A new study using data from the General Social Survey has found that Americans are less observant of religion than perhaps ever before.
The study was undertaken by researchers from Duke University and University College in London and found that only 18 percent of Americans under the age of 60 attend church at least once a month. In contrast, among those aged 70 and older, 41 percent attend worship services.
“The U.S. has long been considered an exception to the modern claim that religion is declining…. But if you look at the trajectory, and the generational dynamic that is producing the trajectory, we may not be an exception after all,” Mark Chaves, a professor of sociology, divinity and religion at Duke University said . . .
“These declines aren’t happening fast, but the signs are now unmistakable. It has become clear that American religiosity has been declining for decades, and the decline is driven by the same dynamic of generational change that has driven religious decline across the developed world,” Professor David Voas of University College’s Institute of Education said. (Read more from “New Study Finds America Is Less Religious Than Ever Before” HERE)
00kathleenhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngkathleen2016-03-21 01:00:332016-04-11 10:51:20New Study Finds America Is Less Religious Than Ever Before
By Jack Davis. A new poll of New York State voters has devastated the theory that the demise of Marco Rubio’s candidacy could somehow transform the dynamics of Donald Trump’s dominance in the Republican president contest. In fact, it shows him getting stronger.
A poll by Boston’s Emerson College, taken earlier this week as the Florida senator was fading away, shows Trump with what Emerson College Polling Society adviser Spencer Kimball called a “commanding lead.” New York’s GOP primary is April 19.
Trump polled 64 percent of the support in the poll, 52 points ahead of Sen. Ted Cruz at 12 percent. Rubio, who suspended his campaign Tuesday night, about midway through the polling cycle, received 4 percent support. Ohio Gov. John Kasich only garnered 1 percent support.
“Trump has the highest favorable ratings with GOP voters, 71%/23%, followed by Cruz at 52%/44% and Kasich at 54%/34%,” according to a press release announcing the poll results. “Consistent with other primaries, Trump supporters are the most loyal, with 89% of those who see him favorably planning to cast their ballot for him. In contrast, only 21% of Republicans who have a favorable opinion of Cruz say they will vote for him.”
On the Democratic side, the poll shows Hillary Clinton, a former U.S. Senator from New York, leading Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., 71 percent to 23 percent. (Read more from “Brand New Poll Without Rubio Released… No One Could Have Predicted These Results” HERE)
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Trump Still Holds 15-Point Lead Over Cruz
By Rasmussen Reports. Support for all three of the remaining Republican candidates has grown with the narrowing of the field, but Donald Trump still holds a double-digit lead over both his rivals for the GOP presidential nomination.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Republican Primary Voters finds Trump with 43% support to Senator Ted Cruz’s 28% and Ohio Governor John Kasich’s 21%. Just five percent (5%) of GOP voters like some other candidate, and three percent (3%) remain undecided.
In our last survey of the Republican field just after the February 20 South Carolina Primary and Jeb Bush’s departure from the race, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Dr. Ben Carson were still in the running. At that time, it was Trump 36%, Rubio 21%, Cruz 17%, Kasich 12% and Carson with eight percent (8%) GOP support.
Despite Trump’s wins in most of the state primaries since then, all three of the candidates have experienced similar gains in support, but the billionaire businessman still holds a 15-point lead over his closest rival. Carson has endorsed Trump; the other candidates who have left the race over the past month have not thrown their support to anyone else at this point. (Read more from “Trump Still Holds 15-Point Lead Over Cruz” HERE)
00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-03-19 01:14:482016-04-11 10:51:20Brand New Poll Without Rubio Released… No One Could Have Predicted These Results
By Maggie Haberman and Michael D. Shear. In unusually candid remarks, President Obama privately told a group of Democratic donors last Friday that Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont was nearing the point at which his campaign against Hillary Clinton would end, and that the party must soon come together to back her.
Mr. Obama acknowledged that Mrs. Clinton was perceived to have weaknesses as a candidate, and that some Democrats did not view her as authentic . . .
