3.12.19 Americans Broadly Support Nondiscrimination Protections for LGBT People
| Americans Broadly Support Nondiscrimination Protections for LGBT People A new PRRI analysis shows that a majority of Americans across all demographics support laws protecting LGBT people. The new report finds that support for nondiscrimination protections for LGBT Americans has retained majority support across every major demographic since at least 2011. PRRI found that nearly seven in ten (69 percent) Americans favor laws that would protect LGBT people from discrimination in the job market, public accommodations, and housing. The majority of Democrats (79 percent), independents (70 percent), and Republicans (56 percent) say they favor laws that would shield LGBT people from various kinds of discrimination. The report also found that the majority of all religious groups favor state laws that protect LGBT people from discrimination in job, housing, and public accommodations. Click here to read more. |
| David Frum: “If Liberals Won’t Enforce Borders, Fascists Will” In The Atlantic’s latest issue, David Frum urges liberals and Democrats to take command of U.S. immigration policy. If not, the far right will be politically encouraged to do so, Frum argues. “We need to make hard decisions now about what will truly benefit current and future Americans,” Frum says, citing PRRI polling. “When natives have few children, immigrants look like replacements. No wonder that, according to a 2016 survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute and The Atlantic, nearly half of white working-class Americans agree with this statement,” Frum says. “Things have changed so much that I often feel like a stranger in my own country.” |
| Capitalism is Irredeemable System, Says Rep. Ocasio-Cortez This month, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) discussed the tension between capitalism and climate change at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas. “Capitalism is an ideology of capital –- the most important thing is the concentration of capital and to seek and maximize profit. And that comes at any cost to people and to the environment, so to me capitalism is irredeemable,” Ocasio-Cortez said. Ocasio-Cortez’s comments come at a time of support for alternative economic systems. A majority (54 percent) of Americans identify socialism as a system of government that provides citizens with services like health insurance, retirement support, and access to free higher education, according to PRRI’s 2018 American Values Survey. Forty-three percent of Americans say socialism is a system where the government controls key parts of the economy, such as utilities, transportation, and communications industries. |
| Republicans Hopeful Upcoming California Redistricting Will Create Favorable Map In June, California auditors will begin accepting applications from citizens who would like to help redraw the state’s congressional and legislative maps, John Myers reports in The Los Angeles Times. Redistricting takes place once a decade and has “enormous political consequences,” Myers says. Although Democrats outnumber Republicans by 4 million in the state, the commission’s panel will be 50 percent Republican. With more of a voice, GOP officials are hopeful they can get a more favorable map in 2020. According to a PRRI/The Atlantic poll, 70 percent of Democrats, 56 percent of independents, and 48 percent of Republicans think that gerrymandering is a major problem in our election system. |