Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Political Issues


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    Religious Groups Issue Statements on War with Iraq

    Compiled by Religion News Service, March 19, 2003 African Methodist Episcopal Church Bishop Adam J. Richardson, president of the Council of Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, said in a March 12 interview that he was troubled by the support of possible war by some in Christianity’s conservative wing. “I think that, from my […]

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    America’s Image Further Erodes, Europeans Want Weaker Ties

    Introduction and Summary Anti-war sentiment and disapproval of President Bush’s international policies continue to erode America’s image among the publics of its allies. U.S. favorability ratings have plummeted in the past six months in countries actively opposing war ­ France, Germany and Russia ­ as well as in countries that are part of the “coalition […]

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    The Faith-Based Initiative Two Years Later: Examining its Potential, Progress and Problems

    10 a.m.-Noon Rescheduled from February 18 Washington, D.C. Featured Speakers: Stanley Carlson-Thies, Fellow, Center for Public Justice; former White House Associate Director for Cabinet Affairs Barry Lynn, Executive Director, Americans United for Separation of Church and State Respondents: Anne Farris, Washington Correspondent, the Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy Fredrica D. Kramer, Senior Consultant […]

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    Tax Plan Fails to Connect, Bush’s Economic Ratings Sag

    Introduction and Summary President Bush’s tax-cut plan is getting a tepid reception from the public and has failed to stem a steady erosion of his ratings on the economy. Barely four-in-ten Americans (43%) approve of his handling of the economy, while 48% disapprove. This marks the first time in Bush’s presidency a Pew survey has […]

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    U.S. Needs More International Backing

    Introduction and Summary A solid 66% majority of Americans favor the use of military force against Iraq, as long as the U.S. has sufficient backing for military action from major allies. But there is a growing belief that the U.S. does not yet have enough international support to conduct the war following the Feb. 14 […]

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    Survey Of Latino Attitudes On A Possible War With Iraq

    Support for U.S. military action against Iraq is weaker in the Hispanic population, particularly among the foreign born, than in the American population overall, according to a Pew Hispanic Center poll of Latino adults taken February 13 to 16, 2003. Several recent polls by news organizations show that 60 to 70 percent of the general public supports military action. In this survey 48 percent of Latinos said they support invading Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power and 43 percent are opposed. Among native-born Latinos support for a possible war is 52 percent, and among foreign-born Latinos support is 46 percent in the Pew Hispanic Center poll. Overall Latino views mirror those of the general public on whether Iraq poses an immediate threat to the United States although somewhat fewer Latinos see a long-term threat from Iraq compared to the findings of general population polls.

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    Powell Reversed the Trend but not the Tenor of Public Opinion

    The American public reacted very favorably to Secretary of State Colin Powell’s presentation to the U.N. Security Council. The flurry of polling conducted over the past week indicates that he made convincing points to the American public about the dangers posed by Saddam’s Hussein’s regime. Powell and President Bush, in his State of the Union […]

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    Religion and American Foreign Policy: Prophetic, Perilous, Inevitable

    10 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Washington, D.C. Presenters: Fr. Bryan Hehir, President, Catholic Charities, USA; Distinguished Professor of Ethics and International Affairs, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University Michael Walzer, Professor, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, N.J.; Author, Just and Unjust Wars and Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pluralism and Equality Respondents: Charles Krauthammer, Columnist, Washington […]

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    Bush Targets Top Global Problem – AIDS

    With his decision to dramatically increase U.S. overseas spending on the AIDS epidemic, President Bush is addressing a crisis that dominates the concerns of people around the world. The spread of AIDS and other infectious diseases is not just a major crisis in Africa, where the toll from AIDS has been highest. Majorities in 31 […]

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    Bush Targets Top Global Problem – AIDS

    With his decision to dramatically increase U.S. overseas spending on the AIDS epidemic, President Bush is addressing a crisis that dominates the concerns of people around the world. The spread of AIDS and other infectious diseases is not just a major crisis in Africa, where the toll from AIDS has been highest. Majorities in 31 […]