[Doug64]

"The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades."

When you think about our nation in the context of history, are America’s Best Days in the future or in the past?

• In the future 47%
• In the past 33%
• Not sure 20%

Republicans

• In the future 51%
• In the past 29%
• Not sure 20%

Independents

• In the future 50%
• In the past 29%
• Not sure 21%

Democrats

• In the future 42%
• In the past 39%
• Not sure 19%

This hasn't been this high since September of 2012. Though in 2012 who was looking forward to the future was a little different:

Republicans

• Future 36%
• Past 49%
• Not sure 15%

Independents

• Future 39%
• Past 39%
• Not sure 22%

Democrats

• Future 63%
• Past 23%
• Not sure 14%

[Doug64]

A little late this week, I hope everyone had as fun (and safe) a Christmas as I did! Here's this week's round-up of polls. Anyone that wants to check out any possible links over the next week can go to the link to the left. (Anyone wanting more details on a particular poll, just ask):

Let’s put politics on pause to reflect at least briefly on the peaceful message of Christmas.

Americans overwhelmingly continue to celebrate Christmas, and it remains the nation's top holiday. It’s important to note, however, that Christmas, as most Americans remind us, is more about Jesus Christ than Santa Claus.

Americans also still strongly believe Christmas should be honored in public schools and that religious symbols like Christmas nativity scenes should have a place on public land. More than half of Americans believe there’s not enough religion in the public schools system today.

Along with the growing level of economic confidence in the country since Donald Trump’s election, we’ve found more enthusiasm for Christmas this year. Forty-six percent (46%) of Americans have friends or relatives traveling to their home to visit this holiday season. That's the highest finding in regular surveying since 2009.

Seventy-three percent (73%) say they will decorate their home this year, also a new high.

But some things haven’t changed: Men are waiting to the last minute to do their holiday shopping, but they’re also planning to spend more than women compared to a year ago.

Police in Milan, Italy report the killing of the Islamic terrorist who mowed down unsuspecting Christmas revelers in Berlin earlier this week. While Europe reacts to the latest terrorist outrage, Americans aren’t overly concerned about terror on these shores this holiday season.

The radical Islamic State group (ISIS) has taken credit for the Berlin attack and threatens to attack U.S. churches. Eighty-eight percent (88%) of U.S. voters think ISIS is a serious threat to this country, with 68% who see it as a Very Serious one. President-elect Trump says ISIS – and radical Islamic terrorism – are his top national security concerns.

As recently as September, fewer than half of Americans were confident that the government can stop future domestic terrorist attacks. But voters also tended to believe Trump would do a better job than his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton protecting them from terrorists.

Trump says the Berlin attack reaffirms the need for his plan to temporarily restrict immigration from countries with a history of terrorism. Most voters favor that plan.

But generally speaking, when it comes to legal immigration, voters here still oppose giving special preference to some over others.

Most voters continue to favor legal immigration but don’t support increasing the number allowed into the country even if illegal immigration is finally gotten under control.

Voters strongly believe in the dreams of newcomers to America but remain more skeptical about whether most new immigrants share those dreams.

Voters still have a lot to learn about Rex Tillerson, the high-powered CEO that Trump has nominated to be secretary of State, but they worry that his ties to Russia will be bad for the United States.

Thirty-three percent (33%) of voters now think America is headed in the right direction. After being in the mid- to upper 20s for much of this year, the finding has now been at 30% or higher every week since mid-October.

Sixty-one percent (61%) believe American society is fair and decent, the highest level of confidence in three-and-a-half years.

Americans are more optimistic about the future than they have been in over four years.

In other surveys last week:

-- Americans think “safe spaces” and other tools used by an increasing number of colleges and universities to reduce student stress will end up hurting graduates when they enter the job market.

-- Voters here are still reluctant to get more involved in Syria despite the recent carnage in Aleppo.

-- In the closing weeks of his presidency, Barack Obama continues to earn some of the highest job approval ratings of his entire time in the White House.

-- The North Carolina legislature this week opted not to repeal legislation that requires transgender people to use the bathroom of their biological sex. Fifty-five percent (55%) of Americans with school-age children oppose allowing transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of the opposite sex.

[quetzalcoatl]

And for the polling, I agree, both on the problem of reaching people and people lying to pollsters. Mind, the resulting uncertainty is in the range of a few points so the policy/cultural questions are still going to be at least in the ballpark.

