What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Week Ending September 9, 2017

Massive blows from Hurricane Harvey, which caused record rains and flooding in coastal Texas and Louisiana, and the impending threat of Hurricane Irma on Florida, sandwiched big political news this week. 

On Friday, Congress passed a $15 billion disaster relief package for Hurricane Harvey and in anticipation of Hurricane Irma.  More voters than ever now agree the clean-up and recovery efforts in situations like these should be the federal government’s responsibility. 

Voters are happy with the emergency response to Harvey so far. 

President Trump has said that Americans uniting as one, as they've done in Texas to battle Harvey, represents the true spirit of America, "a spirit of love, determination and resolve." That American spirit is the subject of this week's Rasmussen Minute.

President Trump’s job approval rating has risen for most of the week despite a monthly job approval of 42% in August, down slightly from 43% the month before.

The Trump Administration on Tuesday announced an end to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the so-called “Dreamers” program, and gave Congress until March to provide a legislative solution to the problem of undocumented adults who arrived in the United States illegally as children.

Critics claim illegal immigrants take jobs away from Americans, but voters tend to favor the continuation of the Obama-era program that protects from deportation illegal immigrants who came here as children.

The majority of voters still say newcomers to America should adopt our culture, language and heritage.

Trump this week expressed his desire to slash the U.S. corporate tax rate from a high of 35% to 15% in order to boost job growth and help middle-class Americans. A majority of Republicans are on board with that idea, but Democrats aren’t convinced that cutting the rates will help. The United States currently has the highest corporate tax rate in the industrial world.

Despite a month-over-month drop in economic confidence, consumers continue to look more favorably upon the economy and their own personal finances than they have in years past, but their enthusiasm for spending may have hit a plateau.

Tension continues to rise in Asia after North Korea detonated its first hydrogen bomb Sunday and reports Friday morning say the country is readying yet another intercontinental ballistic missile launch.  Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters last month considered it likely the United States would be at war with North Korea within six months.

China last month announced that it would not intervene if North Korea initiates an attack against the United States, but would step in to prevent an attack on North Korea if the United States initiates.

-- Most voters still think Hillary Clinton is likely to have broken the law in her handling of classified information and disagree with the FBI’s decision to keep secret its files on last year’s Clinton probe.

In other surveys last week:

-- Voters have long believed there’s a natural tension between government power and individual freedom, but while most think there’s too much government power, they’re less inclined to say so than in the past.

-- President Ronald Reagan said in his first inaugural address in 1981 that “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” Voters still agree and hope Congress and the president don't blunt the cutting knife. But if you really want a stable, well-paying gig, Americans say a government job is the place to be. 

-- Canada is now the first nation in the Americas to allow citizens to list themselves as a third gender on their passports, and California is poised to be the first state to do the same when it comes to drivers’ licenses. But Americans overall aren’t quite ready to go that far.

-- Thirty-two percent (32%) of Likely U.S. Voters now think the country is heading in the right direction, up three points from last week, the lowest point in the Trump administration so far. 

-- Americans don’t attach a lot of importance to Labor Day, although just over half think it signals the end of summer.

Visit the Rasmussen Reports home page for the latest current polling coverage of events in the news. The page is updated several times each day.

Remember, if it's in the news, it's in our polls.