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Tag: gallup polls

  • Marijuana Legalization Debate Creates Sharp Divide

    “The Times They Are a-Changin’” sang Bob Dylan in the title track of his 1964 album by the same name. And very few issues underscore how much they’re changing in modern day America than the movement to legalize marijuana.

    Although marijuana has been regulated as a drug by every state since the mid-1930s, it was first listed as a Schedule I drug during the enacting of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Schedule I drugs are defined as “drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”

    In 2014, the movement to legalize marijuana on a state and federal level has gained incredible momentum, with marijuana becoming legal in Colorado and Washington for recreational use and even the New York Times publicly supporting legalization.

    Here is a look at both sides of the divide, starting with the proponents of marijuana legalization.

    Proponents of Marijuana Legalization

    Who They Are: Many coalition groups formed to support legalizing marijuana, including the National Cannabis Industry Association; many publications, including the New York Times; and 58 percent of Americans, according to a 2013 Gallup poll.

    What They’re Saying: Arguments range from bombastic rhetoric to well thought-out and defined logical arguments about why marijuana should be legalized. The gist is that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and cigarettes, two drugs legal and widely consumed. Marijuana also has medicinal purposes in treating serious illnesses such as Lou Gehrig’s disease and multiple sclerosis. And there is also a social justice issue at play, as African Americans and Latinos, especially young men within those subsets, are disproportionately arrested for marijuana use, as shown in this study from California.

    Opponents of Marijuana Legalization

    Who They Are: Many coalition groups formed to oppose legalizing marijuana, including Smart Approaches to Marijuana; the American Medical Association, from a 2013 article; and 39 percent of America, according to the same 2013 Gallup poll.

    What They’re Saying: Arguments on this side of the divide can be equally bombastic but well thought-out and defined logical arguments pervade as well. The gist here is that marijuana can be psychologically addictive, can damage the development of the brains of people under the age of 18, and can lead to more road accidents when people smoke and drive. While the tide has certainly turned in the favor of legalizing marijuana in the court of public opinion, these staunch opponents of marijuana legalization still have their say, as when dueling advertisements were run in the New York Times, one for marijuana legalization and one against.

    It remains to be seen if marijuana will be legalized at the federal level, removed from the list of Schedule I drugs, and promoted for recreational use nationwide by companies that are now part of the booming marijuana industry. But in the end, both sides will have their say.

    The times, yes, they are a-changin.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Federal Taxes Too High, Say Americans

    Federal Taxes Too High, Say Americans

    With the deadline to file 2013 taxes approaching fast, more Americans are now coming face-to-face with just how much they own Uncle Sam. As the U.S. has always had an interesting relationship to taxes, it isn’t surprising that most Americans are somewhat unsettled by the amount of federal taxes they owe.

    A new Gallup poll released today shows that a majority of Americans believe that federal taxes are too high. The survey found that 52% of Americans feel this way about their federal taxes, while only 42% believe the taxes they pay are “about right.”

    This percentage of Americans unhappy with their tax burden is up quite a bit from just two years ago, when just 46% of Americans believe federal taxes were too high. However, this percentage is much closer to 50% than in the past, such as in 2001 when 68% of Americans thought taxes were too high. The percentage has been around the 50% mark since 2003 – likely a reaction to the Bush Administration income tax cuts.

    The Gallup poll also tracks the percentage of Americans who believe their federal income taxes are too low. This year’s survey puts that percentage at 3%, not surprising and not far off from historical numbers.

    While the majority of Americans this year believe their federal income taxes are too high, a majority also believe that the amount they are paying is fair. Gallup found that 54% of Americans believe their federal income tax payments are fair, down from 55% last year. This percentage has been dropping since 2003, when 64% believed they were paying a fair amount.

    The split between Democrats and Republicans on the issue of fair taxes is predictably wide. Only 37% of Democrats said they believe their federal income taxes are too high, while 69% of them believe they are paying a fair amount. A full 57% of Republicans believe federal income taxes are too high and nearly half of them (49%) do not believe they are paying a fair amount.

    Image via Thinkstock

  • Mississippi Still the Fattest State, Shows Poll

    Last month a new report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed encouraging data suggesting that future generations may be slimmer than the current population of America.

    Despite the good long-term news, the population of aging Americans is still continuing to get larger. A Gallup poll last week found that over 27% of American adults could be considered obese in 2013. This is the reason health professionals and the CDC have labeled America’s high obesity rate an epidemic.

