According to the latest ;Reason-Rupe
poll, few Americans see much reason to oppose eVerify when it
is first presented to them as a federal government database that
employers use to ensure they hire workers eligible to work in the
US. However, once costs to small businesses are introduced, support
for eVerify plummets, even among those with the greatest anxiety
over immigration.
Fully 79 percent of Americans, including majorities of all
political groups, support requiring employers to check with a
federal government database that verifies the legal immigration
status of any job applicant they consider hiring. They say this
even when they are aware that both native-born and foreign-born
applicants would be in the database. While 73 percent of Democrats
favor eVerify, their opposition is double that of Republicans (22
percent to 10 percent).
When respondents learn their own name would be kept in the
database, opposition rises from 17 percent to 28 percent, but
support still hovers around two-thirds. However, 58 percent of
respondents would oppose eVerify if business owners
were ;required
to pay ;$150 for every worker they are considering hiring.
Republicans are especially sensitive to this cost with opposition
jumping 53 points from 10 percent to 63 percent. Democratic and
Independent opposition also rises from roughly 18 percent to 57
percent.
Even a majority of those who fear immigration’s impact would
oppose eVerify if its costs fell upon employers and small business
owners. In fact, among the 27 percent of Americans who favor
deportation of all unauthorized immigrants, support for eVerify
drops from 88 percent to 33 percent once these costs are
considered. This means even those less enthusiastic about
immigration could be persuaded to oppose eVerify once they learn
about the costs. It also suggests that one need not be convinced
immigrants benefit the economy and do not steal jobs to oppose
eVerify.
Among the 8 in 10 Americans who initially supported eVerify,
half changed their minds upon learning that eVerify could cost
employers $150 per person. These Americans tend to be more
Republican, older, church-going protestants, and more likely to
support the tea party movement.
As a benefits-only proposition, Americans support eVerify as a
method to check the legal status of workers in the US. However,
they do not support shifting the financial burden of border
enforcement onto the shoulders of businesses.
Reason-Rupe Feb
2013 Full Immigration Findings
Nationwide telephone poll conducted February 21-25 2013
interviewed 1002 adults on both mobile (502) and landline (500)
phones, with a margin of error +/- 3.8%. Columns may not add up to
100% due to rounding. ;Full poll results found ;here. ;Full
methodology can be found ;here. ;A
full analysis of the poll’s immigration results can be
found ;here. ; … Read More
Americans Oppose eVerify If Costs Are Considered
Italian President Mulling Technocracy After Democracy Yields Annoying Results
Reuters
is reporting that Italian President Giorgio Napolitano is thinking
about appointing a technocratic government as Italy’s political
stalemate continues.
The center-left bloc headed by Pier Luigi managed to take the
lower house of parliament but failed to secure a governing majority
in the senate in the election at the end of last month.
What is most remarkable about the recent election is that the
5-Star Movement,
a protest group headed by comedian Beppe Grillo, now has enough
seats in the lower house and the senate to be the kingmaker. Grillo
has rejected the possibility of a technocracy, writing the
following on his blog:
Technocrat governments don’t exist in nature but only political
governments supported by parliamentary majorities. The Monti
government was the most political government since the war,
However, yesterday Reuters reported that the 5-Star Movement’s
leader in the senate said that the movement was open to the
possibility of the 5-Star Movement being part of a technocratic
government.
Napolitano has displayed a partiality towards technocracy
before. He appointed Mario Monti to be Silvio Berlusconi’s
replacement in November 2011. Monti then put together his own
cabinet of unelected
officials. ;
While Grillo’s 5-Star Movement is an annoyance to many Italian
politicians its impressive performance in the recent election
should remind Italian politicians that there are many Italians who
are not happy with how one of the largest economies in the eurozone
is being handled or with the mainstream options being offered. The
Internet has allowed a movement to be launched in Italy that has
paralyzed politics, and it should not be surprising that a
president who appointed the last technocratic
prime minister would rather do the same again instead of
risking further potential deadlock in a new election. ; … Read More
The Staggering Demographic Changes In Congress Over 50 Years
What a difference 50 years makes. Yesterday marked the first day of the historic 113th congress of the United states of America. Why is it historic you might ask?
