Forty-nine percent (49%) of U.S. voters favor their state suing the federal government to fight the requirement in the new national health care plan that every American must obtain health insurance.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of likely voters finds that 37% disagree and oppose their state suing to challenge that requirement. Fourteen percent (14%) are undecided.
20 Signs That The United States Is Rapidly Becoming A Totalitarian Big Brother Police State
By Michael Snyder - BLN Contributing Writer
Once upon a time, the United States was a land of unparalleled freedom. The rest of the world envied the freedom that ordinary Americans had to think, say and do what they wanted. But all of that has changed. Now Americans have to fear that they will be tackled by a squad of security goons and dragged off to a detention facility somewhere if they spill a Pepsi on a flight attendant or take a few too many pictures of a public building. The United States used to be the polar opposite of totalitarian regimes like Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, but now America is rapidly becoming very much like them. Due to the fear of a boogeyman living in a cave somewhere or some guy with explosive powder in his underwear we are all being forced to give up our freedoms and learn to live in a Big Brother police state.
But have things really changed so much that we have to give up all of the cherished freedoms that our fathers and grandfathers fought and died for? Haven't there always been fanatics and crazies and criminals out there? Why do we suddenly have to become so afraid of them?
In the past, Americans would not let anyone make them live in fear. If some unbalanced individual did something bad, it wasn't the end of the world, was it? No, in the past Americans dusted themselves off and continued to live as free men and women. You see, when we live in fear and radically alter our way of life just to feel a little more secure, we lose. We have let someone else steal our freedom and our dignity.
But now in the name of "security" all kinds of bizarre proposals have been implemented on the local, state and national levels. Somehow we think that if everything that we do is watched, monitored and analyzed we will all be safer somehow.
Maybe we are safer and maybe we aren't, but we are certainly a whole lot less free.The following are 20 signs that the United States is rapidly becoming a totalitarian "Big Brother" police state....
#1) A new bill being pushed by Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman would allow the U.S. military to round up large numbers of Americans and detain them indefinitely without a trial if they "pose a threat" or if they have "potential intelligence value" or for any other reason the President of the United States "considers appropriate".
#2) Lawmakers in Washington D.C. working to create a new immigration bill have decided on a way to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants: a national biometric identification card all American workers would be required to obtain.
#3) Barack Obama is backing a plan to create a national database to store the DNA of people who have been arrested but not necessarily convicted of a crime.
#4) Just to get on an airplane, Americans will now have to go through new full-body scanners that reveal every detail of our exposed bodies to airport security officials.
#5) If that wasn't bad enough, the Transportation Security Administration has announced that airport screeners will begin roving through airports randomly taking chemical swabs from passengers and their bags to check for explosives.
#6) Starting this upcoming December, some passengers on Canadian airlines flying to, from or even over the United States without ever landing there, will only be allowed to board their flights once the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has determined they are not terrorists.
#7) Organic milk is such a threat that the FDA has been conducting military style raidson Amish farmers in Pennsylvania.
#8) An NYPD officer has broken his silence and has confessed that innocent citizens are being set up and falsely arrested and ticketed in order to meet quotas.
#9) A growing number of police departments across the U.S. are turning to mobile camera systems in order to fight motor vehicle theft and identify unregistered cars.
#10) For decades, Arizona has been known as "the sunset state", but lately many frustrated residents have started calling it "the surveillance state".
#11) Judges and police in Florida have been caught using "secret codes" on tickets in the state of Florida.
#12) An extensive investigation has revealed that between 2003 and 2007, that state of Texas quietly gave hundreds of newborn baby blood samples to a U.S. Armed Forces laboratory for use in a forensics database.
#13) A 6-year-old girl was recently handcuffed and sent to a mental facility after throwing temper tantrums at her elementary school.
#14) One 12-year-old girl in New York was recently arrested and marched out of her school in handcuffs just because she doodled on her desk.