    Today a new Gallup poll shed a bit of light on which U.S. states are disproportionately contributing to this high obesity rate. The poll shows that Mississippi is the largest state in the U.S, with 35.4% of its population estimated to be obese. Mississippi is followed by West Virginia (34.4%), Delaware(34.3%), Louisiana (32.7%), and Arkansas (32.2%). In contrast, the least obese (relatively, of course) states were Montana (19.6%), Colorado (20.4%), Nevada (21.1%), Minnesota (22%), and Massachusetts (22.2%).

    The Gallup survey used self-reported height and weight measurements provided by survey respondents. Even so, the poll results align with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data that has been released over the past few years.

    Of course, along with higher rates of obesity have come higher health risks for the heavier states. According to Gallup data the 10 most obese states on average have a lifetime high blood pressure disease rate of 35.8%, significantly higher than the 26.4% rate seen in the 10 least obese states. Poll results also show that people in the least obese states are eating healthier foods and exercising more than those in top obese states.

  • Americans Still Cite Terrorism as Top Concern

    It’s been over 12 years since the World Trade Center tower fell, yet terrorism still remains the top concern for Americans when considering threats to their country.

    New Gallup poll results out today show that 77% of U.S. adults believe international terrorism is a critical threat to the vital interests of the U.S. Another 19% consider terrorism to be an important, but not critical threat to the U.S. Other threats that a majority of those surveyed consider critical include Iran developing nuclear weapons (76%), Islamic fundamentalism (57%), the conflict between North and South Korea (53%), and the economic power of China (52%).

    Though fears of terrorism and Iran’s nuclear program remain high, Americans have come to recently view both issues as slightly less critical to the U.S. That 76% who believe Iranian nukes are critically important are down from the 83% who thought the same thing last year – more than even the 81% who considered terrorism a critical threat in 2013. This, less than one year after the Boston Marathon bombings rocked the U.S. with another incident of domestic terrorism.

    While terrorism concerns have fallen slightly since last year, concerns about Islamic fundamentalism have jumped in recent years. Gallup’s survey in 2013 found 53% of Americans considered Islamic fundamentalism a critical threat, and even that was up from the 51% who stated the same in 2004.

    In its blog post Gallup pointed out that terrorism and nuclear weapons have consistently appeared as top U.S. threat concerns over the past decade. The polling firm, however, steers clear of addressing the irony of Americans considering nuclear weapons, religious zealots, and economic superpowers some of the most critical threats to their country.

  • U.S. Obesity Rate Up Again in 2013

    Earlier this week the U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new statistics showing that obesity among children ages two to five has dropped significantly over the past decade. This is a positive sign for America’s future health, but the current state of obesity in the U.S. is still being described as an epidemic by health professionals.

    Gallup today released new poll results showing that just 27.1% of American adults could be considered obese last year. This represents a nearly 1% increase over the 26.2% of Americans that the organization estimated to be obese during 2012.

    Since the Gallup poll is based on self-reported height and weight from survey respondents, this estimate is quite a bit lower than government estimates of obesity. The latest estimate from the CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that nearly 35% of Americans over 20 are obese.

    Even so, the Gallup survey also found that the percentage of normal weight and overweight Americans dropped in conjunction with the rise in obesity. The percentage of normal weight Americans dropped to 35.2% in 2013 and the percentage of overweight Americans dropped to 35.7%, according to the poll.

    The poll data shows that older and middle class Americans are becoming larger at a faster rate than others. Adults from age 45 to 64 saw their obesity rate jump 1.8% year-over-year and those age 65 and older saw their rate rise by 1.1%. The obesity rate among Americans with an annual income between $36,000 and $89,999 jumped 1.7% in 2013 and those with even lower incomes had a percentage increase of 1.1%. Other demographics with obesity rates rising faster than the national average include those living in the Midwest (1.2%), those living in the South (1.1%), and women (1.2%).

  • Need a Job? Head For North Dakota

    With the U.S. economy slowly recovering throughout much of the country, jobs have been a bit easier to come by during the past few years – but only a bit. Job creation throughout much of the U.S. is still stagnant, with low-skilled workers struggling to find even low-paying jobs.

    There are parts of the U.S. recovering more quickly than others. Gallup today released the results of a survey into job creation, showing that the northern states in the midwest are seeing job growth much stronger than other parts of the country. The poll’s results are based around asking workers whether their employer is hiring or firing.

