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Here's What America Thinks
Thu Jun 26 15:13:24 2003
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Here's What America Thinks
Posted June 23, 2003
http://www.insightmag.com/news/440402.html

FROM ASSOCIATED TELEVISION NEWS - A new poll conducted by Zogby International, Associated Television News International and the John Tower Center at Southern Methodist University asked questions on a range of issues of interest to Americans, including:

# Their support for the GOP, Democratic Party, the National Rifle Association (NRA) and organized labor;

# Iraqi oil dividends;

# the separation of church and state;

# their willingness to give up civil liberties to fight terrorism;

# China; and

# cooperation between the FBI and the CIA to fight international crime bosses who deal in weapons of mass destruction.

Americans were asked to gauge their support for the views of the Republican Party, Democratic Party, the NRA and the AFL-CIO. The question read:

"How often does this organization speak for you when you go the polls? All of the time, most of the time, sometimes, never or not sure?"

The "All of the time" response scored highest with the NRA at 9.9 percent. The Republican Party came in a close second with 9 percent, while the Democratic Party came in third with 6.9 percent. The AFL-CIO finished in last place with 3.8 percent.

With the "All of the time" and "Most of the time" responses collapsed, the Republican and Democratic parties tied with 30 percent each. The NRA received 25 percent and the AFL-CIO garnered 13 percent.

Another question was developed from a suggestion from senators in Louisiana and Alaska that a portion of Iraqi oil profits should be distributed to the Iraqi people in much the same fashion Alaska gives annual dividend checks to its citizens from Alaskan pipeline leases. The question read:

"Some have suggested that the best way to rebuild the Iraqi economy and promote democracy is for each Iraqi citizen to receive a rebate or oil-dividend check from the profits from the sale of Iraqi oil much the same as the citizens of Alaska receive from Alaskan pipeline sales. Do you agree or disagree?"

Agree - 59.4 percent
Disagree - 23.4 percent
Not sure - 17.1 percent

In an effort to measure the ongoing debate of stripping the mention of "God" or other mention of deity from currency, school prayer or pledges, or any other religious mentioning in governmental affairs, the survey asked:

"Which of the following statements about religious freedom do you think the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees?"

Freedom from forced religious choice - 73.2 percent
Freedom from any government mention of religion - 17.7 percent
Neither - 2.9 percent
Not sure - 6.2 percent

The survey also sought to determine whether since the Sept. 11 attacks, Americans are more willing to lose freedoms in return for more security. The question read:

"As part of the government's effort to combat terrorism, the federal government is developing a number of programs, such as Total Information Awareness, that would collect personal information on all citizens from driver's licenses, credit cards, airline tickets, arrest reports, passports, visas, work permits, medical records and other sources. The information would be stored and then analyzed to try to profile terrorists or to predict terrorist activities. How much of your civil liberties are you prepared to give up in order to allow the government to try and protect the nation from future terrorist acts?"

A lot - 20.9 percent
Some - 32.9 percent
A little - 22.5 percent
None - 20.9 percent
Not sure - 2.7 percent

With national security in mind, the survey sought to gauge public awareness of the potential threat by the communist government of China to our national security. The question read:

"The U.S. recently arrested a Chinese double agent and charged her with illegally obtaining classified defense documents. Further, China has sold materials aimed at improving missile development in Iran and North Korea. With these revelations in mind, how would you rate Communist China's threat to our national security?"

Grave threat - 23.9 percent
Somewhat serious - 57 percent
Not that serious - 14.4 percent
Not at all serious - 2.5 percent
Not sure - 2.1 percent

The final survey question was developed to judge whether Americans find it important for the CIA and FBI to work together against International crime cartels:

"How important do you think it is for the CIA and the FBI to coordinate their efforts to capture international crime bosses engaged in the sale of weapons of mass destruction?"

Very important - 63.2 percent
Somewhat important - 12.5 percent
Not that important - 1.8 percent
Not important at all - 1.2 percent
Not sure - 1.2 percent

The above poll was conducted on June 6-10 of 1,012 adults with a margin of error of plus 3.2 percent. The poll was conducted by Zogby International in conjunction with Associated Television News and The John Tower Center at Southern Methodist University.
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INSIGHT NEWS ALERT!
New stories from Insight on the News are now online
http://www.insightmag.com
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Folks, it's finally stopped raining here in your Capital. Now it’s
red-alert summer. No doubt the heat will soon chase the politicians out of here
– and back into your midst. When you see them, I hope you let them know how you
feel and what you’re thinking.
And you won't want to miss our little article on the latest poll
showing exactly what those thoughts are. There are a few surprises.
http://www.insightmag.com/news/440402.html  Along with the latest cutting-edge
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Anyway, that's it for today. Until next time. Sweltering in the
Bunker, I'm still your newsman in Washington.
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http://www.insightmag.com/news/440402.html
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TAKE TODAY’S POLL – If Iran continues to develop nuclear weapons, should the
U.S. invade?
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