From what I understand, lying is apparently not a significant factor. What is important are the techniques for weighing votes based on who is likely to vote. This is still an unsolved problem. Statistical techniques that work well during long secular trends will tend to fail at tipping points.

[Doug64]

So with the Obama administration's decision to declare all Israeli settlements on the wrong side of the 1967 lines that were simple cease-fire military borders without any acknowledgment of national boundaries (as the Arab nations put in writing in the cease-fire agreements) to somehow be violations of international law, what do US Likely Voters think of our relationship with Israel?

How important is America’s relationship with Israel to U.S. national security?

• Very important 51%
• Somewhat important 28%
• Not very important 11%
• Not at all important 3%
• Not sure 7%

Republicans

• Very important 63%
• Somewhat important 22%
• Not very important 8%
• Not at all important 2%
• Not sure 5%

Independents

• Very important 47%
• Somewhat important 27%
• Not very important 15%
• Not at all important 5%
• Not sure 6%

Democrats

• Very important 44%
• Somewhat important 33%
• Not very important 11%
• Not at all important 2%
• Not sure 10%

Does U.S. support for Israel help or hurt the United States with other nations? Or does it have no impact?

• Help 33%
• Hurt 27%
• It has no impact 21%
• Not sure 19%

Republicans

• Help 44%
• Hurt 20%
• It has no impact 25%
• Not sure 11%

Independents

• Help 23%
• Hurt 33%
• It has no impact 19%
• Not sure 26%

Democrats

• Help 30%
• Hurt 29%
• It has no impact 20%
• Not sure 20%

In this case, I have to disagree with the majority/plurality -- Israel is not very important to US national security, and US support of Israel hurts the US with other nations. It's still the right thing to do.

[Doug64]

And the other side of the coin, what do US Likely Voters think of the UN?

Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable impression of the United Nations?

• Very favorable 18%
• Somewhat favorable 37%
• Somewhat unfavorable 20%
• Very unfavorable 17%
• Not sure 8%

Republicans

• Very favorable 9%
• Somewhat favorable 30%
• Somewhat unfavorable 26%
• Very unfavorable 29%
• Not sure 5%

Independents

• Very favorable 10%
• Somewhat favorable 34%
• Somewhat unfavorable 28%
• Very unfavorable 18%
• Not sure 10%

Democrats

• Very favorable 32%
• Somewhat favorable 46%
• Somewhat unfavorable 7%
• Very unfavorable 6%
• Not sure 9%

Which is a more positive force for good in the world today, the United States or the United Nations?

• United States 66%
• United Nations 17%
• Not sure 17%

Republicans

• United States 75%
• United Nations 16%
• Not sure 9%

Independents

• United States 63%
• United Nations 15%
• Not sure 21%

Democrats

• United States 60%
• United Nations 20%
• Not sure 19%

[Doug64]

And here's the last polls of 2016! Anyone that wants to check out any possible links over the next week can go to the link to the left. (Anyone wanting more details on a particular poll, just ask):

Trick or treat. That may be the holiday slogan many have in mind as a new year and the Trump presidency beckons.

Americans appear to be a bit more excited about the new year. Some already have big plans for 2017.

Following Donald Trump's election as president, Americans are more optimistic about the future than they have been in over four years. They’re much more upbeat about their personal financial future than they were a year ago, too.

Thirty-three percent (33%) of voters now think the country is heading in the right direction, a finding that has been running in the mid-to high 20s for most of this year.

Just over half (51%) of voters now view Trump favorably, his high to date.

Rasmussen Reports’ first survey of Trump's post-election performance - taken two weeks ago - finds that 47% approve of the job he is doing, while just as many (47%) disapprove. Fifty-five percent (55%) approve of the job President Obama is doing at the end of this week.

The president in an interview released this week repeated his boast that he could have won a third term if the law had allowed him to run. When he first made that claim last year, just 30% of voters said they would vote for Obama if he ran again.

But 70% of voters who supported Hillary Clinton in the recent election said they would have voted for Obama instead if that had been a legal option.

In his final weeks in office, Obama has turned his guns on Israel and has now ratcheted up attacks on Russia over claims that Russian government-sanctioned hackers made embarrassing internal Democratic Party e-mails available to the media.

Seventy-nine percent (79%) consider America’s relationship with Israel important to U.S. national security, but voters think that relationship has deteriorated under Obama. They expect it to get better under Trump.