    North Dakota ranks highest on Gallup’s job creation index rankings – a position the state has held now for five consecutive years. In fact, North Dakota’s job creation index of 40 is far higher than any other state on the list. The average national index for the U.S. was 20 during 2013.

    North Dakota is followed by Washington D.C. (30), South Dakota (30), Delaware (29), Nebraska (29), Minnesota (28), Texas (27), Michigan (25), Iowa (25), Arizona (23), Wisconsin (23), and Hawaii (23).

    On the other end of the survey, Rhode Island is the state ranked lowest for job growth with a Gallup job creation index of only 12. Rhode Island is followed by New Mexico (13), Vermont (13), West Virginia (14), New York (15), and Connecticut (15).

    Why exactly employers in the midwest are hiring more isn’t entirely clear. Gallup did find that the reported standard of living in states was strongly correlated to higher reported hiring. The firm also found a slight correlation between hiring and higher confidence in the U.S. economy as a whole.

    So, for those needing jobs North Dakota seems to be the place to head. Of course, job-seekers heading to North Dakota will have to contend with the state’s harsh winters. The state’s politics may also be a point of contention for the unemployed coming from the east coast. As an example, temperatures in Fargo are set to hit -8 degrees fahrenheit Thurday night and North Dakota is currently in settlement talks with abortion-rights groups over the state’s harsh abortion restrictions.

  • Wyoming, Mississippi Among the Reddest U.S. States

    With Americans now more-or-less hating congress, it might seem that U.S. voters could unite around a few common issues, such as a functioning legislative branch. It turns out this isn’t the case, though, as a new poll is showing that Americans and America are just as politically polarized as ever.

    The new Gallup poll shows that certain states remain heavily conservative or liberal. The survey asked respondents how they classify themselves politically.

    Unsurprisingly, the most conservative states in the U.S. were in the south and the midwest. Wyoming tops the list of most-conservative states with over half of its population (51.4%) identifying as conservative according to the poll. Mississippi (47.9%), Idaho (47.5%), Utah (46.9%), and Montana (45.2%) follow.

    Oddly enough, 2012’s most conservative state, Alabama, seems to be becoming significantly less conservative. Alabama now ranks as the tenth most-conservative state according to Gallup. Kansas and Nebraska, both heavily Republican-identified states are conspicuously missing from the top 10 most conservative states, implying that Republican voters in those states may see themselves as something other than conservative.

    The most liberal states come as no surprise either with nearly all found on the coasts and Washington D.C. topping the list at 38.1% liberal. Vermont (32.4%), Massachusetts (30.2%), Delaware (29.3%), and New York (28.2%) round out the top five most liberal states.

    Though individual states are still heavily split, it does seem that Americans may be trending toward moderation. Gallup found that more Americans still identify as conservative than liberal, but that the gap between the two has now shrunk to just 14.6%.

    Image via Angr/Wikimedia Commons

  • Americans Now Turning on Their Own Congress Members

    It’s been a cliche in American politics for some time that voters think congress is doing a terrible job, yet believe that their own member of congress is working hard in their best interests, as well as those of the U.S. as a whole. Now, with congressional approval ratings falling to new lows, it seems that voters are even beginning to form new opinions of their own congress members.

    Gallup today released a new poll that shows only 46% of U.S. adults now believe their own U.S. representative deserves to be re-elected. According to Gallup this is the lowest that percentage has ever been in one of its surveys.

    Related to this is another record low found in the survey, that only 17% of American voters now believe that most members of congress deserve re-election. This represents a huge shift from the 36% that though the same way in late 2012.

    These shifting opinions have undoubtedly been caused by the deadlock the current congress faced throughout much of 2013. Repeated in-fighting over fiscal cliffs and budget deadlines in the past few years came to a head last October, when congressional Republicans allowed the U.S. Government to shut down in protest over the Affordable Care Act (AKA “Obamacare”). More than two-thirds of Americans now believe that the current congress is the worst seen in their lifetime.

    Image via U.S. Government

  • Percentage of Uninsured Americans is Dropping

    Percentage of Uninsured Americans is Dropping

    Much debate has surrounded the Affordable Care Act (AKA “Obamacare”) since the legislation’s health insurance markets went live late last year. Since that time some encouraging numbers have shown that the program is working, at least a little. In December 2.2 million Americans signed up for health insurance using either the Healthcare.gov website or a state-sponsored healthcare exchange site. Now it appears that Obamacare’s heath insurance mandate is having a significant effect on the percentage of Americans who are still without health insurance.

