[Doug64]

The last weekly collection before the primaries on Tuesday, and Romney seems to be recovering his footing a bit from the last ones, though he probably won't enjoy Super Tuesday in March too much.

Tuesday will tell us a lot about the race for the Republican presidential nomination, and right now the numbers are running Mitt Romney’s way. Things are a little murkier when it comes to the following week’s Super Tuesday.

The former Massachusetts governor has widened his lead over leading challenger Rick Santorum in Arizona with that state’s primary looming on Tuesday. It’s now Romney 42%, Santorum 29%, with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Congressman Ron Paul far behind.

True to a primary season already marked by sudden and surprising ups and downs, Romney has jumped back into the lead in Michigan’s Republican Primary race. That vote’s also on Tuesday. Early in the week, Santorum held a four-point lead over Romney, but by week’s end, following the last scheduled debate among the GOP candidates, Romney was ahead 40% to 34%.

Looking beyond next week to a couple Super Tuesday primary states shows tougher ground for Romney, although wins in Arizona and Michigan are sure to change those numbers. For now, however, Santorum earns 43% support in the Oklahoma Republican primary field, followed by Gingrich with 22%, Romney at 18% and Paul with seven percent (7%) support.

Gingrich leads the pack in the Republican Primary race in his home state of Georgia with 33% support, followed by Santorum at 28%. Romney runs third with 20% of the vote, and Paul trails with nine percent (9%). This is the first state surveyed by Rasmussen Reports since South Carolina in January that Gingrich is leading in.

Four years ago, President Obama won a solid victory in the Electoral College by carrying the big swing states and adding a couple of states that had been in the Republican column for decades. As he seeks reelection, attention will likely focus on four key states—Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia. Combined, they have 75 Electoral College votes, and if the president is successful in these states, it will be just about impossible for the GOP candidate to win the White House. During 2008, Barack Obama picked up 52% of the vote in these states to Republican nominee John McCain's 48%. Currently, polling those Core Four states on a combined basis, the president and Romney are tied at 44% each. If Santorum is the GOP candidate, it’s Santorum 47%, Obama 46%.

A closer look at one of these states, Virginia, finds the president with single-digit leads over both Romney and Santorum.

Romney runs neck-and-neck with Obama in the key electoral state of Pennsylvania, but Santorum, a former U.S. senator from the Keystone State, trails the incumbent by six points. Most voters in the state disapprove of the job the president is doing.

Obama lost Montana to McCain in 2008 by a 50% to 47% margin. Now he draws even less support against the top two Republican hopefuls in the first Rasmussen Reports survey in the state.

The president’s overall job approval numbers remain up slightly amidst some improved perceptions about the economy. But a number of his initiatives remain unpopular, and lurking out there is the threat of a major jump in gas prices.

Most Americans now believe gas will top $4 a gallon in the next few months, and most think $5 a gallon gas is possible. Government regulations and unrest in the Middle East are seen as the chief culprits.

Even the threat of dramatically higher prices at the pump hasn’t sparked a run on electric cars yet. Because of their higher sticker prices, the president in his latest budget has proposed $10,000 subsidies to encourage the purchase of electric cars with his goal of having one million of them on the road by 2015. Voters by a two-to-one margin (58% to 29%) oppose taxpayer-funded subsidies for this purpose.

The national health care law is another thing the politicians put on the books despite strong opposition from voters. Even before its passage by Congress in March 2010, most voters opposed the law, and they've continued to do so in regular tracking ever since. Fifty-three percent (53%) said again this past week that they want to see the law repealed.

Coming out of that law is the new mandate that even if it’s in violation of their deeply held religious beliefs, institutions must provide free contraception for women. That requirement has prompted lawsuits and an angry backlash from the Catholic church and others. The administration has backed down slightly, but that doesn’t seem to have calmed the anger. Taking a closer look at the controversy, Rasmussen Reports finds that support for mandating coverage of the so-called "morning after pill" is even lower than support for mandating coverage of contraceptives in general.

Just 31% of Likely U.S. Voters now believe the country is heading in the right direction. That’s down three points from the week before which marked the highest level of optimism since April 2010.

Signals about the economy remain mixed. While the Rasmussen Consumer and Investor Indexes have shown improvement in recent weeks, both were down at week’s end.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of Adult Homeowners now think their home is worth more than what they still owe on their mortgage. That’s the highest level measured since early January of last year. Confidence that home values will increase in the next five years is also at its highest level in over a year.

But then the number of homeowners who think their home is worth more than what they paid for it remains low. Fifty-three percent (53%) believe their home is worth more money than when they bought it. That’s little changed since December but down 27 points since June 2008, just before the Wall Street meltdown.

Voters aren’t sure if either party will make a difference. Republicans held a narrow one-point lead over Democrats on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot. Democrats led the GOP on the generic ballot for the first time in roughly two-and-a-half years three weeks earlier. Republicans have led every week but one since June 2009.

The hotly contested U.S. Senate race in Virginia between two popular former governors, Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican George Allen, remains a dead heat.

Democratic incumbent Jon Tester runs slightly behind his leading Republican challenger, Congressman Denny Rehberg, in his bid for reelection in Montana’s U.S. Senate race.

In other surveys last week:

-- Most voters (54%) think women should be allowed to serve in the same combat military roles as men, but 83% believe they should be able to pass the same physical tests as men do if they’re going to be in the Green Berets or Navy SEALs.

-- Americans are a little more enthusiastic about paying their income taxes than they have been in the last couple of years. Thirty-three percent (33%) say they’ve paid their income taxes already with two months to go until the deadline.

-- Fewer voters than ever think the United States is a more dangerous place today than it was before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Maybe that’s because most believe the United States is winning the war on terror.

-- Voters continue to name border control as the more important issue in immigration reform, and they still support a welcoming immigration policy. Fifty-nine percent (59%), however, also are at least somewhat concerned that efforts to identify and deport illegal immigrants will end up violating the civil rights of some U.S. citizens.

-- All boats rise with the tide? Like the president’s voter approval ratings in recent weeks, voter perceptions of two of his top Cabinet officers - Attorney General Eric Holder and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner - are up slightly since the end of last year.

-- Americans have an overwhelmingly favorable opinion of Abraham Lincoln but are strongly opposed to celebrating his February 12 birthday as a separate holiday. They’re satisfied instead to celebrate Lincoln’s birthday along with George Washington’s on Presidents’ Day.

-- Americans continue to believe Ronald Reagan is the most influential president of the last half century, but they are a bit more divided over which president should be next in line to be honored by a federal holiday.

-- Sixty-eight percent (68%) of American Adults are at least somewhat likely to buy Girl Scout cookies this year, including 47% who are Very Likely to do so. That’s up slightly from last year.

-- Adults have grown a little fonder of driving over the years, but a sizable number still says it's strictly for getting around.

[Doug64]

Almost forgot this, oops.

Seven primaries, three caucuses. No wonder they call it Super Tuesday. Is it also Santorum’s last stand?

Three of the states are gimmes as far as Mitt Romney’s concerned – Massachusetts, Vermont and Virginia. Rick Santorum was miles ahead in Oklahoma less than two weeks ago. But back then he was also 18 points ahead in Ohio, probably the biggest prize of the day. Now the Buckeye State is a tossup - Santorum 33%, Mitt Romney 31%.

Romney’s been surging since his wins this past Tuesday in the Arizona and Michigan primaries. The former Massachusetts governor now leads Santorum among Likely GOP Primary voters nationwide by a 40% to 24% margin. This is Romney's biggest lead to date and the highest level of support any GOP candidate has earned in regular surveying of the race. Two weeks earlier, it was Santorum 39%, Romney 27%.

The Republican primary in another of Tuesday’s states, Georgia, appears to be wrapped up already by native son Newt Gingrich. The former House speaker and one-time Georgia congressman earns 38% support to Romney’s 26% and Santorum’s 20%, with Texas Congressman Ron Paul trailing at seven percent (7%). But Santorum’s lost eight points from just over a week ago, while Romney’s gained six. Perhaps more significantly, Romney’s moved into second place ahead of the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania.

As for the man they hope to replace, his job approval numbers as measured by the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll inched up further in February, continuing a trend first noted in January and last month resulting in his highest monthly approval index in one year.

Helping the president out is the improved confidence in both groups measured in the Rasmussen Consumer and Investor Indexes.

The president holds modest leads over the top two Republican presidential hopefuls in Wisconsin. Most Wisconsin voters also approve of the job embattled Governor Scott Walker is doing and oppose the effort to recall him from office before the next election.

Former Governor Tommy Thompson continues to be the strongest Republican contender for Wisconsin’s open U.S. Senate seat, now posting a double-digit lead over Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin.

Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, who won the 2010 special election to finish the term of the late Ted Kennedy, holds a modest lead over his expected Democrat challenger Elizabeth Warren – 49% to 44% - in the first Rasmussen Reports’ look at his 2012 reelection bid in the Bay State.

Not that voters think much of the body Brown works in. Just 10% of Likely U.S. Voters now rate Congress' performance as good or excellent. That's the highest positive finding since last March, but 63% still think Congress is doing a poor job. Thirty-six percent (36%) of voters continue to believe most members of Congress are corrupt. Forty-one percent (41%) disagree and say most members are not corrupt, but 23% more aren’t sure.

Voters overwhelmingly believe congressmen leave Washington, D.C. wealthier than when they got there and want the law to do something about it. In fact, 72% think members of Congress and senior government officials, during their time in office, should be banned from trading stocks, investing in real estate and pursuing all business activity that could be affected by government policy.

Republicans remain slightly ahead of Democrats on the Generic Congressional Ballot.

Most voters (64%) continue to believe that no government program should be exempt when it comes to budget cuts. Most also recognize that the United States is the world leader in defense spending, and nearly one-third think we spend too much.