Tensions between the United States and Israel have risen over a recent UN Security Council resolution that condemns Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Most voters continue to have a positive opinion of the United Nations but also still believe the United States is a more positive force for good in the world today than the UN is.

The United States provides nearly one-quarter of the UN’s total funding, not counting peacekeeping expenses, and some critics of the anti-Israel resolution are calling for cuts in the U.S. share. Just 29% of voters believe the United States should continue to give more money to the UN than any other country in the world.

Forty-one percent (41%) think U.S. involvement in Middle Eastern politics is bad for the United States. Thirty-six percent (36%) disagree and say it's good for America.

Just 28% of voters favor the U.S. government continuing so-called nation-building, a term that in recent years has been used to describe stepped-up efforts to establish democracies in the Middle East by use of the U.S. military and taxpayer dollars.

Similarly, only 28% think the United States should do more to encourage the growth of democracy in the Islamic world.

In other surveys last week:

-- Actress-writer Carrie Fisher, best known for portraying Princess Leia in the "Star Wars" films, passed away this week, capping a year marked by a seemingly high number of major celebrity deaths. Most Americans remember Fisher fondly.

-- Americans are on the road this holiday season. With an improving economy and economic confidence up, 24% tell us they plan to travel for the holidays, tying an all-time high in Rasmussen Reports surveying.

-- Americans say they didn’t use the U.S. Postal Service quite as much this holiday season, but they give the federal agency slightly higher marks for its job performance than they have in the past.

[Doug64]

Here's this week's round-up of polls. Anyone that wants to check out any possible links over the next week can go to the link to the left. (Anyone wanting more details on a particular poll, just ask):

President Obama’s flurry of last-minute domestic decisions and his foreign policy jabs at Israel and Russia have some complaining that he’s deliberately creating problems for his successor.

Obama supporters think it’s great that the president is making major policy decisions in his final days in office even though many are opposed by incoming President Donald Trump. Other voters say Obama should defer to the next president.

After all, even most Democrats want Trump to succeed as president, although voters are far less confident that things will play out that way.

Voters aren’t sure if the new Congress will be an improvement on the last one, but most want Congress to cooperate with President Trump as much as possible.

More than half of all voters now feel comfortable with the prospect of one party controlling both the Executive and Legislative branches of government.

Fifty-four percent (54%) think major legislation to improve the country is likely to be passed during Trump’s first 100 days in office.

Yet while Republicans voters are strongly confident that Trump and the GOP Congress can work together to do what’s best for the American people, most Democrats and unaffiliated voters don’t share that confidence.

The media isn’t likely to be much help. Voters think the media is still showing the same bias against Trump that it displayed during the presidential campaign.

The U.S. intelligence community and senators from both parties now insist that Russian hackers did try to influence the election. Among voters who think outside factors caused Hillary Clinton to lose in November, 21% blame Russian interference.

These conclusions are sure to impact the upcoming Senate confirmation hearings on Rex Tillerson, Trump’s choice for secretary of State. Only 19% of voters consider Tillerson’s business ties to Russia and to Russian leader Vladimir Putin good for America.

With Republicans set to control both Congress and the White House, more voters than ever are expecting significant cuts in government spending. A majority of voters have said for years that spending cuts help the economy.

The big consumer story this month is once again not about spending but about confidence in the economy and personal finances. The findings in both areas in our latest Consumer Spending Update are at or above the highest levels we've seen since this survey began in 2014.

Americans were less than thrilled about the way 2016 turned out but are feeling good about the year ahead.

For the third week in a row, 33% of voters think the country is headed in the right direction. That’s up from the mid- to high 20s most weeks last year.

Obama in his final days in office continues to earn better daily job approval ratings than he has gotten in years. The president earned a monthly job approval of 56% in his final full month in office, tying his highest overall approval in four years.

Still, following Trump's election, voters are more optimistic about the future than they have been in over four years.

In other surveys last week:

-- Most voters turn to cable news for political coverage, and Fox News remains the top channel for these viewers.

-- A surprising number of Americans know someone who has been murdered.

-- France recently instituted a so-called "right to disconnect" law that gives those working for companies with 50 or more employees the right to "unplug" from work-related communications during their time off. Most Americans now say they work 40 hours or more a week and want their off-duty hours to be free of anything work-related.

-- Was 2016 the year of the Grim Reaper as far as celebrities are concerned? Many seem to think so.

