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Republicans express intensely negative views of “socialism” and highly positive views of “capitalism.” By contrast, majorities of Democrats view both terms positively, though only modest shares have strong impressions of each term. Overall, a much larger share of Americans have a positive impression of capitalism (65%) than socialism (42%), according to a new survey by Pew Research Center. There are large partisan differences in views of capitalism: Nearly eight-in-ten Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (78%) express somewhat or very positive reactions to the term, while just over half of Democrats and Democratic leaners (55%) say they have a positive impression. But...

Americans view made-up news and information as a bigger problem than other critical issues, including terrorism, immigration, climate change and racism, according to a new survey from Pew Research Center... ...While most Americans blame political leaders and activist groups for creating misinformation over journalists, most say "the news media" is the most responsible for fixing the problem. {Ha!!! See poster's comment} Republicans blame journalists more for the issue than Democrats, according to the survey. {See poster's comment}

ERIE, Pa. — An approximately 300-pound woman has pleaded guilty to third-degree murder for killing her nearly 120-pound boyfriend by beating him with a table leg and sitting on him, rendering him unable to breathe. Authorities say 44-year-old former home health aide Windi C. Thomas entered the plea in Erie County court on Monday, agreeing to a recommended sentence of 18 to 36 years. Prosecutors say she stabbed him in the hand and head and beat him severely in the head with the table leg.

Republicans and Democrats don’t just disagree on the issues, though of course they do. Americans are divided on which issues are important in the first place. That was the unmistakable finding of a new survey from the Pew Research Center. The research outfit polled 10,000 Americans, about a month before the 2018 midterms. The survey found that, when you break Americans out by political party, they often have totally different notions about what the biggest issues facing the country are. This chart sums it up better than I ever could: on race, on climate change, on gun violence, on illegal...

Most U.S. adults identify with a particular religious denomination or group. They describe themselves as Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Jewish, Mormon or Muslim– to name just a few... The new typology sorts Americans into seven groups based on the religious and spiritual beliefs they share, how actively they practice their faith, the value they place on their religion, and the other sources of meaning and fulfillment in their lives... Sunday Stalwarts are the most religious group. Not only do they actively practice their faith, but they also are deeply involved in their religious congregations. God-and-Country Believers are less active in church...

SALT LAKE CITY — American women might be waiting longer to have kids. But according to a new report, more women are having children than a decade ago. A new Pew Research Center report found that the share of American women who have given birth was higher in 2016 than it was 10 years ago. In fact, 86 percent of women from 40 to 44 years old said they were mothers, compared to 80 percent who said the same in 2016. The number is similar to what it was back in the 1990s.

According to recent media accounts, America is in a population death spiral. Open-borders activists have seized on the narrative to promote ever-looser immigration policies.But the narrative is wrong.In fact, women in the U.S. are more likely to be mothers than in the past, and they are having more children, reports the Pew Research Center.The Pew study found that women have 2.07 children during their lives on average – up from 1.86 in 2006, the lowest on record. Family size is also up. In 2016, mothers at the end of their childbearing years had had about 2.42 children, compared with 2.31...

The number of defensive gun uses (dgu) in the United States is difficult to measure. Surveys which ask about defensive gun uses have routinely shown numbers between 500,000 and 3 million per year.  A survey, specifically designed to determine dgu in the U.S., the National Self Defense Survey, (NSDS) found about 2.5 million dgu per year in 1993. The National Crime Victim Survey (NCVS), shows smaller numbers, about 80,000 per year. The NCVS does not ask about defensive gun uses, but depends on victims volunteering the information.Numerous other polls have found similar numbers to what the NSDS found.  These...

Among those who wish a disarmed population, any measure that makes firearms harder to access, possess, and use, is considered a positive thing. Thus guns with complex electronic circuitry, that only allow certain users, possibly at certain times and certain places, to fire the gun, are being promoted as items that can save lives. From Bloomberg the spark: Bloomberg follows 21-year-old inventor and entrepreneur Kai Kloepfer, who's created a "smart" handgun that could save thousands of lives. This is a one sided argument that pointedly ignores the other side of the equation. "Smart" guns can easily cost lives. According...

Nearly a year after Donald Trump was elected president, the Republican coalition is deeply divided on such major issues as immigration, America’s role in the world and the fundamental fairness of the U.S. economic system. The Democratic coalition is largely united in staunch opposition to President Trump. Yet, while Trump’s election has triggered a wave of political activism within the party’s sizable liberal bloc, the liberals’ sky-high political energy is not nearly as evident among other segments in the Democratic base. And Democrats also are internally divided over U.S. global involvement, as well as some religious and social issues.