But a major partisan divide exists over whether government efforts to manage the economy do more harm than good. By a 46% to 26% margin, Democrats tend to believe that putting the government in charge helps the economy. Solid majorities of Republicans (66%) and those not affiliated with either of the major parties (57%) take the opposite view and think government efforts to manage the economy end up hurting the economy.

Yet even while most Americans don’t believe rising gas prices reflect actual market conditions, a majority says free market competition is better than government regulations at keeping prices down. Americans continue to believe strongly than the country needs to lessen its dependence on foreign oil, but again they tend to think free market solutions are the best way to achieve that goal.

Americans recognize, too, that free isn’t free when it comes to government aid. While the political debate continues over mandated free contraception for women, most voters now oppose the idea of free health care for all Americans. Opposition is even higher if voters are required to change their current insurance coverage to a government plan to make that free health care possible.

One-out-of-three Americans thinks letting people buy homes with no money down is good for the housing market, but most say the government should only back mortgages for those who can repay them. Unchanged are the low opinions Americans have of government-backed mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

In other surveys last week:

-- Thirty-two percent (32%) of Likely U.S. Voters say the country is heading in the right direction, down two points from two weeks ago, the highest level of optimism since April 2010. But 61% still think the country is heading down the wrong track.

-- The number of Republicans in the country was virtually unchanged in February, while the number of Democrats fell to a new low for the third month in a row.

-- Despite the shooting deaths of three students at an Ohio high school earlier this week, most Americans don’t believe schools can ever be made risk-free from that kind of violence.

-- The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a case involving the use of race as a factor in college admissions. Most voters oppose the use of so-called affirmative action policies at colleges and universities and continue to believe those policies have not been successful despite being in place for 50 years.

-- With violence escalating in Syria, few voters believe a change in the government there would be bad for America or Israel, but most continue to think the United States should not get involved.

--One-in-four credit cardholders (24%) owe more money now than they did a year ago, but the number who’ve missed a payment hasn’t increased over the past year.

-- Americans appear a little less insistent that those who move here from another country adopt our culture.

[Zagadka]

[Doug64]

And the first Rasmussen polls since Super Tuesday are:

Following Super Tuesday, the perception is growing that Mitt Romney will be the Republican presidential nominee. By week’s end, Romney had moved ahead of the president in head-to-head polling.

In Alabama, the GOP Primary race is essentially a three-way tie, while Romney leads by eight in Mississippi. Nationally, Romney now leads Rick Santorum by 12 points. Regardless of who they want to win, 80% of Republican Primary Voters believe Romney will be the party's nominee.

Romney leads Obama by five points in a hypothetical 2012 matchup. Saturday's numbers show Romney at 48%, Obama at 43%. That’s Romney’s largest lead since December and it comes at a time when the president’s job approval has been slipping a bit.

This is taking place as the economy remains far and away the most important thing on voters' minds this election season. Eighty-two percent (82%) of Likely U.S. Voters see the economy as a Very Important issue in terms of how they will vote in the next election. Nothing else comes close.

The Rasmussen Employment Index, which measures workers’ perceptions of the labor market, jumped seven points in February to its highest level since September 2008. Twenty-three percent (23%) of working Americans in February reported that their firms are hiring. Twenty percent (20%) said their firms are laying off workers. Those, too, are the most positive figures since September 2008.

An increasing number of working Americans also expect to earn more money a year from now. More Americans are also searching for work outside of their current company.

At the same time, the Rasmussen Consumer and Investor Indexes, which measure the daily confidence of both groups, jumped at week’s end and are well ahead of where they were three months ago.

Thirty percent (30%) of voters say the country is heading in the right direction. While down two points from a week ago and four points from three weeks ago, the current level of optimism is higher than it was for just about all of 2011. During 2011, the number saying the country was heading in the right direction reached a low of 14%.

More Americans than ever expect one of the financially troubled European countries to default on its debt in the near future, but only 13% believe the United States should step up its efforts to help the situation. Looking overseas at the catastrophic economic problems plaguing Greece and other European nations, a sizable number (42%) of Americans continue to think the United States is also a candidate for default in the near future. But that’s less pessimistic than last fall when 48% saw default as at least somewhat likely.

Perceptions of the president’s leadership have weakened again since his State of the Union address in January. Forty-two percent (42%) of Likely U.S. Voters now rate Obama’s leadership as good or excellent, but that’s down from 48% in January, his highest positives since September 2009. Nearly as many (40%) now view him as a poor leader.

While Congress continues to battle over the president’s contraceptive mandate and its implications for religious freedom, most voters (53%) still favor repeal of his landmark legislative achievement, the national health care law.

By the same token, voters are less convinced that Obama will be succeeded by a Republican. Fifty-seven percent (57%) still think it is at least somewhat likely that the next president after Obama will be a Republican, but that’s the first time this finding has fallen out of the 60s since December 2009. That belief ran as high as 71% in December 2010.

While Romney may be winning the Republican race, he appears to be making himself a little less popular nationally in the process. A plurality (43%) of voters think it would be better for the GOP if a new candidate jumped in the race, but most Republicans (53%) don’t agree.

Still, it’s a neck-and-neck race between Romney and the president when it comes to voter trust on several major issues including the economy.

The president now holds modest leads over Romney and Santorum in combined polling of key swing states Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia. The numbers mark a shift from late February when Obama was tied with both candidates in the so-called Core Four states. During 2008, Obama picked up 52% of the vote in these states to Republican nominee John McCain's 48%. If Obama carries these four states again, it will be almost impossible for the Republican to beat him.

Republicans still hold a modest lead over Democrats on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot. But House Speaker John Boehner is less liked than ever. Fortunately for the GOP, voters still reserve their lowest opinions for Democratic congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.

Paid your taxes yet? Most voters still say America is overtaxed, and half think any federal tax increase should be submitted to the public for a vote.

In other surveys last week:

-- Democrats hoped to give themselves a shot at holding onto a U.S. Senate seat in Nebraska by talking retired Senator Bob Kerrey into running, but the first Rasmussen Reports survey of the race finds Kerrey trailing all three of his leading Republican opponents.

-- Romney and Santorum hold double-digit leads over Obama in Nebraska, a state which has gone for the GOP candidate in every presidential election but one since 1940.

-- Romney trails Obama 55% to 38% in a head-to-head matchup in Massachusetts. Voters in the Bay State have mixed feelings about their former governor who now wants to sit in the White House.

-- More Massachusetts voters (48%) now think health care reform in the state has been successful, but just as many favor repeal of the national health care law passed into law two years ago.

-- Vladimir Putin is back as president of Russia following Sunday’s elections, but that doesn’t mean Americans like him any more than they did when he was out of office. Sixty-one percent (61%) of American Adults, in fact, share at least a somewhat unfavorable opinion of Putin, while just 15% view him at least somewhat favorably.

-- Energy Secretary Steven Chu assured a congressional committee Thursday that the Obama administration wants to lower gas prices after comments he made earlier suggested that the administration is more interested in reducing oil dependence than in lowering the price at the pump. Yet despite his central role in dealing with one of the country's current economic priorities, most voters still don't know enough about Chu to have any kind of opinion of him.

[Doug64]

On the relative importance of the numbers below for Texas and California, Texas's delegates will be divvied up between the candidates and California is a winner-take-all states.

The delegate hunt continues as Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum battle it out for the Republican presidential nomination. Following Santorum’s wins in the Alabama and Mississippi primaries, the former Massachusetts governor leads the former Pennsylvania senator by 37% to 28% among Republican voters nationally. That nine point advantage is down slightly from 12 points a week ago and 16 points two weeks ago.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich now picks up 17% support, while Texas Congressman Ron Paul earns 10% of the vote.

Next on the schedule is the Illinois primary on Tuesday. Romney leads Santorum there 41% to 32%, but given that 32% of voters still could change their minds, this represents a potential opportunity for Santorum. Most Gingrich supporters (55%) say they could change their vote, and they overwhelmingly prefer Santorum over Romney in a two-man race.

Despite Santorum’s recent victories, Larry Sabato notes that the primary schedule shifts to the northeast in April which should give the Romney campaign a boost. Sabato concludes that Romney still has the clear advantage and, barring a seismic change, seems likely to be the GOP nominee.

Looking much further down the road to the two states with the greatest delegate riches, Romney holds a 20-point lead over Santorum – 43% to 23% - in California, but the two are in a near tie in Texas.

Looking to the general election, President Obama now trails Santorum by four points – 48% to 44% - in a hypothetical 2012 matchup in combined polling of key swing states Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia. Obama remains ahead of Romney 46% to 42%. Combined, the Core Four have 75 Electoral College votes, and if the president is successful in these states, it will be just about impossible for the GOP candidate to win the White House. During 2008, Obama picked up 52% of the vote in these states.

The president now runs just barely ahead of both Republican front-runners in the key electoral state of Florida.

Obama lost to Senator John McCain in the Republican’s home state of Arizona 54% to 45% in 2008, and the president now trails Romney by double-digits – 51% to 40% - there.

Ask voters nationally which presidential contender’s views are more like their own, and just 37% say Obama. Most (53%) say they think more like one of the four Republican presidential hopefuls.

At the same time, the number of voters who consider the president more liberal than they are has risen this month to 59%, its highest level since last October.

The economy remains the top issue and the Rasmussen Consumer and Investor Indexes ended the week on a down note. A majority of consumers (61%) and investors (59%) believe the United States remains in a recession. More voters are also putting the blame on the president’s policies when it comes to today's still-struggling economy. Forty-eight percent (48%) still place more blame on the economic recession that began under President George W. Bush, but nearly as many (46%) now say the current president's policies are more to blame, the highest finding since August 2010.