#15) In Florida, students have been arrested by police for things as simple as bringing a plastic butter knife to school, throwing an eraser, and drawing a picture of a gun.
#16) When a mother on a flight to Denver spanked both of her children and cussed out a flight attendant who tried to intervene, she suddenly found herself handcuffed and headed for prison. Why? She was charged with being a domestic terrorist under the Patriot Act.
#17) A new global treaty may force U.S. Internet service providers to spy on what you do online.
#18) A leaked Obama administration memo has revealed plans for the federal governmentto seize more than 10 million acres of land from Montana to New Mexico.
#19) 56 percent of Americans questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll said that the U.S. government has become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens.
#20) But one other recent poll found that 51 percent of Americans agree with this statement: "It is necessary to give up some civil liberties in order to make the country safe from terrorism."
Two of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s Republican challengers have again crossed the 50% threshold and now hold double-digit leads in Nevada’s U.S. Senate race. One big hurdle for the incumbent is that most Nevada voters are strongly opposed to the health care legislation championed by Reid and President Barack Obama.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state finds Sue Lowden, ex-chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, with a 51% to 38% lead on Reid. Seven percent (7%) prefer some other candidate, but just three percent (3%) are undecided.
Businessman Danny Tarkanian posts a similar 50% to 37% lead over the embattled Democratic leader. Nine percent (9%) opt for another candidate, and four percent (4%) are undecided.
Last month, Reid earned 39% of the vote against both Republicans, while Lowden picked up 45% and Tarkanian 47% in their respective match-ups with him.
Tarkanian hit 50% in January, and both he and Lowden posted that level of supportlast September.
Last fall Reid’s support was in the 40s. Since then, it’s been trending down into the 30s, suggesting that the Senate race continues to be a referendum on Reid rather than a show of support for his GOP opponents.
Former Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, continues to run weakest of the three top Republican hopefuls, but this month she leads Reid 46% to 38%. In January, she had a 44% to 40% lead.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
Forty-five percent (45%) have a favorable view of the so-called Tea Party movement. Thirty percent (30%) view it unfavorably, and 25% are not sure what they think.
Only 23% of the state’s voters consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement.
Any incumbent who is earning less than 50% at this stage of a campaign is considered potentially vulnerable. Reid, who is seeking a fifth term in the Senate, received 61% of the vote in 2004.
Forty-one percent (41%) of Nevada voters support the health care plan championed by Reid and now working its way through Congress. Fifty-six percent (56%) oppose it, which is slightly higher than opposition nationally.
More significantly for Reid, those figures include just 24% who Strongly Favor the plan and 51% who are strongly opposed. Those who strongly favor the plan overwhelmingly support Reid, while those who strongly oppose it overwhelmingly support the Republicans.
Sixty-five percent (65%) of Nevada voters also think it would be better for the country if most incumbents were not reelected to Congress this November. Only 32% say their local congressional representative deserves reelection.
Twenty percent (20%) of voters in the state have a very favorable opinion of Reid, while 48% view him very unfavorably.
For Lowden, very favorables are 18%, and very unfavorables total 12%.
Tarkanian is viewed very favorably by 15% and very unfavorably by eight percent (8%).
Nine percent (9%) have a very unfavorable view of Angle, and the same number (9%) see her very unfavorably.
At this point in a campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with a strong opinion more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers.
While Barack Obama carried Nevada with 55% of the vote in 2008, just 44% of voters in the state now approve of the job he is doing as president, marking little change from last month. Fifty-seven percent (57%) disapprove of the president’s performance. These findings include 27% who strongly approve and 47% who strongly disapprove. This is comparable to Obama's approval ratings in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.
Thirty-six percent (36%) say the president has done a good or excellent job handling the health care issue, but 54% rate his performance in this area as poor.
While the president pushes to get his health care plan back on track, 60% of Nevada voters say the better strategy would be to pass smaller bills that address problems individually rather than a comprehensive bill like the one now before Congress. Just 29% see a comprehensive bill as a better move.
