Rasmussen
What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls
Saturday, March 30, 2013 

Generic Congressional Ballot: Democrats 43%, Republicans 38%

35% Think Economy is Getting Better, 37% Say Worse 

President Obama is focusing on immigration reform once again, a move signaled by his appearance on two Spanish language television networks this past week. 

Voter skepticism about the federal government’s willingness to enforce immigration laws plays a major part in the debate. Historically, the United States is a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. Voters continue to respect both traditions. Sixty-eight percent (68%) think immigration, when done within the law, is good for America. Fifty-nine percent (59%) favor comprehensive immigration reform. 

But if immigration reform legislation passes, just nine percent (9%) believe it is Very Likely the federal government will actually try to secure the border. That’s an important point because, even among supporters of comprehensive reform, 64% think border security should come before legalizing the status of those here illegally. 

An estimated 40% to 45% of the 11 million illegal immigrants now in the United States are people who entered the country on legal visas and then stayed after those visas expired. Most voters (55%) believe the federal government should find these illegal immigrants and make them go home.

Seventy-three percent (73%) think individual states should set limits for guest workers allowed as part of the immigration reform effort. 

Support is even higher for a reform plan that includes making English the official language of the United States. Republican support increases dramatically, while support among Democrats falls only slightly. There is virtually no change among unaffiliated voters. 

If someone wants to become a U.S. citizen, 54% of all voters believe they should not be allowed to keep their citizenship in any other country. 

That’s why Scott Rasmussen contends in his new weekly newspaper column that "we need to move the immigration debate beyond the narrow question of how somebody enters the country. It's time to have a healthy conversation about what happens after newcomers settle here. … What happens after immigrants get here has a lot to do with how voters will view the laws regarding how they cross the border." 

Scott’s previous column argued that it is “time to bust up the big banks,” and he’ll be joined this weekend on What America Thinks by Mark Calabria of the Cato Institute and Patrick Sims of Hamilton Place Strategies to discuss whether the government should break up the nation's megabanks. The weekly television show is carried on 61 stations around the country. Find a station near you. 

Fifty-five percent (55%) of Americans think the government should let the largest banks and finance companies go out of business if they can no longer meet their obligations. 

While Americans clearly have reservations about the fairness of the U.S. economy, they’re now also almost evenly divided over whether the U.S. system of justice is fair to most in this country. Only 35% believe the system is fair to poor Americans. At the same time, Americans feel even more strongly that the biggest problem with the criminal justice system is that too many criminals are set free, not that too many innocent people are arrested. 

Fifty-nine percent (59%) still support the death penalty, but only 42% believe capital punishment actually deters crime. 

Just over three weeks after the sequester cuts in the growth of federal spending kicked in, voters feel a bit more strongly that they didn’t cut deep enough. Twenty-two percent (22%) still think the sequester cut the projected growth in spending too much. But twice as many (45%) think the sequester didn’t cut enough. 

Fifty-one percent (51%) now say the March 1 sequester cuts in the growth of federal government spending have had no impact on their lives. Only 12% say the sequester cuts have had a major impact on them personally. 

Nearly half (49%) of voters remain concerned that the federal government will not do enough to help the U.S. economy, but 64% think the best thing the government can do for the economy is to cut its spending. Even among the voters who worry the government won't do enough to help the economy, a plurality (45%) thinks the best response is to cut government spending. 

Sixty-four percent (64%) of Americans still think there are too many of their fellow countrymen dependent on the government for financial aid. Forty-two percent (42%) believe that current government programs actually increase the level of poverty in America 

Americans overwhelmingly agree that the best way to stay out of poverty is to work, and they like the idea of shifting government money spent on welfare programs to jobs for the poor. 

The Keystone XL pipeline is expected to create several thousand new jobs, but the president has been holding up because of environmental concerns. However, the administration is now expected to give that pro later this year. Most voters continue to support constructing the oil pipeline from western Canada to Texas, and they are more confident this can be done without hurting the environment. 

The Rasmussen Consumer and Investor Indexes both remain near their highest level in five years. But 53% of consumers and 48% of investors still believe the United States is in a recession. 

It’s been three years since the passage of the president’s health care law, and it still hasn’t become popular. Half of voters hold an unfavorable opinion of it, and most continue to think the law will push up health care costs. 

Democrats continue to lead Republicans on the Generic Congressional Ballot as they have every week since Election Day... 

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