We’ll be watching to see if this is a developing trend or just statistical noise. After all, early in the week, the number of voters who gave the president positive marks for his handling of the economy was at its highest level (42%) in over two years of regular tracking. But it’s important to note that just as many (42%) rated his economic performance as poor.

Amidst signs the economy is reviving at least slightly, most voters now fear the government may mess things up by getting too involved. Only 36% fear it will do too little. Earlier polling has found, however, that even those who want the government to do more are primarily thinking of cutting deficits, cutting spending and cutting taxes.

Speaking of the government getting in the way, support remains overwhelmingly high for a requirement that voters show photo identification at the polls. But the Obama administration again this past week blocked a state, this time Texas, from implementing such a law, saying it would suppress Hispanic voter turnout. Most voters don’t think voter ID laws discriminate and oppose the decision to block Texas’ law.

Republicans hold a six-point lead over Democrats on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot.

Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill now trails all four of the leading Republican hopefuls in Missouri’s U.S. Senate race. In the race to fill retiring GOP Senator Jon Kyl’s seat in Arizona, both leading Republican contenders are ahead of their top Democratic opponents.

Republican Congressman Connie Mack now posts a seven-point lead over Democratic Senator Bill Nelson in Florida’s U.S. Senate race, and the incumbent remains just ahead of his other two potential GOP rivals.

But long before they vote, Americans will be paying their taxes. Forty-three percent (43%) now say they’ve filed their income taxes this year. Among those who have yet to file, 74% expect to do so by the April 15 deadline. Nineteen percent (19%) intend to get an extension.

Most Americans continue to think the middle class pays more than its share in taxes and favor a system where everyone pays the same percentage of their income. Nearly half of voters still think the average person in this country pays 30% or more of their income in taxes, and instead they believe strongly that the ceiling for those taxes should be 20% at the most.

In other surveys last week:

-- Thirty-two percent (32%) of Likely U.S. Voters say the country is heading in the right direction, down from a recent high of 34% measured in early February.

-- Barely one-third of voters are confident that they will receive all of the Medicare benefits that they are entitled to, and a plurality still supports raising the future Medicare eligibility age to help cover the cost of benefits.

-- Confidence in the nation's banks remains well below where it was before the Wall Street meltdown in the fall of 2008, but most Americans still consider them a safe place to keep their money.

-- New Florida Senator Marco Rubio has frequently been mentioned as a possible Republican vice presidential candidate, but voters in his home state have mixed feelings now about the national political newcomer.

-- Twenty-eight percent (28%) of American Adults believe the social networking site Facebook has been good for society. Thirty-one percent (31%) say the wildly popular site has been bad for society, while another 27% say neither is true.

-- Some companies and colleges are requiring applicants to provide full access to their Facebook pages, and most Americans don’t like the idea. However, one-in-three think it's okay for employers to fire workers who post inappropriate content on the social networking site.

-- Just 29% of voters believe Rush Limbaugh was sincere when he apologized for his recent comments about a female Georgetown University law student who argued in support of the Obama administration's contraception mandate. But the talk radio host’s favorables and unfavorables are unchanged from earlier surveying.

-- Americans continue to have lukewarm feelings about switching the clocks forward and back for Daylight Saving Time.

[Doug64]

On the two-year anniversary of Obamacare:

Friday marked the two-year anniversary of President Obama’s national health care law, and Republicans, unable to push repeal through the Democratic-controlled Senate, are now looking to the U.S. Supreme Court for relief. The high court will hold hearings this coming week on a multi-state challenge of the law’s constitutionality.

Most voters continue to favor repeal of the law as they have consistently since its passage in 2010. Public opinion has been remarkably stable on the law stretching back to late 2009.

Still, with most of the law’s provisions not scheduled to go into effect until 2014, 57% say the law has had no direct impact on their lives so far. Thirteen percent (13%) say they personally have been helped by the law to date, while twice as many (26%) say they have been hurt by it.

Most voters also still worry that the health care law will cause some companies to drop employee health care coverage and think it would be bad if those employees were forced into a government insurance plan instead. There is a striking partisan difference on what that would mean for employees. Republicans and unaffiliated voters overwhelmingly believe it would be bad for workers to be dropped from employer coverage and enrolled in a government-sponsored health insurance plan. However, a solid plurality of Democrats believe the change to a government plan would leave workers better off.

Republicans and the majority of voters not affiliated with either of the major parties consider cost to be the biggest problem with health care today. Most Democrats, on the other hand, view the lack of universal health insurance coverage as the bigger problem. It’s the law’s requirement that everyone have health insurance that is being challenged as unconstitutional. (Most voters, by the way, don’t think the government has the power to mandate universal coverage.)

But health care isn’t the only hot potato on the Supreme Court’s docket this year. It also will be reviewing U.S. Justice Department challenges of laws passed by Arizona and Alabama to crack down on illegal immigration. The feds say the laws infringe on their powers; the states say the federal government isn’t doing its job.

Most voters continue to believe the policies of the federal government encourage illegal immigration, but fewer voters than ever think it’s a good idea to put the U.S. military along the border to stop the flow of illegals into this country. A sizable majority (64%) of voters remain confident that the United States is generally a fair and decent place, but the number who think the president disagrees with them is at its highest level since late 2010.

Even before the health care and immigration cases proceed publicly, just 28% of voters give the Supreme Court good or excellent ratings. Those are the lowest ratings for the Court since Rasmussen Reports began asking the question in 2004. Nineteen percent (19%) rate the highest court in the land as poor.

The Supreme Court review of the health care law isn’t the only Obama policy being challenged. Despite the president moving up the troop withdrawal date in Afghanistan to next year, most voters (53%) favor the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops in Afghanistan after the violence surrounding a Koran-burning incident and the massacre of 17 Afghani civilians by a U.S. soldier.

The Republicans who hope to take Obama’s place have troubles of their own, though. The next hurdle is today’s GOP primary in Louisiana, and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum was comfortably ahead at midweek. Looking down the road a bit, Romney holds a double-digit lead over Santorum in Wisconsin.

Romney-Santorum? Romney-Gingrich? Romney-Paul? Not so fast, voters say when asked about a potential Republican ticket for this fall’s election. LINK Just 22% of Likely Voters believe the eventual Republican nominee should pick one of the other three remaining candidates as his vice presidential running mate.

The president now holds modest leads over both Romney and Santorum in combined polling of the key swing states Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia. Obama picked up 52% of the vote in these states to Republican nominee John McCain's 48% in the 2008 elections. Combined, the Core Four have 75 Electoral College votes, and if the president is successful in these states, it will be just about impossible for the GOP candidate to win the White House.

Looking closer at just Virginia, the president now clears the 50% mark in support against his top two potential Republican challengers in the key battleground state. The U.S. Senate race in Virginia, however, remains a toss-up, with Republican George Allen ahead of Democrat Tim Kaine by just two points.

Obama is ahead of Santorum by 16 points and leads Romney by six points in hypothetical Election 2012 matchups in Nevada. But incumbent Republican Dean Heller holds a seven-point lead over his likeliest Democratic challenger, Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, in Rasmussen Reports’ first look at the U.S. Senate race in that state.

Both Romney and Santorum post nine-point leads over the president in another key electoral state, Missouri.

There’s a lot of talk of tax reform on the campaign trail this year, and recent surveying indicates the voters are more willing to raise taxes on the rich.

Right now, the president’s job approval ratings suggest that voters are slightly happier with the way things are going. The Rasmussen Consumer Index on Friday matched its highest finding for the year, while the Rasmussen Investor Index rose to its highest level since January 2008. The indexes measure daily confidence among both groups.

But troubling signs remain. Confidence among homeowners in housing values has stalled after several months of gains. Fifty percent (50%) of homeowners now say their home is worth more than what they still owe on their mortgage.

Most Americans agree now is not the best time to sell a home, but they feel stronger than ever that those struggling to pay their mortgage should sell their home and buy a cheaper one rather than receive help from the government. Just 19% believe the government should assist those struggling homeowners in making their mortgage payments.

Voters remain overwhelmingly concerned about inflation and expect to pay more at the grocery store, but they have more confidence than ever that the Federal Reserve Board can keep inflation under control.

Republicans are still slightly ahead of Democrats on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot.

In other surveys last week:

-- Voters continue to believe the United States is not doing enough to develop its gas and oil resources and strongly support offshore drilling. Most also still think going ahead with offshore drilling is likely to bring down the price of gasoline at the pump.

-- Thirty-one percent (31%) of Likely U.S. Voters say the country is heading in the right direction, down three points from a recent high of 34% measured in early February.

-- As economic confidence improves somewhat, the number of voters who feel the nation’s best days lie ahead is at its highest level (41%) in over two years of regular tracking. But slightly more (43%) still feel the nation’s best days are in the past

-- Most voters believe Americans are overtaxed, and only 26% would be willing to pay higher taxes to help reduce the federal budget deficit.

-- Americans continue to believe in overwhelming numbers that China is an economic threat to the United States. One-in-four still regard the Asian giant as an enemy of this country.

-- Spring officially sprung this past Tuesday, and one-third (33%) of American Adults see that as a good thing since spring is their favorite season. But for many, it also means allergy season. Seventy-four percent (74%) suffer from allergies or know someone who does.

-- More Americans than ever consider St. Patrick’s Day one of the nation’s least important holidays, but a sizable number still planned to wear green last Saturday. One-in four also intended to have an alcoholic drink to celebrate.

[jimjam]

No mention here of Vermin Supreme. I hear he is solidifying his base and moving up in the polls.

[Doug64]

Both good and bad news for Romney.

The U.S. Supreme Court this past week held three days of hearings on the constitutionality of President Obama’s health care law, in particular the requirement that every American obtain health insurance. Most voters (63%) continue to believe the federal government does not have the authority to force people to buy health insurance, and 54% expect the Supreme Court to overturn the law.