[Doug64]

Obamacare seems to be one of the first items on the agenda for the new administration/Congress, so here's what US Likely Voters think of the issue.

Given the problems with the new health care law, should Congress and the president go through the law piece by piece to improve it, repeal the entire law and start over again or leave the law as it is?

• Go through the law piece by piece to improve it 56%
• Repeal the entire law and start over again 30%
• Leave the law as is 12%
• Not sure 2%

Republicans

• Go through the law piece by piece to improve it 49%
• Repeal the entire law and start over again 46%
• Leave the law as is 3%
• Not sure 2%

Independents

• Go through the law piece by piece to improve it 59%
• Repeal the entire law and start over again 29%
• Leave the law as is 8%
• Not sure 4%

Democrats

• Go through the law piece by piece to improve it 60%
• Repeal the entire law and start over again 16%
• Leave the law as is 22%
• Not sure 2%

Mind, repeal and replace the entire law in one swoop isn't covered, and that seems to be the approach Republicans may well take.

[Doug64]

Here's this week's round-up of polls. Anyone that wants to check out any possible links over the next week can go to the link to the left. (Anyone wanting more details on a particular poll, just ask):

Americans got a taste of the continuing combative relationship between Donald Trump and the media this past week, a radical departure from the love affair most reporters have had with outgoing President Barack Obama.

Voters remain critical of the news coverage of Trump and think the media is still showing the same bias against him that it displayed during the presidential campaign.

More than half of voters feel comfortable with the prospect of one party controlling both the Executive and Legislative branches of government, as Republicans will do when Trump enters the White House next Friday.

The president-elect reiterated at the press conference on Wednesday his intention to repeal Obamacare and build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to stop illegal immigration. He also said he would nominate someone to the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court within his first two weeks. Voters say repealing and replacing the health care law and filling the Supreme Court vacancy are good places to start.

Trump urged the Republican-led Congress to rapidly repeal Obamacare and pass a suitable replacement "very quickly or simultaneously." Few voters support the health care law as is, but most strongly agree with Trump that Congress needs to replace it right away.

More voters than ever are calling for fixing Obamacare piece by piece, though, rather than repealing it entirely.

Republican support for building a border wall right away remains strong, but other voters are growing less enthusiastic.

Trump was asked at the press conference about allegations that Russian hacking led to the disclosure of embarrassing internal Democratic Party emails during the campaign season. He acknowledged that the allegations may be true but still said he hopes to improve relations with the Russians, in part because he sees them as potential allies against the radical Islamic State group (ISIS). A sizable number of voters continue to view Russia as an enemy of the United States, but Republicans are more confident than others that Trump will succeed in improving those relations.

As the debate over Russian hacking efforts during the presidential campaign continues, voters suspect U.S. intelligence agencies have their own political agenda.

Most voters share the views of the president and the party coming to power, but Republicans identify a lot more with Trump than with the GOP Congress.

Republican senators were some of the toughest questioners of Trump’s Cabinet nominees during confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill this past week. Voters are closely divided over whether the U.S. Senate should rubber stamp a president’s Cabinet nominees or pick and choose the ones it likes best.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, one of Trump’s unsuccessful Republican opponents in the presidential race, grilled Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson over his ties to Russia during his confirmation hearing. Forty-six percent (46%) of voters consider the former ExxonMobil CEO’s business ties to Russia and to Russian leader Vladimir Putin bad for America, but Democrats are a lot more worried about those ties than other voters are.

Retired Marine General James Mattis, Trump’s nominee for secretary of Defense, said during his Senate confirmation hearing that the United States and its NATO partners must strengthen that alliance to counter Russia’s moves. But voters here tend to agree with Trump that we should pull U.S. troops out of Europe if our NATO allies don’t pick up their fair share of the costs.

Most voters think the U.S. government gives China a pass for its bad behavior because of its economic clout, but many think the U.S.-China relationship is about to change for the worse.

Voters aren’t very optimistic about the future of U.S. relations with either Russia or China but tend to see Russia as a more serious concern for the United States.

Even as Congress and the next president prepare to repeal his biggest legislative achievement, Obama gave a tearful farewell speech in Chicago yesterday, listing some of his administration’s accomplishments and warning his successor about pitfalls in the future. Obama’s daily job approval ratings remain at levels not seen since the opening months of his presidency.

