dem & Repub Government officials are "The Political Class" ? If so that would mean we can't trust anyone on Capitol Hill.

You're welcome.

And I have to agree it's a rather fuzzy (like Cousin It?) definition of it, but it's from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

I pretty much read it as the political and/or social "elite." They are either totally out of touch/sync with the wildly vast majority, or don't give a rat's patoot and are going to try to get things the way they *think* they want them at all costs. (i.e. politicians and their bosses, I mean meal tickets, I mean... yah, pretty much)

Governor Jan Brewer is my kind of patriotic American.

Wish I could say the same for the surrounding states Governors who are acting more like the state they work for is part of mexico already.

Let's count the ways that employees of "we the people" can ignore us and still take our tax dollars as extensions of their paychecks.

The number has to be in the tens of thousands of ways.