I’ve been tracking the decline of Christianity in America ever since serving as a youth pastor in the early 2000’s. Even back then I couldn’t help but notice the astonishing rate at which young Christians were leaving the Church. The polls have been consistent about this, and the latest Pew Research Center study (surveying more than 4,700 U.S. adults) is no exception. If you’re a Christian, the poll offers a distressing assessment:Our Numbers Are Shrinking – Only 56% of Americans say they believe in God “as described in the Bible.” The number of people who claim a belief in God – or...

More than four decades after Roe v. Wade legalized abortion nationwide, most Americans (57%) are supportive of legal abortion, according to a 2017 Pew Research Center survey. But a substantial minority (40%) says abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, and within some U.S. denominations and religious groups, this figure is much higher.

More than in any other country, Americans on both sides of the political aisle believe the media does does a poor job covering political issues fairly, according to a blockbuster new survey of media consumption in 38 nations. What’s more, the Pew Research Center’s study found that supporters of President Trump believe the media is doing a worse job covering politics than the supporters of any of the other international political leaders in countries surveyed. Pew Research Center “Large gaps in ratings of the media emerge between governing party supporters and non-supporters. On the question of whether their news media...

Americans are getting a little less religious in their Christmas observance, though the vast majority still celebrate the holiday that marks the birth of Jesus Christ, according to the Pew Center on Religion and Public Life. Pew regularly polls Americans on religious beliefs and observance, asking the same questions over time in order to follow trends in American religion. Here are some of the results of their poll of 1,503 Americans: In the 2017 poll, 66 percent believe Jesus was born to a virgin, compared to 73 percent in the 2014 poll. This year, 51 percent of Americans plan to...

University professors are not taking kindly to the latest Pew Research poll numbers showing Republican-leaning voters have an unreceptive view of academia, and some are pointing the finger of blame at conservative media. The June 2017 Pew survey showed 58 percent of right-leaning voters reported higher education has a negative impact on the country. Only 36 percent of Republicans polled held a favorable view – a hefty double-digit loss from the 54 percent favorability polled just two years ago.

In the opening days of the Trump administration, Democrats are far more interested than Republicans in seeing the news media assume the traditional role of watchdogs to people in power, a survey released on Wednesday found. The Pew Research Center poll found that 89 percent of Democrats judged media criticism worth it because it keeps political leaders from doing things they shouldn’t, while only 42 percent of Republicans felt that way. With Democrats out of power, “they see the media as the last line of defense,” said Tim Graham, director of media analysis at the conservative Media Research Center. At...

College-aged millennials today are far more likely than the general population to be religiously unaffiliated. This is true when they are compared to previous generations as well. In fact, the Pew Research Center documents that millennials are the least outwardly religious American generation, where “one in four are unaffiliated with any religion, far more than the share of older adults when they were ages 18 to 29.” Just over 60 percent of millennials say that Christianity is “judgmental,” and 64 percent say that “anti-gay” best describes most churches today. In ministry circles, it has long been reported that of youth...

That’s not unheard of, according to Pew, but it’s awfully rare over the last 40 years polling. And it doesn’t seem to be a fluke result in light of yesterday’s NBC poll. That survey found 57 percent saying that government should do more to solve problems and meet the needs of Americans, a 20-year high. Pew asked a different question along the same lines: Do you prefer a bigger government that offers more services or a smaller one that offers fewer services? Result: 48/45. The last time that metric was evenly split was 2008.Pew drilled down and asked people...

As was the case throughout the presidential campaign, more Americans continue to oppose (62%) than favor (35%) building a wall along the entire U.S. border with Mexico. And while President Donald Trump has said the U.S. would make Mexico pay for the wall, the public is broadly skeptical: 70% think the U.S. would ultimately pay for the wall, compared with just 16% who think Mexico would pay for it. The proposal to build the wall was one of several contentious issues that loomed over a meeting between Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Mexican officials this week to discuss immigration...

A few years ago, Mark Steyn sagely observed, “In America today, few activities are as profitable as a ‘nonprofit.’” Nothing warrants changing that assessment now. President-elect Trump has a lot on his plate if he plans to turn around the ship of state. But if it’s not too presumptuous, I’d like to add one more item to his agenda: a substantial rewrite of the laws respecting our tax-exempt sector, reining in private foundations.