Still, only 31% of voters think the country is headed in the right direction.

The Justice Department inspector general’s office announced Thursday that it is taking a look at how the department and the FBI handled the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server during her time as secretary of State. Clinton says the FBI’s announcement that it was reopening the criminal investigation less than two week before the election cost her the White House, but 60% of voters agree with the FBI’s timing.

Among the 39% of voters who blame outside factors for Clinton’s loss, 40% say the FBI announcement was the biggest culprit.

In other surveys last week:

-- Following Meryl Streep's Golden Globes speech criticizing Trump, most Americans see Hollywood celebrities as politically to the left of them and dismiss the stars as poor role models.

-- Americans overall are pretty healthy, but they complain that they are paying more and more to stay that way.

-- As a result, many continue to say they are postponing medical checkups and procedures and not filling prescriptions because they can’t afford them.

[Doug64]

Here's this week's round-up of polls. Anyone that wants to check out any possible links over the next week can go to the link to the left. (Anyone wanting more details on a particular poll, just ask):

Out with the old, in with the new.

Donald J. Trump was sworn in yesterday as the 45th president of the United States. The first Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Trump shows that 56% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of his job performance. Regular updates are posted Monday through Friday at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.

Eighty-three percent (83%) think Trump is likely to reverse or abolish most of outgoing President Barack Obama’s accomplishments, with 47% who say that’s Very Likely.

Will Trump’s vision of America succeed where Obama’s did not?

Voter attitudes about Trump have changed little since Thanksgiving, with just over half of voters continuing to give him favorable marks.

Fifty-six percent (56%) believe Trump is likely to put what’s good for his businesses ahead of what’s good for the country, including 38% who say it’s Very Likely.

Trump announced recently that he is turning his business empire over to his two sons, but 39% of voters think he should be required to sell all his businesses to avoid any possibility of conflict of interest.

Most voters planned to tune in to at least some of Trump’s inauguration, although nearly half of Democrats said they’d be tuning it out.

Trump was sworn in as president on Abraham Lincoln’s Bible, the same one used by Obama for both of his inaugurations. Voters strongly support the longstanding tradition of presidents swearing in on the Bible.

But 34% think the time between Election Day and Inauguration Day should be shorter.

Eighty-three percent (83%) of Democrats blame Trump for his bad relationship with the media, but 63% of Republicans think the media is more to blame.

Voters tend to disapprove of Trump's frequent use of Twitter to bypass the traditional media but are evenly divided over whether future presidents will follow in his technological footsteps.

Half (50%) of all voters believe America is a more divided nation after eight years with Obama in the White House. Just 22% think the United States is a less divided country now.

Confidence that the War on Terror is going America’s way has jumped to its highest level in over four years, but most voters don’t think this country is a safer place than it was eight years ago.

Voters tend to think Obamacare will be the defining marker of Obama’s presidency, with his handling of social and racial issues, the Iran nuclear deal and his policies on illegal immigration and refugees all tied for a distant second.

While many of his policies were unpopular with most voters, Obama himself has grown more and more popular as his presidency comes to a close.

In other surveys last week:

-- Thirty-five percent (35%) of voters now believe the United States is headed in the right direction. That ties the high for all of last year first reached in early December.

-- Americans are warming to the idea of police and commercial drone use.

-- But then more Americans than ever say their local police officers are doing a good job.

[Drlee]

Will Trump’s vision of America succeed where Obama’s did not?

Exactly where did President Obama fail?

This is a loaded question. No?

[Doug64]

Exactly where did President Obama fail?

This is a loaded question. No?

The previous paragraph:

Eighty-three percent (83%) think Trump is likely to reverse or abolish most of outgoing President Barack Obama’s accomplishments, with 47% who say that’s Very Likely.

[Drlee]

Eighty-three percent (83%) think Trump is likely to reverse or abolish most of outgoing President Barack Obama’s accomplishments, with 47% who say that’s Very Likely.

That does not answer my question. Nor is it a good question in and of itself. It does not tell us anything about President Obama or President Trump.

[Doug64]

That does not answer my question. Nor is it a good question in and of itself. It does not tell us anything about President Obama or President Trump.

I would say that 83% expecting Obama's accomplishments to be reversed or abolished to be a classic case of 83% expecting failure. And whether Trump will do any better than Obama is a fair question.

[Drlee]

I would say that 83% expecting Obama's accomplishments to be reversed or abolished to be a classic case of 83% expecting failure.