Mr. Obama made the remarks after reporters had left a fund-raising event in Austin, Tex., for the Democratic National Committee. The comments were described by three people in the room for the event, all of whom were granted anonymity to describe a candid moment with the president. The comments were later confirmed by a White House official. (Read more from “Obama Is ‘Privately’ Doing Something Major for Hillary Clinton” HERE)
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Sanders Fights for Life as Clinton Wins Another State, Obama Turns Screws
By Fox News. Bernie Sanders, still insisting he has a fighting chance to capture the Democratic presidential nomination, ratcheted up his campaign schedule Friday to hit all three Western states voting next week as he scrambles to recover from Hillary Clinton’s recent five-state sweep – while President Obama applies pressure from the outside on the Vermont senator’s underdog bid.
Overnight, Clinton was declared the winner of the last remaining unresolved primary from Tuesday’s five contests, in Missouri. Sanders said he won’t seek a recount in the tight race.
But, speaking with the Associated Press, he maintained he can still close the delegate gap.
“I don’t believe they have an insurmountable lead,” Sanders said Thursday from Arizona, where he was campaigning. “Secretary Clinton has done phenomenally well in the Deep South and in Florida. That’s where she has gotten the lion’s share of votes. And I congratulate her for that. But we’re out of the Deep South now.” (Read more from “Sanders Fights for Life as Clinton Wins Another State, Obama Turns Screws” HERE)
00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-03-19 01:14:172016-04-11 10:51:21Obama Is ‘Privately’ Doing Something Major for Hillary Clinton
When Marco Rubio lost the Florida Republican Primary Tuesday he became the first sitting GOP senator to fail to win his home state primary since Hiram Johnson in 1924.
Previously, The Daily Caller reported that Rubio was the first to do this since 1988. We were mistaken as the Kansas GOP website had George H.W Bush winning the state’s caucus, in fact Sen. Bob Dole had won it.
Sen. Hiram Johnson lost the California GOP primary to incumbent President Calvin Coolidge. Among both parties the last sitting senator to lose in their home state was Eugene McCarthy in 1968. He lost to a fellow Minnesotan – Vice President Hubert Humphrey. Minnesota did not have a primary that year but Humphrey got more delegates from the state than McCarthy. (Read more from “Marco Rubio Accomplished Something That Hasn’t Been Done in Nearly a Century” HERE)
00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-03-19 01:12:062016-04-11 10:51:21Marco Rubio Accomplished Something That Hasn’t Been Done in Nearly a Century
Wikileaks, an international organization that publishes leaked classified and government documents, recently made available over 30,000 e-mails from Hillary Clinton’s private server, in which can be found collusion with Google and YouTube to block access to the infamous video which she blamed as a catalyst for the 2012 Benghazi consulate attacks.
The private server, which has become a recurring issue during Clinton’s presidential campaign, was stored in the Clinton’s home in Chappaqua, New York. This act was a direct violation of normal federal government record-keeping procedures at the Department of State and became a more severe offense when it was revealed that Clinton’s server contained nearly 2,100 e-mails that were officially marked classified.
Although Clinton has maintained that the purpose of the server was strictly “a matter of convenience,” the FBI has started an investigation to determine if her use of the private server to transmit classified information is unlawful. According to the investigation, “more than 26 percent of them contained information that the government now deems classified or secret.” (Read more from “Wikileaks Publishes Searchable Hillary Clinton Email Archive” HERE)
Conservative movement professionals in Washington, D.C. are plotting to form a “blacklist” of Donald Trump supporters that they can kick out of the movement, never to return.
Several conservative talking heads and Beltway consultant types have been very angry about the rise of businessman Trump, who is pushing for American sovereignty, a reversal of neoconservative foreign policy, and competitive bidding for pharmaceuticals even though the drug companies that fund the Republican Party would take a financial hit.
So far, anti-Trump think pieces referencing William F. Buckley have been ineffective.Memes comparing Trump to Hitler haven’t worked. So these Republicans are getting more Nixon-y. They’re coming out with an Enemies List.
CNN contributor and former Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) spokeswoman Amanda Carpenter volunteered to take the lead in writing the list.
Has anyone compiled the definitive list of conservatives who should be blackballed for supporting Trump? I will if it doesn't exist.
But Carpenter, who once got called an “idiot” by Donald Trump, did not mention that she formerly defended Trump on numerous occasions. Luckily, savvy Twitter users pointed it out for her in the responses below her tweet. (Read more from “GOP Set to ‘Blacklist’ Trump Supporters” HERE)
00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-03-19 01:10:542016-04-11 10:51:22GOP Set to ‘Blacklist’ Trump Supporters
By Pam Key. Thursday on The Blaze TV, host Glenn Beck told his listeners why he is campaigning for Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz and he urged them to do the same because if America goes away, the blood will be on their hands.