    Gallup today released a new poll showing that 16.1% of U.S. adults were still without health insurance during early January. This represents a slight drop from the 17.3% who were still uninsured during December, but a much more significant drop from the 18.6% peak that number reached in mid-2013.

    According to Gallup’s survey, unemployed Americans are benefitting most from the new legislation. The percentage of unemployed U.S. adults in January without health insurance was measured at 34.1%, down from the 40.8% who were uninsured in December.

    Women are also becoming insured at a faster pace than men, with the percentage of uninsured American women seeing a nearly 2% drop from December to January. This is more than double the 0.6% drop in the percentage of uninsured for men during the same period, despite the overall percentage of uninsured women (14%, as of January) already being lower than that of men (18.3%).

    Though these poll results seem to show that Obamacare is reducing the number of uninsured Americans, Gallup is cautioning that recent numbers may not represent a long-term trend. The percentage of uninsured Americans has been falling since mid-2013, possibly indicating that other factors are influencing health insurance coverage in the U.S.

  • Two-Thirds of Americans Dissatisfied With Wealth Distribution

    With the U.S. economy still slow and the wealth gap as large as it has ever been in the U.S., more and more Americans seem to be growing dissatisfied with the way wealth is spread throughout the country.

    A new Gallup poll today shows that a full two-thirds (67%) of U.S. adults are either “somewhat dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with the way income and wealth are distributed in the U.S.

    Though this percentage varies by party affiliation, even a majority of Republicans (54%) are still dissatisfied with wealth distribution in the U.S. Democrats are very dissatisfied with the state of wealth distribution, with three-quarters (75%) telling Gallup they are somewhat or very dissatisfied. Independents fall in-between the parties, but are much closer to the opinion of Democrats with 70% dissatisfied with current wealth distribution.

    Though the gap between the richest and poorest Americans has been wide for quite some time, there are now signs that the country’s belief in the fairness of the American landscape is faltering. Gallup has found that only 54% of U.S. adults are now satisfied with the opportunities Americans have to get ahead through hard work. This represents a significant shift from 2001 when over three-fourths (76%) of Americans still saw plenty of opportunity for those willing to work hard. That percentage began dropping fast after 2008, when over two-thirds of Americans (68%) still held that belief.

  • Majority of Americans Dissatisfied With U.S. Direction

    As the American political landscape continues to become more polarized, a large majority of Americans continue to be dissatisfied with the state of things in the U.S.

    A new Gallup poll released today shows that only 23% of U.S. adults say they are satisfied with “the way things are going” in their country. This result, which was found during an early January survey, is not an outlier for American satisfaction in the past decade. It nearly matches the 24% average that Gallup found for American satisfaction during the entire year 2013.

    Though this latest finding is average, it does represent a significant increase in satisfaction from just a few months ago. In October Gallup measured American satisfaction with the direction of the U.S. at only 16%. October was the month in which House Republicans forced the U.S. Government shutdown and the month in which the botched rollout of the Healthcare.gov website began.

    With a Democratic President in office, Democrats are significantly more satisfied with the state of affairs in the U.S. than Republicans and independents – a state that has persisted since President Obama took office in 2009. The latest poll results show that 40% of Democrats are satisfied with where things are headed, while only 12% of Republicans are. Only 19% of Independents are satisfied with things, which falls well within the around 10% to 30% that have said the same over the past six years.

  • More Americans Than Ever Identify as Liberal

    As Republicans debated Mitt Romney’s loss in the aftermath of the 2012 presidential election, one factor that came up repeatedly is that Republicans simply are not appealing to the growing demographics in the U.S. Pundits suggested that reaching out to Hispanics or young people might be essential for he party’s future, but a new poll this week show that a growing number of Americans may not be reachable by the GOP.

    A Gallup poll released this week shows that more Americans than ever now identify themselves as “liberal.” The survey found that 23% of U.S. adults described their political views as liberal or very liberal in 2013. This represents a small but significant rise from the 18% of Americans who described themselves as liberal two decades ago.

    Based on Gallup’s data, it appears that this rise in self-described liberalism in the U.S. can almost entirely be attributed to Democrats. Over the past decade the percentage of Democrats describing themselves as liberal has risen from 32% to 43%, while the percentage of Democrats describing themselves as conservative has fallen from 25% to just 19%.