The US Congress was a different place 50 years ago
Via: house.gov
Democrats had Super Majorities in both Houses
Via: n.wikipedia.org
And this family controlled the Executive Branch
Via: archives.gov
This Gentleman was Speaker of the House
Via: content.lib.washington.edu
Morsi calls constitution the dawn of “new republic”
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s Islamist president proclaimed the country’s newly adopted constitution as the dawning of a “new republic” in a television address Wednesday, calling on the opposition to join a dialogue with him after a month of violent turmoil and focus on repairing a damaged economy.Mohammed Morsi sought to present the Islamist-drafter charter as the turning of a historic page for Egypt, but his speech did little to ease the suspicions of those who fear he and his Muslim Brotherhood are entrenching their power. He offered no concrete gestures to an opposition that has so far rejected his dialogue and vowed to fight the constitution.Instead, with a triumphalist tone, he presented the constitution, which was approved by nearly 64 percent of voters in a referendum that ended last weekend, as creating a democracy with balanced powers between branches of government and political freedoms.”We don’t want to return to an era of one opinion and fake, manufactured majorities. The maturity and consciousness (of voters) heralds that Egypt has set on a path of democracy with no return,” Morsi said. “Regardless of the results, for the sake of building the nation, efforts must unite. There is no alternative to a dialogue that is now a necessity.”Continue Reading… … Read More
Climate change can be stopped
People are nearly everywhere becoming more aware of and better informed about climate, energy, and sustainability. This savvy is becoming baked into our educational systems, our laws, and our cultural institutions, and will only further deepen the understanding that people have of the issues and the many ways of dealing with the environmental crisis that confronts us.This awareness is reflected in many polls. Most populations in the major economies that account for 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions have a high level of awareness. Gallup has surveyed people in 111 countries and found that 42 percent found global warming a serious threat. In another poll, a broad majority wanted action on climate change, with majorities in fourteen of fifteen countries, both developed and developing nations, willing to address the matter.One other poll has found that about half of Americans recognize that particular phenomena such as coastline erosion and flooding, droughts, hurricanes, river flooding, and wildfires are being exacerbated by warming.Continue Reading… … Read More
53 Percent Say California Public Universities Teach Political Bias in Classroom
The latest Reason-Rupe
poll of Californians found 53 percent believe California public
university professors present topics in the classroom in a
politically biased way, 24 percent thought these university
professors taught in a politically balanced manner.
Among the majority of California who believe the state’s public
higher education system promotes political bias, 68 percent said it
was a liberal bias while 8 percent thought it was a conservative
bias. A fifth said “some other kind of bias” was taught in public
university classrooms.
Most telling is that among the age cohort most likely attending
California public colleges, 66 percent of 18-24 year-olds believe
there is political bias taught in the classroom. Among those who
perceive bias, 53 percent say it’s a liberal bias and 5 percent say
it’s a conservative bias; 39 percent say its some other kind of
bias. Although majorities of nearly every other age cohort also
perceive a political bias, they are less likely than the
college-age cohort.
Interestingly the more education respondents’ attain, the less
likely they are to report political bias in public classrooms. It’s
unclear whether this is a result of greater experience at public
universities, or individuals’ conforming their values to their
environment. For instance, among those with post-graduate degrees,
59 percent are Democratic or lead Democratic compared to 37 percent
who are Republican or lean Republican.
Perceptions of political bias at California’s public campuses
also vary by respondents’ own political beliefs. For instance, a
plurality (43 percent) of self identified liberals do not believe
there is political bias in CA university classrooms, but 82 percent
of self identified conservatives think there is bias. Eighty-two
percent of Republicans and 54 percent of Independents agree,
compared to 37 percent of Democrats.
Majorities of Caucasian, African-American, and Latino
respondents all perceive political bias, but the kind of bias they
detect varies widely. Among African-Americans, 19 percent perceive
a liberal bias, 23 percent find a conservative bias, and 54 percent
detect some other kind of bias. However, 47 percent of Latinos find
a liberal bias, 14 percent see a conservative bias, and 33 percent
perceive some other kind of bias. Caucasians are most likely to
find a liberal bias (81 percent), while 6 percent find a
conservative bias, and 10 percent say some other kind of bias.
;
These findings of potential political bias at publicly funded
universities are particularly troubling given higher education’s
ballooning costs and receding state revenue that led to the passage
of Prop 30 raising additional taxes to help fund education. … Read More