The continuing uproar over the shooting death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin has dominated many news cycles in the past few days, but most Americans haven’t come to a conclusion yet whether it’s a case of murder or self-defense. One-third (33%) of adults believe crime watch volunteer George Zimmerman should be found guilty of Martin’s murder, while 15% think Zimmerman acted in self-defense. But 52% of Americans are not sure.

Gasoline prices every day, meanwhile, are marching toward record highs. A plurality (48%) of Americans thinks the federal government should eliminate the federal gas tax until gas prices come down. They definitely don’t think this is a time to hike the gas tax or tack on a mileage tax to fund transportation needs.

Despite challenges by the Obama administration and environmental groups, most Americans (57%) favor use of the so-called “fracking” process to produce more domestic oil and natural gas. Fifty-nine percent (59%) believe it is at least somewhat likely that the development of shale oil reserves will end U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Opposition to the hydraulic “fracking” process for developing shale oil reserves is based primarily on environmental concerns, but Americans strongly believe these reserves can be developed without hurting the environment.

The president caused a stir on Monday when he was overheard telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he could cut a better deal on missile defense after his reelection. That’s part of the president’s stated strategy to reduce nuclear stockpiles. However, Americans still believe overwhelmingly that nuclear weapons are critical to the nation’s security, and 58% oppose reducing the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. But they fear a terrorist attack far more than a nuclear one from another nation.

Still, voters tend to believe as they have since the killing of Osama bin Laden last May that the United States and its allies are winning the war on terror.

Several states now are considering or have recently passed laws requiring women seeking an abortion to first see an ultrasound of their fetus. Oklahoma’s law was put on hold by a judge this past week. Voters nationwide are closely divided over laws that require pregnant women to view their fetus via ultrasound before they can get an abortion. But voters overwhelmingly oppose allowing government to mandate medical procedures.

Looking ahead, Republicans in Maryland and Wisconsin vote Tuesday in the next set of presidential primaries, and the day seems to be shaping up as a good one for Mitt Romney.

The Republican front-runner is well ahead of his chief rival Rick Santorum in Maryland – 45% to 28%. Twelve percent (12%) favor former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, while Texas Congressman Ron Paul earns seven percent (7%) of the vote.

The numbers have moved little over the past week with Romney still holding a double-digit lead over Santorum – 44% to 34% - in the closing days of the Wisconsin Republican Primary race. Gingrich and Paul both pick up seven percent (7%) of the vote from Badger State Republicans.

The bad news for the GOP, though, is that the president is now above the 50% mark in hypothetical general election matchups with Romney and Santorum in Wisconsin. Obama carried Wisconsin over Republican John McCain with 56% of the vote, and 51% of the state’s voters now approve of his job performance.

The race for Wisconsin’s open U.S. Senate seat between top Republican contender Tommy Thompson and Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin has grown tighter over the last month. Baldwin now leads two other Republican hopefuls in the race.

Obama also has extended his lead over his top GOP challengers in the key battleground state of Ohio. He leads Romney 48% to 40% and Santorum 47% to 41%.

Republican Josh Mandel, in the first Rasmussen Reports survey since his decisive primary victory, is now running neck-and-neck with Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in Ohio’s U.S. Senate race.

The president remains slightly ahead of Romney and Santorum in combined polling of the key swing states Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia. During 2008, Obama picked up 52% of the vote in these states to Republican nominee John McCain's 48%. Combined, the Core Four have 75 Electoral College votes, and if the president is successful in all these states, it will be just about impossible for the GOP candidate to win the White House.

Obama’s job approval ratings remain where they’ve been in recent weeks, and Romney is still the only Republican who runs competitively with the president among voters nationwide on a regular basis.

As tempers flare and the language gets harsher in the race for the Republican nomination, a plurality (46%) of GOP voters continues to believe the primary process is a good way to select a nominee. But that’s down from 53% in early September before the battle began in earnest.

The economy remains the key factor in the presidential race, and most Americans still believe the country is in a recession, according to the Rasmussen Consumer and Investor Indexes.

A new report from a task force led by former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and former New York City School Chancellor Joel I. Klein warns that the country’s economic and national security is at further risk if the public schools do not improve. Adults nationwide overwhelmingly share this concern and give low marks to the performance of America's public schools. Just 23% rate those schools good or excellent, while 37% say they’re doing a poor job.

Perhaps even more disturbing, given the high national unemployment rate, is the belief by 65% of Americans that most high school graduates lack the skills needed for college or a job.

Republicans hold a five-point lead over Democrats on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot for the week ending Sunday, March 25.

In other surveys last week:

-- March Madness is drawing to a close and most (56%) following the event expect the University of Kentucky Wildcats to win the national championship this Monday night.

-- Twenty-nine percent (29%) of Likely U.S. Voters say the country is heading in the right direction, down two points from the previous week and down five points from a recent high of 34% measured in early February.

-- Voter confidence in the Social Security system has fallen over the last few years, but now fewer than ever (35%) believe they will be paid all they are owed in their lifetime.

-- Voters continue to support a welcoming immigration policy but still feel strongly that immigration reform should focus on border control first.

-- Americans firmly believe that children in this country are fatter than kids overseas and think it's parents' responsibility to do something about it.

-- Twenty-two percent (22%) of American Adults think the U.S. government should ban the smoking of tobacco in this country, but 71% disagree.

-- More Americans than ever (47%) support legalizing and taxing marijuana. They remain less supportive of so-called “sin taxes” on soda and junk food.

-- Americans nationwide strongly oppose a policy similar to the one New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg enacted that bans food donations to homeless shelters.

[Doug64]

Interesting how tax disparity is defined in the poll question on the issue.

The Easter weekend comes as a welcome pause for many after a week of high-profile political debate over the role of the U.S. Supreme Court and the release of employment numbers that remind us the economy’s still in shaky condition.

After reaching a three-year high in February, the Rasmussen Employment Index slipped four points in March. Generally speaking, a decrease in the index suggests the upcoming government reports on job creation will be weaker than the prior month’s, and that was again the case this month. The number of Americans who know someone who’s given up looking for a job out of frustration is up five points from a month ago to 48%.

The Rasmussen Consumer and Investor Indexes ended the week with slight increases, and both are running 10 or more points ahead of where they were in January. However, it remains to be seen how the jobs’ report affects confidence in the coming days.

Twenty-nine percent (29%) of Likely U.S. Voters say the country is heading in the right direction, down five points from a recent high of 34% measured in early February. Sixty-four percent (64%) think the country is heading down the wrong track.

At the beginning of the week, one-third of Americans still had not filed their income taxes with the April 17 deadline looming. Seventy-five percent (75%) of those who had not filed their taxes expected to do so by the deadline. Thirteen percent (13%) planned to get an extension, and another 13% weren’t sure what they would do.

Americans remain unhappy with the tax system in this country and believe more strongly than ever that others do not pay their fair share. Fifty percent (50%) now believe a person who earns twice as much as they do pays less than twice as much in taxes. But it’s not just when they look up the income scale that people see a disparity. Forty-eight percent (48%) believe that someone who earns half as much as they do pays less than half as much in taxes.

As they square up their incomes taxes for another year, a majority of adults nationwide continues to believe that those who work for the government have it easier than those in the private sector and get paid more for it.

Voters trust Republicans more than Democrats as they have for three years now when it comes to handling the economy, by far the top issue of a list of 10 regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports. They put slightly more trust in Democrats on health care, the second most important issue.

Following a week of highly-publicized hearings before the U.S. Supreme Court on the constitutionality of President Obama’s health care law, most voters continue to favor repeal of the law, and more than ever think it’s likely to be repealed.

The president, however, cautioned the Supreme Court this past week about overturning his health care law, prompting a spirited debate over the constitutional separation of powers. Just 15% of voters think the high court puts too many limitations on what the federal government can do, while twice as many (30%) believe the Supreme Court does not limit the government enough. Forty percent (40%) say the balance is about right. Thirty-nine percent (39%) trust the Supreme Court more than the other two major branches of the federal government – the presidency and Congress. Thirty percent (30%) trust the president more, while only 12% put more faith in the Congress.

The latter finding is no surprise with positive ratings for Congress' job performance back in single digits where they have been for the past year. Republicans continue to hold a small lead over Democrats on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot.

In March, 26% of voters Strongly Approved of the president’s job performance, while 41% Strongly Disapproved. This gave the president a full-month job approval rating of -15, down two points from last month and back to the level measured in January. Obama enjoyed a positive index of 23 when he first assumed office in January 2009.

As Mitt Romney assumes the role of presumptive Republican nominee, polls suggest a competitive general election matchup between the former Massachusetts governor and the president. But the data also suggest that voters are less than thrilled with the choices they'll have in November because neither candidate is connecting with voters’ real concerns.

Since just months after his inauguration, voters have consistently felt more strongly that the president is governing like a partisan Democrat than in a bipartisan manner. Now, 53% feel that way, the highest finding since early December 2010.

Speaking of politics, the president holds identical three-point leads over Romney and Rick Santorum in combined polling of the key swing states of Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia. During 2008, Obama picked up 52% of the vote in these states to Republican nominee John McCain's 48%. Combined, the Core Four have 75 Electoral College votes, and if the president is successful in all these states, it will be just about impossible for the GOP candidate to win the White House.

Romney and Santorum continue to lead the president in hypothetical Election 2012 matchups in Montana, a state last won by a Democratic presidential candidate 20 years ago.

Republican Congressman Denny Rehberg still maintains a very narrow advantage over Democratic incumbent Jon Tester in Montana’s closely contested U.S. Senate race.

The U.S. Senate race in New Mexico remains tight between former Republican Congresswoman Heather Wilson and two potential Democratic opponents.