    The poll also found that Republicans have become more conservative in the past decade, though not drastically so. Gallup numbers show that the percentage of Republicans identifying themselves as conservative rose from 66% in 2003 to 70% last year. A corresponding drop in the number of Republicans calling themselves moderate was seen, from 28%in 2003 to 23% last year.

    The largest recent shifts in the Gallup poll were seen in Americans who identify as independents. Though the amount of independents calling themselves conservative, moderate, or liberal was stable from 2000 to 2008 (around 46%, 28%, and 22%, respectively), more recent years have seen a significant conservative shift for independents. The new poll shows that 35% of independents now identify as conservative, while only 40% now consider themselves moderate. Independents identifying as liberal has dropped only slightly to 20%.

    Rather than long-time independents themselves becoming more conservative, these results could reflect findings released last week that show many former Republicans are now identifying as independents. American self-identification with the Republican party now sits at a new low of 25%.

    This increased polarization of American politics could certainly be said to reflect the current state of congress. The lack of action from congress last year and the government shutdown caused by House Republicans sent American congressional approval ratings to their lowest point ever last November. A majority of Americans also now believe the current congress is the worst they’ve seen in their lifetime – a position that is unlikely to change as the country continues to become more polarized.

  • U.S. is Experiencing an Average Flu Season

    The weather is cold across much of the U.S. and the flu season is now nearing its peak.

    A new poll out this week from Gallup shows that 2.8% of American adults in December reported being sick with the flu the previous day. This percentage represents a slight uptick from the 2% who said the same thing in November.

    Despite the rise in flu reports from November and a bit of hyperbolic reporting, this phenomenon is a common one for the flu. Flu cases generally peak just after the a the new year and subside until sometime around mid-year.

    In fact, nearly everything about this year’s flu cases is common. The 2.8% of reported flu cases per day in December measured by Gallup is the same as those seen in 2011 and 2012. The 2009 flu season was slightly higher with 3% daily reports in December, and 2010’s mild season saw only 2.5% of U.S. adults reporting flu symptoms. Last year’s flu cases spiked significantly during the end of 2012, with Gallup’s poll numbers reaching 3.2% in December.

    Though Americans in southern states are less likely to report having had the flu, Gallup is warning that, considering CDC data and the extremely cold weather in recent weeks, the south could see increased flu infections during January 2014.

    Gallup’s survey also covered whether Americans have had a cold in the previous day. December’s average rose to 8.9% from the previous month, a figure that is the lowest seen since December 2010’s relatively low cold cases (8.7%). Cold cases reported to Gallup in December 2012 hit 9.9%.

  • More Americans Than Ever Identify as Politically Independent

    With Healthcare.org experiences still feeling sour and House Republicans’ government shut down still fresh in peoples’ minds, more Americans than ever are turning away from the two major U.S. political parties.

    A new Gallup poll this week shows that 42% of Americans now identify as politically independent. This finding represents a new high for American independents in Gallup’s polling.

    Along with the rise in independents came recent drops in party identification for both Democrats and Republicans.

    Americans who identify as Democrats fell from 36% in 2008 to just 31% in 2010. This 31% average has remained steady for the past three years.

    Republican identification has now hit 25%, the lowest Gallup has seen since it started polling on party identification in 1988. This number represents a significant 9% drop from the 34% of Americans who identified as Republican in 2004.

    Taking political leanings into account, Gallup found that 47% of Americans identify or lean toward the Democratic party, while only 41% identify or lean toward the Republican party.

    Though Gallup points out that Americans tend to identify as more independent in non-election years, the polling firm does believe that recent trends toward not identifying with either of the major U.S. political parties is significant. These views are almost certainly related to recent political events, as party identification was particularly low near the end of the fourth quarter in 2013 (29% for Democrats, 22% for Republicans). Most Americans now believe that the current congress is the worst they have seen in their lifetime, a sentiment that could be driving independent identification in recent months.

  • How Optimistic Are Small Business Owners Going Into 2014?

    The rise of the internet has certainly made it easier for small business owners to build and market their livelihoods. However, these opportunities are tempered by the fact that small businesses must work extra hard to stand out in the largest crowd imaginable.

    Standing out from the crowd online is especially challenging given the quickly-evolving nature of the internet. Though most businesses have managed to get a foothold in social media in recent years, new evidence is showing that the sands of the internet may be shifting once again. Young people are now using traditional social media such as Facebook less, favoring more personal and closed off platforms such as WhatsApp and Snapchat. It’s not surprising, then, that small businesses are often kept on their toes, scrambling to market themselves on a variety of platforms that may or may not prove effective.