When it comes to health care decisions, 51% fear the federal government more than private insurance companies. Forty-four percent (44%) fear private insurers more. Those figures are similar to the national average.
Thirty-three percent (33%) in Nevada expect the economy to be stronger in a year’s time, but 41% think it will be weaker. Again, the views of Nevada voters are similar to the views of Americans nationally. Just 23% say it’s possible for anyone who really wants to work to find a job these days. Fifty-six percent (56%) disagree.
Forty-five percent (45%) have a favorable view of the so-called Tea Party movement. Thirty percent (30%) view it unfavorably, and 25% are not sure what they think.
Only 23% of the state’s voters consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement.
Republican frontrunner Brain Sandoval now has an 18-point lead over
Democrat Rory Reid in Nevada’s gubernatorial race.
A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Nevada voters finds Reid, son of Senator Harry Reid, trailing Sandoval 53% to 35%. Seven percent (7%) prefer another candidate, while five percent (5%) are undecided.
Sandoval, a former Nevada attorney general and ex-U.S. District Court Judge, led Reid by 12 points - 45% to 33% - in Rasmussen Reports’ first look at the contest early last month.
Another GOP hopeful, North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon, posts a 42% to 37% lead over Reid. In the previous survey, Reid led Montandon 40% to 36%. Thirteen percent (13%) like some other candidate, and eight percent (8%) are undecided.
But Reid still leads the state's unpopular incumbent Republican Governor Jim Gibbons, 44% to 36%, marking virtually no change from a month ago. Fifteen percent (15%) opt for someone else. Only four percent (4%) are undecided.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
Reid’s father continues to face a difficult Senate reelection this year, due largely to his parties championing of an unpopular health care bill and a weakening state economy. Two of his Republican challengers have again crossed the 50% threshold and now hold double-digit leads in Nevada’s U.S. Senate race.
Nevada Republicans will pick their Senate and gubernatorial nominees in a June 8 primary.
Male voters prefer all three Republicans over Reid but by just three points when Gibbons is the candidate. Sandoval leads among female voters, too, but Reid has the edge among women over Gibbons and Montandon.
Among voters not affiliated with either major party in the state, Reid trails Sandoval but leads both Gibbons and Montandon.
Thirty-seven percent (37%) of all voters in Nevada at least somewhat approve of the job Gibbons has been doing as governor, including just nine percent (9%) who strongly approve. That’s down slightly from February and December.
Sixty-one percent (61%) disapprove of the governor’s performance, including 37% who strongly disapprove.
Just 12% of Nevada voters share a very favorable opinion of their governor, while 36% view him very unfavorably.
Sandoval earns very favorable views from 17% and very unfavorable marks from 10%.
Reid, chairman of the influential Clark County Board of Commissioners, is viewed very favorably by 15%, but 34% view him very unfavorably.
Only five percent (5%) share a very favorable opinion of Montandon and eight percent (8%) view him very unfavorably. Montandon is by far the least known of the four candidates.
At this point in a campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with a strong opinion more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers.
FOXNews.com
Americans are overwhelmingly angry at the U.S. government
and is nearly as let down by the lack of ideas from both political parties, a new poll by Rasmussen Reports revealed Tuesday.
Americans are overwhelmingly angry at the U.S. government and is nearly as let down by the lack of ideas from both political parties, a new poll by Rasmussen Reports revealed Tuesday.
Sixty-six percent of voters in a national poll said they're angry at the policies of the federal government, including 36 percent who counted themselves as very angry.
Thirty percent are not really angry, including 10 percent of whom say they aren't angry at all.
Among those most angry are Republicans -- 90 percent of whom say they are somewhat or very angry. Seventy-seven percent of independents are angry and just 44 percent of Democrats are peeved.