Following his sweep of the Maryland, Wisconsin and District of Columbia primaries this past Tuesday, Romney is well ahead in delegates, and many think the battle for the Republican presidential nomination is over. But Santorum is making a stand in his home state where he holds a four-point lead over Romney – 42% to 38% - in Rasmussen Reports’ first look at the upcoming Pennsylvania Republican primary. Pennsylvania Republicans vote on April 24.

Romney is now seen as the leader of the Republican Party, and no one else is even close as far as voters nationwide are concerned. Rasmussen Reports gave Likely U.S. Voters the names of eight well-known Republicans, including the four finalists for the party’s presidential nomination, and asked which was the leader of the GOP. Twenty-six percent (26%) said Romney, with House Speaker John Boehner second at 13%.

Voters continue to have a slightly more favorable opinion of the Tea Party compared to the Occupy Wall Street protesters. But Republicans are the only ones who see either of the groups as much of a political benefit in the upcoming elections. Most Republicans (53%) continue to think the Tea Party will help their party in November. Just 32% of Democrats believe the Occupy movement will help them in those elections.

The number of Democrats in the United States rebounded in March after falling to a record low in February. However, for the fourth consecutive month, more people consider themselves Republicans than Democrats.

In other surveys last week:

-- Most voters nationwide currently favor a U.S. anti-missile defense system, and a majority believes a missile attack on the United States is likely to occur in the near future.

-- Baseball season has formally arrived, and a modest plurality is already predicting a 28th World Series win for the New York Yankees.

-- A majority (52%) of Wisconsin voters now support the effort to recall Republican Governor Scott Walker.

-- Sixty percent (60%) of Americans have an unfavorable view of the Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights activist and MSNBC host. Americans also aren’t too keen on filmmaker Spike Lee and political comedian Bill Maher.

-- Not only did Peyton Manning take over Tim Tebow’s spot as the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos, he comes out on top in terms of favorability among football fans nationwide. Eighty-six percent (86%) have at least a somewhat favorable opinion of Manning, but nearly as many (76%) feel that way about Tebow.

-- Most baseball fans nationwide believe Cincinnati Reds great Pete Rose deserves to be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Fans aren’t so forgiving about players who abused steroids.

-- Several members of the New Orleans Saints coaching staff, including head coach Sean Payton, were suspended following the convictions of players who were paid bonuses for harming opponents. Forty-six percent (46%) of Football Fans say the punishment given to the Saints coaches is just about right. Twenty percent (20%) feel the punishment is too severe, while nearly as many (21%) say it is not severe enough.

-- All eyes are on Tiger Woods this weekend at the Masters golf tournament, but most Americans still have unfavorable view of the former number one golfer in the world.

[Doug64]

And the race is on!

The game is on: Mitt Romney is now the presumptive Republican presidential nominee following Rick Santorum’s decision Tuesday to put his campaign on hold.

Voters now are expressing more confidence in Romney than in Obama when it comes to the economy - by a 49% to 39% margin, but they’re more evenly divided on several other key issues. However, voters overwhelmingly trust their own judgment on economic matters more than the judgment of either presidential candidate.

The economy continues to be by far the most important issue as far as voters are concerned, with health care in second place. When it comes to health care, 46% trust Romney more, but nearly as many (42%) place more confidence in Obama. The narrowness of the gap between the two is telling since most voters favor repeal of the president’s health care law and expect the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn it. But Romney has been criticized by his GOP opponents for helping to father a health care law in Massachusetts that was, in part, a model for the national legislation. He says he will repeal Obama’s law, however, if elected.

Just before its recent highly publicized hearing on the constitutionality of the health care law, ratings for the Supreme Court had fallen to the lowest level ever measured by Rasmussen Reports. Now, following the hearings, approval of the court is way up. Forty-one percent (41%) now rate the Supreme Court’s performance as good or excellent, up 13 points from 28% in mid-March and the court’s highest ratings in two-and-a-half years.

The government bailouts of the auto and financial industries have been just as unpopular as the health care law, and voters continue to dislike them both. But they now view the auto industry bailout more positively than the one given to banks and insurance companies. We’ll be watching to see how the bailout issue plays on the campaign trail since Romney favored the financial bailouts but opposes the ones given to General Motors and Chrysler.

In our first look at one of the key swing states in this year’s presidential election, Romney edges Obama 46% to 44% in North Carolina. But the president holds double-digit leads in Romney’s home state of Massachusetts and in New Mexico. He won all three states over John McCain in 2008, North Carolina just barely, the others by comfortable margins.

Republican Senator Scott Brown and his chief Democratic challenger, Elizabeth Warren, are now running neck-and-neck in Massachusetts’ red-hot U.S. Senate race. Warren’s barely ahead 46% to 45% after trailing Brown by five in late February.

With Romney now the presumptive nominee, speculation has quickly shifted to possible running mates. So Rasmussen Reports has begun testing the waters on some of the more prominent names being mentioned as vice presidential candidates. New Jersey’s outspoken Governor Chris Christie is the best liked of the first group of five, edging out Santorum. Among Republicans though, Santorum is slightly ahead, closely followed by Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Christie and Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, the party’s congressional budget architect.

For the third week in a row, only 29% of Likely U.S. Voters say the country is heading in the right direction. That remains down five points from a recent high of 34% measured in early February. Sixty-four percent (64%) of voters still think the country is heading down the wrong track.

By week’s end, the Rasmussen Consumer Index, which measures daily confidence among that group, had fallen nine points since the government’s release of a disappointing jobs report a week earlier. The Rasmussen Investor Index was down even more.

Nearly half (48%) of American Adults continue to lack confidence in the stability of the U.S. banking industry. The number lacking confidence in U.S. banks has hovered around the 50% mark in regular tracking for most surveys since February 2009. By contrast, in July 2008, just before the Wall Street meltdown, 68% of adults were confident in the banking system, and only 28% were not.

After a brief bounce in confidence in March, a majority of Americans now lack faith in the Federal Reserve Board to keep inflation under control and interest rates down. Seventy-nine percent (79%) of Americans remain concerned about inflation. Yet while 69% expect to spend more on groceries one year from today, that’s down 10 points from last month and is the lowest level measured since November.

Is America moving toward a cashless society? Forty-three percent (43%) of Americans say they’ve gone through a full week without paying for anything with cash or coins. Just 24% of adults now typically pay with cash when they buy groceries, while most opt instead for a debit or credit card.

As for unemployment, the national unemployment rate dipped slightly in March but mostly because more Americans stopped looking for work. Thirty-eight percent (38%) now believe it would be good for the economy if the government hired the long-term unemployed. That’s up only slightly from the past several months but is the highest level measured since regular tracking began in October 2010.

Where’s that money going to come from? Well, for one thing, voters increasingly think the United States is putting too much money into defense. Thirty-six percent (36%) now feel the country spends too much on the military and national security. Twenty-seven percent (27%) say the country doesn’t spend enough, while another 27% say the amount spent is about right.

Americans recognize more strongly than ever that there is a conflict between economic growth and environmental protection. Support for investing in fossil fuels like oil and gas is at a new high amidst near-record gas prices and the ongoing political debate over development of the Keystone XL pipeline which the president has blocked for environmental reasons.

Voters tend to think the actions of the Environmental Protection Agency are bad for the economy and hold decidedly mixed feelings about one of its guiding policies, the federal Endangered Species Act.

Republicans hold a five-point lead over Democrats – 45% to 40% - on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot.

In other surveys last week:

-- Americans are slightly less sure that the man who shot black Florida teenager Trayvon Martin is guilty of murder but more convinced that he’ll be found guilty of that crime. However, a sizable number still remains unsure about what happened and what will happen in the days ahead. This survey was taken just after George Zimmerman was charged with second degree murder in the case.

-- Roughly half (48%) of American adults consider Easter one of the nation's most important holidays, and 59% planned to attend a church service last Sunday to celebrate the day Christians believe Jesus Christ was resurrected. Seventy-eight percent (78%) think Jesus was the son of God, and 77% believe he rose from the dead.

- For Republican gubernatorial hopeful Pat McCrory, the second time’s the charm so far. The unsuccessful 2008 GOP candidate for governor in North Carolina leads all three of his major Democratic opponents in the first Rasmussen Reports survey of this year’s gubernatorial contest.

-- Lotto fever swept the country recently when the Mega Millions jackpot rose to a record-breaking $656 million. Support for state-run lotteries remains steady, but the number of Americans who say there are too many of them continues to rise.

-- Americans overwhelmingly believe office betting pools for events like the NCAA basketball tournament and the Super Bowl should not be illegal, and a sizable number (47%) thinks they help productivity by improving workplace camaraderie.

-- Just a third (31%) of American Adults favor a proposal for the United States to stop making pennies. But support for getting rid of the penny rises when the price tag is attached. The penny now costs the U.S. Mint 2.41 cents to make. Fifty-nine percent (59%) think the United States should stop making the penny if it costs the government more to make than the actual value of the coin.

-- Mike Wallace, a fixture for years on CBS-TV's “60 Minutes,” passed away on Saturday, and 58% of American Adults have at least a somewhat favorable opinion of him, including 28% with a Very Favorable view.

[Rainbow Crow]

While I have made my hatred for Rasmussen known and won't do so again, I would like to say that the running mate thing is going to be a big deal. McCain chose Palin because he was too moderate for the far right. Romney makes McCain look like Dr. Paul, so who is Romney going to pick that won't sink his chances with swing voters the way Palin did with McCain?

[Doug64]

Out of the four most popular with Republicans, the only one I see as a possibility is Rubio, and my gut instinct is that it won't be him. Couldn't tell you why, though.

[Rainbow Crow]

Probably because he says "I'm not running for Vice President" every 10 seconds these days

I expect it to be some Tea Party guy we've either never heard of or barely know. Probably not Allen West as that would be Palin II, but I don't think that we can guess who it will be today.

[Doug64]

No surprise, perceptions of the housing market suck.