    How will you market your business in 2014? Let us know in the comments below.

    In 2013 small businesses were greeted with a myriad of opportunities large and small, yet many small business owners are still unsure of what may be coming in the new year. A new Gallup poll released this week shows that about half of U.S. small business owners (49%) are neither more optimistic nor less optimistic about their business’ future heading into 2014. A full 28% of them are less optimistic about the new year, and only 23% are more optimistic about what 2014 could bring.

    Certainly some of this unease can be pinned on the fact that small business owners must always be wary of the new and unexpected, plenty of which could easily sink a small business.

    Gallup’s survey found that owners are still very concerned about the state of the economy, which continues to remain staid five years on from the beginning of the recession. Other outside factors that small business owners must contend with include the new Affordable Care Act (colloquially known as “Obamacare”) healthcare rules and other government intervention, including regulation and taxes.

    Gallup’s poll also found that small business owners are still worried about traditional small business concerns such as finding new customers, generating stable revenue, and hiring good employees.

    What are your concerns for your business going into 2014? Let us know in the comments.

    With unemployment still high and consumer spending increasing, it would seem that things in the U.S. are on-track for a small business renaissance in 2014. Likewise, economic indicators show that the country’s economy is slowly crawling back to relevance. So why should it be that so many small business owners have scant optimism going into 2014?

    The wider rollout of Obamacare certainly has implications for small businesses in the new year. Major provisions of the healthcare law are set to begin on January 1, potentially increasing the overhead of some businesses. The changes could be particularly hard for those businesses that have counted on fixed lower healthcare costs for some time.

    The Obamacare concerns also feed into overall concerns about the government. Though congress actually managed to pass a compromise budget in the closing days of 2013, the government shutdown in October highlighted just how dysfunctional the legislative branch of the U.S. government currently is. The current congress managed to reach record-low disapproval rantings, leading a majority of Americans to declare it the worst congress they’ve seen in their lifetime.

    Though the “do-nothing” congress could be seen as a good thing for businesses wary of any legislative intervention, it is also a constant source of possible major changes. Take, for instance, this year’s fight over states collecting sales tax from internet sales. While physical retailers would no doubt benefit from legislation such as the Marketplace Fairness Act, online retailers most certainly wouldn’t. This means that some segment of small businesses will be harmed either way, and having such legislation constantly up in the air means uncertainty for everyone, which could be yet another source for small business owners’ lack of optimism.

    For small businesses that rely heavily on Google for online traffic and new customers, 2013 was also a very unsteady year. In May Google rolled out its Penguin 2.0 update for its search algorithm, shifting search optimization (for better and worse) once again. Though that update doesn’t seem to have been as catastrophic for search rankings as previous updates have been, the additional Penguin 2.1 update in October added to the uncertainty that Google’s algorithm changes always create. This, for certain businesses, could be fueling the unease the feel around attracting new customers.

    Any or all of these factors are good reason for small business owners to temper their optimism going into the new year. Uncertainty is anathema to good business and is especially dangerous for small businesses. However many new tools and opportunities small businesses get in the new year, old issues such as the fear of government intervention and the constant scramble for new customers are as real as ever- and certainly enough reason to keep optimism in check.

    How optimistic are you for small businesses in 2014? Tell us in the comments below.

  • President Obama, Hillary Clinton Most Admired Among Americans

    Pope Francis may be Time’s person of the year, but Americans have several other people that they admire more than the Catholic Church’s newest leader.

    According to a new Gallup poll, Barack Obama is by far the man most admired by Americans. Of those polled, 16% mentioned the President when asked about the people they admire most. Obama has topped each year’s most-admired man poll since he was first elected U.S. president in 2008.

    Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the second most-admired person to Americans, with 15% of those surveyed mentioning her. According to Gallup this is Clinton’s 18th time as the most-admired woman over the past two decades. Other highly-admired women included Oprah Winfrey (6%), Michelle Obama (5%), Sarah Palin (5%), Condoleezza Rice (2%), and Malala Yousafzai (2%).

    Other men to make the list include former President George W. Bush (4%), Pope Francis (4%), former President Bill Clinton (2%), and the Reverend Billy Graham (2%).