Among those suggesting anger abounds falls a majority of Republicans, Democrats and independents -- 59 percent overall -- who say the anger is greater now than it was during the Bush administration.
But few believe that the political parties have an answer. Of those surveyed, 60 percent said neither Republicans nor Democrats understand what is needed and among those who claimed to be very angry, that number rises to 80 percent.
Forty-three percent of people say they are at least partly concerned that the anger could turn violent. That fear breaks down among party lines with 63 percent of Democrats saying they are concerned and 71 percent of Republicans saying they are not concerned. Sixty-one percent of independents are also not concerned.
Additionally, those who are most angry are least concerned about violence. Among the 36 percent who are very angry at the government, only 15 percent say they are very concerned about the possibility of violence. But 51 percent of those who are not angry at all say they fear violence.
The poll of 1,000 adults was taken Sept. 20-21 and has a margin of error of 3 points.
Ron Paul: CPAC win 'significant'
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said Monday that his win in the Conservative Political Action Conference’s straw poll was “significant” but that he is still undecided on another run for president.
Paul captured 31 percent of the vote in the annual straw poll — long viewed as a gauge of conservative sentiment — besting three-year winner and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who finished with 22 percent. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin finished third with 7 percent, followed by Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty at 6 percent and Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), who received 5 percent.
Asked about the results Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Paul said, “it is significant, and it does get me excited.”
Paul said he was “a bit surprised” by his straw poll win but said it is “a good indication that maybe the sentiments are changing.”
The 2008 insurgent GOP presidential candidate attributed his victory to his younger supporters for backing his fiscal and foreign policy views and for showing up to vote in the straw poll.
“The young people are very interested in this. They turned out,” Paul said. “They generally turn out at CPAC meetings, but I think there’s definitely been a shift in attitude.”
“It’s not the conventional wisdom of the old Republican Party conservatism,” he said of the sentiment among his supporters. “I think something new is coming along.”
Paul said that he is “undecided” on another run for president in 2012, but warned GOP leaders to pay more attention to those in the party who share his views.
“The Republican Party and other leaders in this country need to wake up and find out exactly why the young people are sick and tired of what is being dumped on them politically and economically,” he said
- Many adults in the United States believe the current federal government has not been completely forthcoming on the issue of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to a poll by the New York Times and CBS News. 53 per cent of respondents think the Bush administration is hiding something, and 28 per cent believe it is lying.
Only 16 per cent of respondents say the government headed by U.S. president George W. Bush is telling the truth on what it knew prior to the terrorist attacks, down five points since May 2002.
Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked and crashed four airplanes in the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people. In October, after Afghanistan's Taliban regime refused to hand over al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the U.S. launched the war on terrorism.
On Aug. 6, 2001, a Presidential Daily Briefing titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." mentioned "patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York."
On May 17, 2002, Bush discussed the situation, saying, "The American people know this about me, and my national security team, and my administration: Had I known that the enemy was going to use airplanes to kill on that fateful morning, I would have done everything in my power to protect the American people."
On Sept. 11, Bush referred to the attacks, saying, "Five years after 9/11, our enemies have not succeeded in launching another attack on our soil, but they've not been idle. Al-Qaeda and those inspired by its hateful ideology have carried out terrorist attacks in more than two dozen nations. And just last month, they were foiled in a plot to blow up passenger planes headed for the United States. They remain determined to attack America and kill our citizens—and we are determined to stop them."
Polling Data
When it comes to what they knew prior to September 11th, 2001, about possible terrorist attacks against the United States, do you think members of the Bush Administration are telling the truth, are mostly telling the truth but hiding something, or are they mostly lying?
Oct. 2006 | May 2002 | |
Telling the truth | 16% | 21% |
Hiding something | 53% | 65% |
Mostly lying | 28% | 8% |
Not sure | 3% | 6% |
Source: The New York Times / CBS News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 983 American adults, conducted from Oct. 5 to Oct. 8, 2006. Margin of error is 4 per cent.
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