So goes the housing market, so goes the nation, or at least that’s the way many feel as the U.S. economy continues to stumble along.

For the first time, fewer than half (49%) of U.S. homeowners believe their home is worth more than when they bought it. That’s down 13 points from 62% last October and down a staggering 31 points from 80% who believed that to be true in June 2008.

No wonder just 52% of Americans believe buying a home is the best investment a family can make. That compares to 73% who felt that way in September 2008.

There are some flickers of hope, but they’re not the kind of numbers to make anyone jump for joy. Eighteen percent (18%) of Americans, for example, say now is a good time for someone in their area to sell their house, the highest finding in two years, although most (63%) still don’t share that sentiment.

Homeowners remain more optimistic about both the short- and long-term housing markets than they were for nearly all of last year. But still just 21% expect the value of their home to go up over the next year. Slightly more (25%) expect their home’s value to go down. But 46% now believe the value of their home will be higher five years from now.

The Federal Reserve Board plans to keep interest rates at record lows at least through late 2014, but 47% of Americans believe the rates will go up over the next year anyway.

Voters have mixed views on the government’s role in solving the current economic problems, but they are certain cutting government spending is a good place to start.

While some prescribe more government programs, 65% of voters recognize that a government powerful enough to do everything you want is also powerful enough to take away everything you have. Voters put a very high value on protecting the rights of the individual.

Individual rights are at issue in the U.S. Supreme Court’s review of President Obama’s national health care law, specifically the requirement that all Americans must have health insurance. Most voters still want to repeal that law.

Massachusetts voters are evenly divided over whether the Supreme Court should overturn the president’s law modeled in part on the health reform plan adopted in their state.

The Rasmussen Consumer and Investor Indexes which measure daily confidence among both groups continue to muddle along. At week’s end, 32% of consumers said economic conditions are getting better, but 50% believe they are getting worse. Among investors, 36% feel the economy is getting better, while 49% say it is getting worse.

Only 27% of voters now think the country is heading in the right direction, the lowest finding since mid-January. This number peaked at 40% in early May of Obama’s first year in office. Sixty-five percent (65%) continue to think the country is heading down the wrong track.

Just over one-third (35%) of voters believe America's best days are in the future. Fifty percent (50%) say America’s best days are in the past, the highest finding since early December.

While most Americans continue to see their country as a fair and decent place, 55% think hate is growing here, and support for tougher prosecution of hate crimes has rebounded from a low reached late last year. Interestingly, despite the national controversy over the shooting of black teenager Trayvon Martin by a Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida, there is very little difference of opinion about the rise of hate among blacks, whites and those of other races. By comparison, in April of last year, blacks believed much more strongly than the others that hate was increasing.

The media has been criticized for its sensationalist coverage of the Martin shooting. NBC-TV even had to fire a producer who edited a tape for broadcast that incorrectly made shooter George Zimmernan sound like he was singling out Martin because he was black. Americans overall give mixed reviews to the media coverage of the Martin case, but like virtually everything about this story, there are wide racial and partisan differences of opinion.

Comedian Bill Cosby said recently that the Martin case raised serious questions about community watch volunteers being allowed to carry guns. "Without a gun,” Cosby said, “I don't see Zimmerman approaching Trayvon by himself." Thirty-nine percent (39%) of American think volunteer community watch officers should be allowed to carry guns. Forty-six percent (46%) disagree.

At week’s end, there was also a new judge assigned to the Martin case after the previous one stepped down over a possible conflict of interest. Americans continue to put much a lot more faith in a jury of their peers than a judge to determine guilt or innocence in a trial.

The week began on an entirely different note as many Americans rushed to file their income taxes by Tax Day on Tuesday. Just before the deadline, 19% nationwide still had not filed their taxes, although that was on pace with last year at this time.

Americans remain unhappy with what they perceive as the lack of fairness in the existing tax code. The so-called "Buffett rule" which would require millionaires to pay a 30% minimum tax rate was defeated in the Senate on Monday, but the president plans to keep pushing the plan on the campaign trail. Most Americans think the wealthy pay less than their fair share in taxes, and nearly half feels the middle class pays more than its share.

What’s in a name? Plenty if it’s the Internal Revenue Service, especially at this time of year. Rasmussen Reports asked Americans which government agency they fear most, the tax-collecting IRS or the occasionally ham-handed Transportation Security Administration which handles airport security. A plurality (43%) said the IRS. Just 20%, in fact, feared the TSA more. Thirty-six percent (36%) were undecided.

Now that it appears to be a two-man race, Mitt Romney and the president continue to run neck-and-neck in our daily Election 2012 matchup. Romney still leads Obama in Missouri, while the president remains the front-runner in Ohio.

Republicans, as they have for nearly three years now, continue to lead Democrats on the Generic Congressional Ballot. Current House Speaker John Boehner is the most-liked congressional leader, but he's even more disliked. However, his predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, who hasn't been in charge of the House for well over a year, remains the least-liked leader by far.

In other surveys last week:

-- Despite his insistence that voter fraud is not a serious problem, Attorney General Eric Holder was embarrassed recently when a video surfaced of someone illegally obtaining a ballot to vote under Holder’s name in his home precinct in Washington, D.C. Most voters consider voter fraud a problem in America today and continue to overwhelmingly support laws requiring people to show photo identification before being allowed to vote.

-- Ohio’s U.S. Senate race continues to be a close one, with incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown now inching slightly ahead of Republican challenger Josh Mandel.

-- Two of her three Republican challengers still lead Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill in Missouri’s 2012 U.S. Senate race.

-- Voters remain confident in the Secret Service’s protection of the president and his family despite the recent scandal involving several agents and prostitutes they hired while on duty in Colombia. Voters have mixed feelings at this point whether the agents involved in the incident should be criminally prosecuted.

-- Roughly half of the nation’s voters remain pro-choice when it comes to abortion, and the number of voters who view the procedure as morally wrong in most situations is below 50% for the first time.

-- The Obama administration has proposed tighter restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions which critics believe will discourage construction of new coal power plants. Several states that rely heavily on the coal industry are challenging the new rules, but a majority of voters nationwide favor them. Most recognize, however, that the new rules will drive up energy costs.

[Doug64]

Despite media fixation on the scream of the week, most Americans remain focused on the essentials, and their views on them are consistent over time, even if the Political Class continues to ignore them.

Take the auto bailouts. They’ve been unpopular since day one, and they’re still unpopular. Admittedly, thanks to the political spin out of Washington, the bailouts are a bit less unpopular because many Americans incorrectly believe the government made money or broke even on them. But when informed of the real price tag, opposition is just as high as ever.

The majority of Americans nationwide still believes General Motors should have gone through the regular bankruptcy process instead of the federal government taking over in exchange for bailout money.

But then President Obama recently suggested that government investment is what has made America great. Voters express a lot more confidence in the free enterprise system. In fact, just 27% agree that government investments made America great. By comparison, 69% think the free enterprise system deserves the credit.

Unfortunately, and this is where the Political Class again enters in, many see crony capitalism at work in the free market system, especially when it comes to the awarding of government contracts. Sixty-six percent (66%) of voters believe most government contracts are given to the company with the most political connections rather than the one that can provide the best service for the best price.

For some, government is the answer to economic inequality in this country, but for most voters, it’s not. Only 22% believe society would become fairer if there was greater government regulation.

Most Americans still believe the price for a gallon of gas could top $5 in the next few months, and a plurality (44%), for example, now thinks government regulation is to blame for the higher prices.

Shareholders recently rejected the compensation package for top executives at Citigroup, the first action of its kind against those who run a major U.S. bank. Americans believe that executives at most major companies are paid too much, but few think the government should regulate CEO compensation. However, there is an exception: Nearly half support continued government regulation of executive compensation at companies that were bailed out. That’s true even if the company paid the money back.

Illegal immigration remains an area where voters would like to see the government do more. For years, most voters have said the nation’s immigration priority should be controlling the borders, just as they’ve repeatedly said the federal government’s current policies encourage illegal immigration instead.

In fact, the Obama administration is challenging Arizona’s crackdown on illegal immigration which is intended in part to make the government do its job. The U.S. Supreme Court this past week held hearings on that challenge. Yet most voters nationwide agree with the Arizona law’s most controversial provision, automatic immigration checks of those stopped by police for traffic violations.

It’s important to note, too, that while most voters want tougher enforcement of immigration laws, 60% continue to believe American society is generally fair and decent.

Every day, millions of Americans get their mail from the U.S. Postal Service, and this is another area where voter sentiments haven’t changed for years. The USPS hopes to cut delivery to five days a week and close hundreds of post offices nationwide as major cost-cutting moves but continues having trouble getting the proposals through Congress. Most voters, however, are fine with both ideas rather than having to provide additional taxpayer money to keep the postal service afloat.

After all, just 23% of voters say increased government spending helps the economy.

Then there’s Medicare. Voters continue to have mixed feelings about the government health insurance program for retired Americans, and most still aren't confident they'll get the benefits they're entitled to. Pessimism, not surprisingly, is highest among younger Americans.

87% of voters believe the media in covering presidential candidates is more interested in creating controversies about them than in reporting where they stand on the issues.

On the election front, with Rick Santorum out of the Republican race and Newt Gingrich soon to follow, likely GOP nominee Mitt Romney now runs even with the president in the key swing states of Florida and Virginia.

Nationally, Romney has been running slightly ahead of the president in most daily matchups in recent weeks.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said publicly she’s not interested in being Romney’s running mate, but she is far and away the most popular in the latest batch of five possible vice presidential candidates Rasmussen Reports asked voters about. Even among just Republican voters, Rice is also viewed a lot more favorably than an earlier set of potential veep candidates including Florida Senator Marco Rubio, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Santorum.