    It is worth noting that Gallup’s polling was conducted in early December – after the President had come under scrutiny for both the troubled rollout of the Healthcare.gov website and his stance on the Syrian civil war. Though American admiration for Obama is far ahead of everyone but Hillary Clinton, the President is far less admired this year than in previous years. The people mentioning Obama as an admired figure this year was nearly half the 30% of Americans who mentioned him in 2012.

    Rounding out the most-admired women list are others who have all made the list is past years: Angela Merkel, Angelina Jolie, the Duchess of Cambridge, and Queen Elizabeth II, who has appeared in the top 10 of most-admired women 46 times since Gallup began tracking such responses in 1948.

    The list of most-admired men is filled out with the eclectic group of Bill Gates, Clint Eastwood, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Jimmy Carter, and Ted Cruz, the U.S. Senator from Texas who was instrumental in orchestrating the shutdown of the U.S. government this past October.

    Image via White House/Pete Souza

  • Americans More Wary of “Big Government” Than Ever Before

    With the U.S. Congress now seemingly more divided than ever, Americans are getting more suspicious of “big government.”

    A new Gallup Poll conducted in early December has found that record numbers of Americans now view big government as a bigger threat than either “big business” or “big labor.” A full 72% of U.S. adults polled believe big government is the largest threat to America’s future, followed by only 21% who believe big business is the largest threat and only 5% who are most wary of big labor.

    Americans’ distrust in government has been steadily rising since Gallup began asking this question in 1965, when big government garnered 35% in the poll. Big government did fall to only 47% mistrust and big business distrust rose to 38% in the poll during the early 00s corporate scandals such as Enron. This happened again to a smaller degree at the beginning of the financial crisis and recession in 2008. Despite these momentary spikes in negative business perception, the upward trend of American mistrust in big government is clear and this year’s findings are the most distrustful Americans have ever been of government since the mid-60s.

    Distrust of big labor, on the other hand, has been slowly decreasing since 1965. Though 29% of Americans were declared big labor a bigger threat than government and business, that percentage has leveled out at around or lower than 10% since the mid-90s. This likely reflects the state of unions in the U.S. as a whole over the past five decades.

    Though Republicans are, predictably, the most mistrustful of big government (92% this year), even a majority of Democrats (56%) believe big government is a bigger threat than big business or big labor.

    Though this year’s poll does fit an overall trend, it also comes during at time in which government programs are coming under increased scrutiny. The botched October rollout of the Healthcare.gov website and House Republicans’ shutdown of the U.S. government caused American opinions of Congress to hit new lows. The year-long flow of revelations about worldwide and domestic NSA spying has also given big government opponents a perfect, modern example of the worst sort of government abuse.

  • Nurses Top 2013 Gallup Honesty and Ethics Poll

    Americans this year rated Nurses as the most honest and ethical profession. A new Gallup poll released today shows that 82% of U.S. adults rate the honesty and ethical standards of nurses as either “high” or “very high.”

    The nursing profession has topped Gallup’s honesty and ethics profession ratings since the firm began polling Americans about it in 1999, with the one-time, 9/11-related firefighter profession ranking highest in 2001. Nurses are followed this year by pharmacists (70%), grade school teachers (70%), doctors (69%), military officers (69%), and police officers (54%).

    Follow police officers is the clergy, a profession that 47% of Americans now rate above average in honesty and ethics. This is the first time the clergy have fallen below 50% in the Gallup poll, and the percentage of Americans how rating the honesty and ethics of the clergy as either “low” or “very low” has now risen to 11%. This represents a large shift in opinion of the clergy in the past three decades, as the profession had a 67% high/very high rating back in 1985.

    While the top of Gallup’s honest/ethical survey list is filled with healing professions, the bottom of the list looks like the butt of a joke. Only 20% of U.S. adults consider Lawyers to be honest and ethical, followed closely by TV reporters (20%), advertisers (14%), and state legislators (14%). The lowest-rated professions fit well with the stereotypes associated with those professions: car salespeople (9%), members of Congress (8%), and Lobbyists (6%).

    Congress’ low ethics rating mirrors Americans’ approval of the legislative body in general. Another recent Gallup poll found that Congress’ approval rating for 2013 is now just 14% – the lowest ever recorded since the firm began surveying U.S. adults on their opinion of congress in 1974.