Nonsense. I expect his programs to be reversed and I support them. It could be that 82% think Trump will screw up good stuff and 1% think he ought to. The poll tells us nothing actionable.

This is a typical Rasmussen poll. It is mostly thinly disguised propaganda.

[Doug64]

This is a typical Rasmussen poll. It is mostly thinly disguised propaganda.

Hey, I get it, you don't want to know the answers to the questions Rasmussen asks.

[Zagadka]

The key, really, is to not trust just one poll, like not following just one news source. The more data, the better, even if all it does is explain to you the thought process of people you disagree with.

[Doug64]

Here's this week's round-up of polls. Anyone that wants to check out any possible links over the next week can go to the link to the left. (Anyone wanting more details on a particular poll, just ask):

President Trump moved at warp speed through his first full week in office, and voters like what they’re seeing.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll has found the new president’s job approval hitting the mid- to upper 50s.

Voters overwhelmingly followed Trump’s Inauguration Day, but Republicans understandably were a lot happier with it than others were.

Some media commentators were highly critical of Trump’s use of the phrase “America First” in his inaugural address to describe his trade and foreign policy agenda, but most voters feel the new commander in chief is on the right track.

In the same speech, the president charged the Washington, D.C. establishment with long profiting at the expense of the average American, and voters strongly agree.

With that in mind, voters by a two-to-one margin favor Trump’s plan to cut spending up to 10% and cut staffing up to 20% in some federal government agencies. One area they don’t want him to touch, however, is the taxpayer subsidies for PBS and NPR.

Trump’s powerful anti-establishment speech was reminiscent of his not-so-distant overflowing, raucous campaign rallies.

Most voters welcome the president’s decision this week to scrap the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) mega-trade deal and agree that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada needs to be reworked.

Trump opposes these trade deals which lower tariffs on certain nations, saying they kill American jobs because U.S. goods cannot compete against those made overseas by workers making significantly less pay. Supporters of free trade argue that it makes products cheaper for U.S. consumers. By a 73% to 16% margin, though, Americans believe it is more important to keep manufacturing jobs in the United States than it is to keep prices low for U.S. consumers.

Americans strongly believe in buying things made in the U.S.A., and most don't think the government protects domestic businesses enough.

Republicans historically have been the biggest fans of free trade deals, and the president is likely to run into resistance from congressional members of his own party. But GOP voters identify a lot more with Trump than with the average Republican in Congress.

The president this week also told business leaders that he hopes to cut regulations on corporations by 75% or more because current regulations “make it impossible to get anything built.” Few voters defend the current level of government regulation.

Trump put the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines back in play, too. Most voters have long supported the Keystone project, perhaps in part because 62% believe an oil pipeline like this can be built without significantly damaging the environment.

Among several executive orders he signed this week, the president ordered planning to begin on the wall he intends to build on the U.S.-Mexico border to help stop illegal immigration. Voters are closely divided over whether the United States should build the wall, but most think it’s likely that Trump will dramatically cut the number of illegal immigrants entering America.

Stopping illegal immigration has long been voters’ number one immigration priority.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto cancelled a meeting with Trump scheduled for next week over the U.S. president’s insistence that Mexico pay for the wall, even proposing a sizable tariff on Mexican-made products if necessary. Just 21% of Americans think the Mexican government wants to stop its citizens from illegally entering the United States, and 50% believe Mexico should be asked to compensate U.S. taxpayers to offset some of the costs to this country of illegal immigration.

But voters did balk at Trump’s threat this week to send federal law enforcement to Chicago if the city fails to stem its rising murder rate. Most voters think the feds should butt out of local crime.

Voters are more comfortable than ever with the amount of power the president now holds.

A sizable number of voters believe last Saturday’s Women’s March on Washington made its point and will champion women’s rights worldwide.

Thirty-eight percent (38%) of voters think the country is heading in the right direction, the highest level of confidence in four years. This survey was wrapped up the night before Trump's inauguration. We’ll find out Monday at 1 p.m. EST how voters feel about the country’s direction now.

[Doug64]

Here's this week's round-up of polls. Anyone that wants to check out any possible links over the next week can go to the link to the left. (Anyone wanting more details on a particular poll, just ask):

Just like the presidential campaign before it, the post-election political reality is all Trump, all the time, and Americans overall are feeling pretty good about that.