Both Obama and Romney are backing lower interest rates on some student loans, but nearly half of Americans nationwide believe the availability of student loans has driven up tuition costs for everyone. In fact, most Americans believe it’s better for students to work and attend school for a longer period of time rather than graduate in four years with loads of student debt.

Americans still strongly believe good students can get student loans and grants if they need them, but they're less supportive of government-backed loans for low-income students.

More bad news for the president on Friday with new data showing the nation’s economic growth slowed in the first quarter of the year, and Romney is already hammering Obama on the jobs issue. The Rasmussen Consumer and Investor Indexes continued to show little movement in confidence among either group.

Regardless of what they say now, though, only eight percent (8%) of voters think most politicians keep their campaign promises.

In other surveys last week:

-- Twenty-nine percent (29%) of Likely U.S. Voters say the country is heading in the right direction. Sixty-three percent (63%) continue to think the country is heading down the wrong track.

-- Incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson now posts double-digit leads over all three of his Republican challengers in Florida’s 2012 U.S. Senate race. For Congressman Connie Mack, his leading GOP opponent, who has been criticized in recent weeks for running a tepid campaign, the numbers are a sizable setback from early March when he was slightly ahead.

-- The race for Virginia’s open U.S. Senate seat between Republican George Allen and Democrat Tim Kaine is still virtually tied.

-- New York City voters offer high praise to those who serve and protect them. Sixty percent share at least a somewhat favorable opinion of their mayor, Michael Bloomberg, but they like the president even more.

-- Despite the media frenzy surrounding the New York Jets’ acquisition of Tim Tebow, New Yorkers view Giants quarterback Eli Manning more favorably than his cross-town counterparts.

-- Most Americans believe Earth Day, celebrated last Sunday, is at least somewhat important, but they still aren’t convinced it helps raise environmental awareness.

[Doug64]

Okay, so I'm really late this week. I had a busy weekend. (Fun, though, family is almost always good.)

President Obama officially launches his reelection campaign today with appearances in Ohio and Virginia, states critical to his reelection, and recent polling shows both are in play. But overall, it’s been another so-so week for the president, with his well-received plan for winding down the war in Afghanistan offset by another anemic jobs report.

The president continues to holds a slight lead over likely GOP nominee Mitt Romney in combined polling of the key swing states of Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia. During 2008, Obama picked up 52% of the vote in these states to Republican nominee John McCain's 48%. The so-called Core Four states have 75 Electoral College votes, and if the president wins even two of these states, it will be just about impossible for the GOP candidate to win the White House.

Obama still leads Romney in a head-to-head matchup in Nevada, while Romney has crossed the 50% mark against the president in Montana. On the national level, Obama and Romney continue to run neck-and-neck in the daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

Voters see the 2012 presidential candidates as offering a choice between the political left and right. But they view Obama as more committed to the left than Romney is to the right. As for voters themselves, they remain more conservative when it comes to money issues but are as divided as ever on social policy.

Voters are also narrowly divided over how important a presidential candidate’s wife is when it comes to how they will vote this November. Women voters place more importance on the wife than men do.

The president began the week marking the one-year anniversary of the killing of terrorist mastermind and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Most voters agree the United States and its allies are winning the war on terror. But just 11% think the war on terror is over with bin Laden out of the picture. A majority also still thinks another terrorist attack on this country is at least somewhat likely within the next year, although that includes just 16% who believe it’s Very Likely.

The United States invaded Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 attacks, and in a dramatic visit there on Tuesday, the president detailed his plan to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from America’s longest-running war by 2014. Most voters support the plan but worry the United States will not withdraw from Afghanistan quickly enough.

The president ended the week with another bad jobs report. Those findings were predicted earlier in the week by the Rasmussen Employment Index which slipped another three points in April, bringing it down to the level measured at the start of the year. The Employment Index measures workers’ perceptions of the labor market and still finds more confidence than was present throughout 2011.

The Rasmussen Consumer and Investor Indexes, which measure daily confidence among those groups, were up slightly at week’s end. However, the government’s report on job creation often has a significant impact on consumer and investor confidence. The stock markets fell sharply Friday in response but the change in consumer confidence often takes several days to a week.

One-in-four Americans has someone in the family who is graduating from high school or college this spring, and adults nationwide overwhelmingly believe it will be tough for those graduates to find a job in the current economy.

Speaking of the economy, most voters still want to repeal the president’s health care law. Belief that it will drive up health care costs is at its highest level in months.

Voters continue to voice an overwhelmingly negative assessment of Congress’ performance. Just eight percent (8%) of Likely U.S. Voters think the national legislature is doing a good or excellent job. Sixty-four percent (64%) rate Congress' job performance as poor.

Republicans continue to hold a three-point lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot. The number of Democrats and Republicans in the United States dipped slightly in April, while the number of unaffiliated voters is up two points.

It’s been two years since the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, and most voters now believe there will be little, if any, long-term environmental damage from the disaster. Just 10% still believe there will be devastating long-term environmental impact from the oil spill, down from 37% two years ago.

In other surveys last week:

-- Thirty-one percent (31%) of Likely U.S. Voters say the country is heading in the right direction, the highest finding since mid-March.

-- Congress 60 years ago established the National Day of Prayer, celebrated throughout the nation last Thursday, and 68% of American Adults favor federal government recognition of the special day.

-- Walmart’s Mexico subsidiary is under federal investigation for allegedly paying $24 million in bribes to speed approval of permits and licenses for new stores. But 71% of American Adults think bribery is at least somewhat common for companies doing business in other countries. Fifty-seven percent (57%) say bribery is common for companies doing business in this country.

-- Cabinet members come and go, but Secretary of State Hillary Clinton remains the most popular member of Obama's A-team.

-- Incumbent Republican Senator Dean Heller now leads his likeliest Democratic challenger Congresswoman Shelley Berkley 51% to 40% in the U.S. Senate race in Nevada.

-- Republican Congressman Denny Rehberg holds his largest lead yet over Democratic incumbent Jon Tester – 53% to 43% - in Montana’s U.S. Senate race.

-- Despite some recent legislative controversies, 58% of voters in Virginia still like the job Republican Governor Bob McDonnell is doing.

-- Americans continue to regain some of the confidence they had in the Internet as a force for good, but many are still dubious about its impact on culture, journalism and politics.

-- Despite the continuing shift from print to online media over the past several years, most Americans still like to read a print newspaper rather than one online. But Americans continue to see both newspapers and Internet news sources as reliable and aren't worried about the availability of news reporting if newspapers go out of business.

-- For decades, Americans have been asking each other Pepsi or Coke. Rasmussen Reports conducted their own version of the so-called “Pepsi Challenge”, and we found Coca-Cola is the clear favorite among American Adults.

[Rainbow Crow]

I will be really interested to see Rasmussen's new polls relating to the gay marriage issue and how it effects the candidate's popularity, as well as Bullygate.

[Doug64]

I will be really interested to see Rasmussen's new polls relating to the gay marriage issue and how it effects the candidate's popularity, as well as Bullygate.

No such polls this week, though it's possible they might be in next week's batch. I believe Rasmussen polls usually run for a few days, and the whole issue came out rather late in the week so there simply might not have been time yet to report them. If anything pops up in the daily emails I'll report it.

President Obama ended the week with media praise loud in his ears over his endorsement of gay marriage, while his Republican challenger Mitt Romney crossed the 50% threshold against the president for the first time in Rasmussen Reports’ daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

It’s a long way to Election Day, but Romney’s lead was a reminder that this contest is still all about the economy. Just 37% of Likely Voters nationwide give the president good or excellent marks for his handling of economic issues, down from a two-year high of 42% in March. Forty-eight percent (48%) say he’s doing a poor job in this area.

Confidence that the U.S. economy will be stronger five years from now has fallen to its lowest level in three years of regular tracking, while confidence that it will get better in a year's time remains largely unchanged.

If the next couple of government jobs reports are as anemic as the one just over a week ago, the president’s reelection bid could be in real trouble.

Still, the Rasmussen Consumer and Investor Indexes, while down slightly, suggest that confidence in both groups was not significantly shaken by the jobs report. Americans are more positive that the stock market will fully recover from the 2008 meltdown within the next three years.

Working Americans are also more optimistic than they’ve been in years about their future employment opportunities, with 48% who think their next job will be better than their current one. However, it’s worth noting that there's wide gap between younger workers and older ones. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of those 40 and under expect their next job to be better, compared to just 29% of those ages 40 to 64.

With the unemployment rate continuing to hover just above 8%, roughly half of Americans still believe it’s possible for anyone with a desire to work to find a job. But they aren’t so sure just anyone can work hard and get rich.

Only 11% of American workers expect to be earning less money a year from now, the lowest level of pessimism in regular tracking since November 2009. Forty-two percent (42%) predict they'll be earning more money a year from today, down just a point from March’s all-time high.

Looking across the Atlantic, a sizable number of Americans remain concerned that the financially struggling European economies will significantly hurt economic conditions here at home. But they overwhelmingly reject the idea that the United States should help bailout France, Greece and some of the others.

Despite their ongoing economic struggles, France and Greece aren’t too popular with a lot of Americans anyway.

New leaders in those countries, elected last weekend, have signaled that austerity efforts there may be coming to an end, but as far as Americans are concerned, that’s a move in the wrong direction. Sixty-one percent (61%) believe cuts in government spending would do more to improve the economic and financial situation in France and Greece than increases in that spending. Just 20% think more government spending is the better way to go.

Speaking of spending, two-out-of-three voters here are fed up with the current policies of their own government. A majority feels neither Republicans nor Democrats know what is best for the people.

More voters than ever (68%) would vote to replace the entire Congress rather than keep it. After all, just 32% are at least somewhat confident their representatives in Congress are truly representing their best interests. Helping to drive this criticism is the belief by 61% of voters that no matter how bad things get, Congress can always find a way to make it worse.