  • Obamacare Disapproval Drops as Website Improves

    Obamacare Disapproval Drops as Website Improves

    House Republicans’ government shutdown in October did no favors for a congress that hit new lows in approval this year. However, the botched rollout of the Healthcare.gov website also shifted Americans’ opinions against the very law that Republicans were protesting against.

    Now that the Healthcare.gov website is finally moving toward functionality it appears Americans are softening their opinions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, colloquially known as “Obamacare“).

    A new Gallup poll conducted this week shows that disapproval for the ACA is dropping at a consistent rate. From the high of 55% of Americans who said they generally disapprove of the Affordable Care Act in November, the rate of disapproval for the legislation has now dropped to the slim majority of 51%. Approval for the ACA, which dropped to 40% November, has not rebounded with only 41% of Americans this week saying they generally approve of the legislation.

    Perhaps surprisingly, approval of the ACA is is up among both Democrats and Republicans since late November. Democrat approval for the law has begun rising after the October dip and now sits at 75%. Republican approval ticked up only slightly to 10%. Independent approval for the ACA, on the other hand, saw a significant drop to just 31% from the steady 38% to 39% it had been throughout November.

    With less than a majority of Americans actually approving of the ACA, Gallup is predicting that the healthcare legislation will once again be a major campaign focus for candidates in next year’s midterm elections. However, with a bi-partisan budget now looking like a real possibility it seems that Americans will not have to deal with another government shutdown over the issue.

  • Majority of Americans Now View Tea Party Unfavorably

    For around four years now, the Tea Party movement has had a significant effect on U.S. politics. Candidates from the conservative movement have challenged incumbent Republican legislators, and have in some cases won. This has put pressure on the Republican party to double-down on some of its most conservative positions with a no-compromise attitude.

    Though the Tea Party movement remains popular among Republicans, it seems that the U.S. is moving in different direction. A new Gallup poll this week shows that a majority of Americans (51%) now have an unfavorable opinion toward the Tea Party. This represents the lowest favorability rating the movement has seen since Gallup began tracking the metric in 2010.

    The timing of the poll suggests that unfavorable opinions of the Tea Party movement may have increased in the past two months. In October, House Republicans shut down the U.S. government in protest over the rollout of the Affordable Care Act – something the Tea Party movement vocally opposes. Political analysts at the time suspected that the threat Tea Party Republicans in the House posed to Speaker John Boehner’s position was a large factor in why House leadership pushed the confrontation.

    Despite the actions of the Republican party in October, the Tea Party isn’t alone in its rising unfavorable rating. Gallup’s yearly congressional approval rating for 2013 is 14% – the lowest of any year ever recorded by the polling agency.

    The Tea Party movement can also still rely on solid support from Republicans. The new Gallup poll found that 58% of Republicans have a favorable opinion of the movement, while only 28% view it unfavorably.

    Slightly less than half of independents (48%) view the Tea Party unfavorably, and an large portion of them (24%) have no opinion on it.

    Democrats, of course, have a much different view of the movement. Only 10% of Democrats polled said they had a favorable opinion of the Tea Party, while nearly three-fourths of them (74%) have an unfavorable opinion of it.

    (Image courtesy NYyankees51 via Wikimedia Commons)

  • Congressional Approval Dropped to a New Low in 2013

    Though it seems as though congress has always had low approval ratings, Americans’ views of the legislative branch actually increased throughout the 90s. According to Gallup‘s yearly congressional approval ratings, however, that goodwill took a nosedive after peaking at 56% approval in 2011.

    This year congressional approval ratings have hit the lowest point ever recorded by Gallup since the company began measuring the metric in 1974. An average of only 14% of Americans approved of the way the U.S. congress handled its job in 2013. Each month of the year saw a congressional approval rating under 20% – another first for Gallup’s polling.

    This low rating was brought down by November’s monthly congressional approval rating of just 9% – the lowest of any month in the Gallup metric’s history. That month followed October, the month in which House Republicans shut down the U.S. government in protest over the rollout of the Affordable Care Act (AKA “Obamacare”).

    Now that the government is up and running again and the botched rollout of the Healthcare.gov website is being corrected, Americans are softening on congress during the holiday season. Congressional approval in December so far has reached a relatively generous 12%.

    Throughout congressional approval history Democrats and Republicans have sometimes had wildly differing opinions on congress depending on which party controls the legislature. For the current congress, however, nearly everyone is in agreement. An average of only 16% of Democrats approved of congress’ job in 2013, while only 13% of Republicans approved. Independents split the difference with a 14% approval rating average.