While Democrats try to stall or stop President Trump’s Cabinet and Supreme Court nominees and take to the streets to protest his executive orders, 47% of voters say the country’s heading in the right direction. That’s up nine points from the week before and the highest level of optimism in over 12 years of surveying.

Fifty percent (50%) of Americans now believe the economy will be stronger a year from now, a 16-point jump from October and the highest finding since regular surveying began on the question in 2009 just after the Wall Street meltdown. Forty percent (40%) also think the stock market – already in record territory - will be even higher a year from now, significantly more confidence than we have seen in surveys for the past five years.

Americans also feel more confident than they have in several years that today’s children will be better off than their parents.

The new president’s daily job approval remains in the mid-50s, suggesting that the media is continuing to fixate more on the unhappy few rather than the more gratified many.

Still, 40% of Americans now say the election has negatively affected their personal relationship with a friend or family member. That appears to be a much bigger problem, though, for those who don’t approve of the job Trump is doing.

The president ended the week by imposing new economic sanctions on Iran in response to the Iranians’ test-launching of a ballistic missile and a cruise missile both capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Most voters have long questioned whether Iran will slow or stop its development of nuclear weapons as a result of the agreement the Obama administration negotiated in exchange for lifting economic sanctions.

Iran is one of seven nations the United States views as terrorist havens that are the target of Trump’s new freeze on visas. Most voters support that visa ban until the government can improve its ability to screen for likely terrorists trying to come here.

Despite continuing protests and legal challenges, voters by a 52% to 43% margin also favor Trump''s temporary refugee ban until vetting procedures can be improved.

John Kelly, the new secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said this week that the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to help stop illegal immigration should be completed within two years. Most voters aren’t as insistent as the president but think Mexico should pay for at least some of that wall. Perhaps in part that’s because they still question Mexico’s willingness to stop illegal immigration.

Voters feel more strongly these days that Mexico is a U.S. ally but are less sure about the benefits of the NAFTA trade deal with our southern neighbor which the president has vowed to renegotiate. Many suspect the U.S.-Mexico relationship is going to take a turn for the worse over the next year.

Fifty percent (50%) of voters agree with Trump’s reported plan to dramatically reduce the $8 billion the United States gives annually to the United Nations. The United States is by far the leading contributor to the UN, an organization the Trump administration says that “often pursues an agenda that is contrary to American interests."

A survey last May found that 60% of voters agreed with candidate Trump that the United States has not been putting its own interests ahead of others and should reverse course when it comes to foreign policy.

Most voters think Trump will put America first on the world stage unlike his predecessor. Only 23% felt President Obama cared more about solutions that most benefited the United States. Most (58%) said instead that he was more concerned with what’s better for the world.

The president in one of his first executive orders put the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Texas back on track. Voters by a 51% to 43% margin still favor building the Keystone pipeline, but that’s lower support for the project than we have found in the past.

A majority of voters - including half of Democrats - don’t think Democrats in Congress will be able to halt Trump’s agenda.

[Doug64]

What with all the kerfluffle about De Voss, here's a few questions asked to American Adults on education.

Who should set the education standards for schools - local government, state government or the federal government?

• Local government 33%
• State government 41%
• Federal government 18%
• Not sure 8%

Republicans

• Local government 41%
• State government 45%
• Federal government 11%
• Not sure 3%

Independents

• Local government 29%
• State government 41%
• Federal government 18%
• Not sure 12%

Democrats

• Local government 31%
• State government 37%
• Federal government 24%
• Not sure 8%

Do you favor or oppose so-called school choice, giving parents taxpayer-funded options for sending their children to schools outside of the district in which they live?

• Favor 50%
• Oppose 35%
• Not sure 15%

Republicans

• Favor 64%
• Oppose 27%
• Not sure 10%

Independents

• Favor 50%
• Oppose 29%
• Not sure 21%

Democrats

• Favor 41%
• Oppose 46%
• Not sure 13%

Are teachers’ unions more interested in the quality of education or in protecting their members’ jobs?

• Quality of education 38%
• Protecting members' jobs 49%
• Not sure 13%

Republicans

• Quality of education 32%
• Protecting members' jobs 60%
• Not sure 9%

Independents

• Quality of education 27%
• Protecting members' jobs 56%
• Not sure 18%

Democrats

• Quality of education 53%
• Protecting members' jobs 35%
• Not sure 12%