Republican voters chose to replace one member of Congress this past week, longtime Indiana Senator Richard Lugar who was a favorite in Washington circles but viewed as out of touch back home. His defeat in a primary election was a reminder to the Political Class of how unhappy Mainstream voters are with its performance.

In Wisconsin, GOP Governor Scott Walker’s effort to take on the state’s powerful public employee unions as a budget-cutting move has led to a June 5 recall election. Walker holds a five-point lead over his Democratic challenger Tom Barrett – 50% to 45% - in the recall race. Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee, won the Democratic nomination in a Tuesday primary. That makes the recall election a rematch of the 2010 race which Walker won with 52% of the vote.

Former Governor Tommy Thompson remains the leader in Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate race, while two other Republican contenders continue to struggle against Democratic hopeful Tammy Baldwin. The president still leads Romney in a head-to-head matchup in Wisconsin but by a much narrower 49% to 45% margin.

Romney has called Massachusetts home and even served as governor there, but he now trails Obama by the widest margin yet – 56% to 35% - in an Election 2012 matchup in the Bay State. Despite the ongoing controversy over Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren’s past claims of Native American heritage in professional circles, she and Republican incumbent Scott Brown remain tied in Massachusetts’ U.S. Senate race with 45% of the vote each.

Most voters nationwide continue to believe that politics in the nation’s capital will grow more partisan during the next year, but the number who feels that way ties the lowest measured in over a year. Voters also view congressional Republicans as acting more bipartisan than they have in years.

Republicans hold a three-point lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot for the third week in a row.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul appears more interested in influencing the direction of the Republican Party than in running as an independent presidential candidate. But perhaps Democrats should be careful what they wish for: Even if Romney’s remaining GOP challenger should run as a third party candidate, new Rasmussen Reports surveying finds Romney the winner of a three-way race.

It’s close to a 50-50 nation when voters are asked if the views of Obama and Romney are mainstream or extreme. Fifty percent (50%) describe the president’s views as mainstream, while 51% say the same of Romney’s views. Forty percent (40%) think it’s more accurate to describe Obama’s views as extreme, while 35% describe Romney’s views that way.

With pressure growing for withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, America’s longest-running war, voters continue to believe strongly in more limited use of the U.S. military overseas. Sixty-nine percent (69%) think the United States should not commit forces overseas unless it is vital to U.S. national security. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that conservatives are more hawkish than liberals, conservative voters are more likely than liberal voters to favor a policy limiting military interventions.

In other surveys last week:

-- For the second week in a row, 31% of Likely U.S. Voters say the country is heading in the right direction. Sixty-three percent (63%) continue to think the country is heading down the wrong track.

-- Voters continue to believe overwhelmingly that the federal government should restore the Social Security trust fund as it was originally intended and leave it alone.

-- While Americans are growing more optimistic about the war on terror against radical Islamists, voters are evenly divided as to whether most Muslims around the globe view our nation as an enemy.

-- Most Americans continue to believe that judges are more hostile to religion than the Founding Fathers intended, but they’re less suspicious of the courts than they were two years ago.

-- Numerous cities and states are looking for revenue these days short of raising property or income taxes, and “sin taxes” are a popular candidate, often in the name of better public health. But just 18% of Americans support sin taxes on soda and junk food.

-- Nevada this week became the first state to authorize the testing of driverless cars on its roads, streets and highways, but, perhaps not surprisingly, a sizable number of Americans question the safety of this new technology. Very few anticipate owning such a car in the next 10 years.

[Doug64]

So no mention again in Rasmussen polls on Obama's stance on SSM or Romney's high school shenanigans, but apparently Rasmussen thinks they're irrelevancies that won't decide the election either way. He's keeping his focus on what voters think of the economy.

Unlike four years ago, Barack Obama now has a record to run on – and run against. The economy, the health care law, bailouts, stimulus spending, the changes from the so-called Arab Spring and much more will be hot topics of discussion in the months ahead.

Right now, Republican challenger Mitt Romney and the president are closely matched in the daily Presidential Tracking Poll, but improving economic perceptions would cheer the Obama camp. “Forget same-sex marriage and the host of other buzz issues,” Scott Rasmussen argues in his latest syndicated column. “If the economy improves, Obama will be reelected. If it gets worse, he will lose.”

Democrats regard North Carolina as so important to the president’s reelection that they are holding their national convention there this summer. However, Romney has moved out to an eight-point lead over Obama in the Tar Heel State. More predictably, Romney still posts a double-digit lead over the president in GOP-friendly Nebraska.

Voters now trust Romney more than the president on the economy and all five major issues regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports. Yet while voters trust Romney’s economic judgment more, they continue to have a lot more confidence in themselves than in either presidential contender when it comes to the economic issues facing the nation.

After all, just 28% now think the country is heading in the right direction. Sixty-five percent (65%) continue to believe the country is heading down the wrong track.

The government’s a big reason for the problems as far as many are concerned. Americans remain overwhelmingly concerned about inflation, for example, and say they are paying more for groceries than they were a year ago. So it’s no surprise that they continue to lack confidence in the Federal Reserve Board’s ability to keep inflation down.

Meanwhile, the majority of voters still supports repeal of the president’s national health care law, and belief that repeal would be good for the economy has edged up to its highest level since late 2010.

For years, most have believed that reduced government spending in general is good for the economy. Now, 57% of voters favor a law that would limit government spending so it could grow only enough to cover population growth and inflation. Spending growth has exceeded that level every year but one since 1965.

At the same time, voters are looking more favorably on the bailouts of Big Three automakers General Motors and Chrysler. Forty-seven percent (47%) believe the auto industry bailouts were good for America, the highest level measured since they were approved in 2008 and 2009. Nearly as many (43%), however, still see the auto bailouts as bad for the country. Most voters continue to have a sour view of the bailouts of the U.S. financial sector.

Despite those bailouts, only 50% of Americans now are at least somewhat confident in the stability of the U.S. banking system. Forty-seven percent (47%) are not. While confidence is at its highest level in over a year, it’s important to note that in July 2008 just before the Wall Street meltdown, 68% were confident in the banking system, and only 28% were not.

Wall Street banks are once again drawing national criticism due to JPMorgan Chase’s $2 billion loss from high-risk trades. Yet while Americans believe the federal government is doing a poor job keeping an eye on the banking industry, most still aren’t convinced more regulations are needed.

No more bailouts either: Americans feel more strongly than ever that no bank is “too big to fail.” Seventy-one percent (71%) say the government should let troubled banks, even ones as big as JPMorgan Chase, go out of business rather than find a way to keep them going. That’s up 15 points from 56% in July 2010. Of course, there’s a wide difference of opinion between the Political Class which thinks the bailouts were great and Mainstream voters who disagree.

As for the bailout money handed out already, most Americans think Wall Street benefited more than the average taxpayer. More Americans than ever (71%) also feel the government has not done enough to hunt down potential criminal activity on Wall Street.

On the personal finances front, more Americans than ever (40%) now say they're less in debt than they were this time last year.

The housing market continues to struggle. Homeowner sentiments about the future of their homes' values remained fairly steady this month at pretty dismal levels. Just 20% believe their home will go up in value this year while 24% expect a decline. Longer term, only 47% believe their home will increase in value over the next five years.

Confidence as measured by the Rasmussen Consumer and Investor Indexes was up at week’s end. While 37% of consumers believe the economy is getting better these days, 46% still think it is getting worse. Among investors, 39% believe the economy is getting better, but 44% disagree and say it is getting worse.

Looking overseas, most voters don’t expect the new governments emerging from the Arab Spring to become peaceful and democratic any time soon. Sixty-three percent (63%) believe there is a conflict in the world today between Western civilization and Islamic nations, but most also think the United States should leave the Islamic world alone.

Republicans hold a seven-point lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot for the week ending Sunday, May 12. The GOP has led on the ballot every week but one since June 2009.

In one of this year’s marquee contests, State Senator Deb Fischer holds an 18-point lead over Democrat Bob Kerrey – 56% to 38% - in the first Rasmussen Reports survey of the Nebraska U.S. Senate race since her upset win in this week’s state Republican primary.

In other surveys last week:

-- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker John Boehner are the leaders of their respective legislative chambers, but neither rates very high in the estimation of voters.

-- The American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a group of Muslim Americans is challenging the constitutionality of one of the government’s chief anti-terrorism tools, the no-fly list at airports. Voters strongly support use of a no-fly list, but most also recognize that it may violate the rights of some Americans.

-- Fifty-six percent (56%) of voters nationwide favor legalizing and regulating marijuana similar to the way alcohol and tobacco cigarettes are currently regulated. Most also don’t believe it should be a crime for people to smoke marijuana in the privacy of their own homes. Most voters favor the legalization of marijuana if it’s sold only by pharmacies but think such a move is unlikely to reduce use of the drug by people under 18.

-- Support for building more nuclear plants in the United States is still below where it was prior to last year's nuclear plant disaster in Japan. But voters are less enthusiastic about eliminating existing plants in this country.

-- In the first Rasmussen Reports survey since their primary wins last week, Republican Pat McCrory reaches the 50% level of support against Lieutenant Governor Walter Dalton in North Carolina’s 2012 gubernatorial contest.

-- Positive ratings for the U.S. Supreme Court are down slightly from last month when they jumped following the highly publicized hearings on the constitutionality of the national health care law. However, voters still view the court more positively than they did for most of 2011.

-- Most Americans planned to honor their mothers last Sunday with an in-person visit, but only one-in-four of all adults (27%) consider Mother’s Day one of the country’s most important holidays.

[Rainbow Crow]

I think it's fairly obvious that Rasmussen wants those things to be irrelevancies, but it won't be that simple. Rasmussen has Obama at -1 right now, but on average he's at +1.3, which is a move up and suggests that the latest events have helped Obama's image.