Beck said, “I’m going to be in Arizona and Utah for the campaign and I’m doing it because that’s what I can do. Others can do whatever it is you do. But even if it’s one person, you be bold. We are on the Titanic, it’s going down. Knock on every single door. They don’t want to come? Fine. Don’t waste time. The Titanic is going down. But you knock on every single door—’Can I tell you about the truth? Can I tell you about the truth? Can I tell you about the truth, because here’s what’s coming, here’s what’s coming.’ They don’t want to hear it, up to them.”
(Read more from “Glenn Beck: Failure to Elect Ted Cruz Will Leave Us With Blood on Our Hands” HERE)
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Trump Goes on All-Out Twitter Tirade Against Cruz
By Oliver Darcy. Republican front-runner Donald Trump unleashed Friday afternoon on his political rivals in one of his trademark Twitter tirades.
Trump first went after his chief GOP rival, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Calling the Texas senator a liar, the real estate mogul said that Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) endorsement of him would only serve as a “jinx” in the campaign.
Lyin' Ted Cruz lost all five races on Tuesday-and he was just given the jinx – a Lindsey Graham endorsement. Also backed Jeb. Lindsey got 0!
00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-03-19 01:10:152016-04-11 10:51:22Glenn Beck: Failure to Elect Ted Cruz Will Leave Us With Blood on Our Hands
The most wanted terrorist in Europe, considered the mastermind in November’s multi-targeted attack in Paris that left 130 people dead, was arrested Friday by Belgian authorities.
But residents in the Molenbeek district of Brussels, where Saleh Abdeslam was captured, didn’t breathe a sigh of relief. Within hours, the district, which has a majority Muslim population, erupted into riots. Dozens of Abdeslam’s fans attacked police with bottles, stones, and other objects, local press reported, angered by the arrest of their “hero.”
The situation is developing.
Worse yet, Belgian newspaper De Morgen reported that “the whole neighborhood” knew where Abdeslam was ever since the Paris attacks. Nobody tipped off authorities.
The violence and code of silence over Abeslam’s hideout is not as surprising as it might seem. As we’ve noted previously, the Paris attacks were hatched in Molenbeek, in addition to the 2015 attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo’s offices. (Read more from “MISUNDERSTANDERS OF ISLAM: Violence and Riots Break out in Molenbeek After Paris Terror Suspect’s Arrest” HERE)
00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-03-19 01:09:512016-04-11 10:51:22MISUNDERSTANDERS OF ISLAM: Violence and Riots Break out in Molenbeek After Paris Terror Suspect’s Arrest
By Eliza Collins. Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County is relishing the opportunity to host Donald Trump at a rally on his own turf Saturday — and serve as the muscle at the same time.
After taking a few days off from his long streak of attention-grabbing rallies, Trump is cranking back up this weekend, and has scheduled one of his events right in the backyard of the long-serving and controversial Arizona sheriff.
“Here I’m gonna be kinda wearing two hats — in charge of the security there in the town and also participating, I would imagine, with Trump in the rally, so it makes it interesting,” Arpaio said in an interview with POLITICO, adding that it “is going to be a lot of fun taking care of business there.”
Arpaio, who officially endorsed Trump back in January, said that he’s expecting protests at Saturday’s event. But the 83-year-old sheriff who has repeatedly been accused of racial profiling Hispanic residents says Trump’s clashes pale in comparison to his own. (Read more from “Sheriff Arpaio to Police Trump’s Arizona Rally” HERE)
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Latino, Immigrant Activists to Protest All Trump Arizona Events
By Griselda Nevarez. Hundreds of Latinos and immigrant rights advocates plan to protest Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump when he speaks this weekend at several campaign events in Arizona, which holds its presidential primary Tuesday.
Trump is scheduled to attend an event Saturday morning with Fox News anchor Sean Hannity in downtown Phoenix before traveling about 30 miles to another event in Fountain Hills. He’ll end the day with a rally in Tucson. Organizers say they’re working out the details as they plan to have a presence at all three of Trump’s events.
“We’re coming together to stand up against the hate and the violence that Donald Trump is inciting towards our people,” said Carlos Garcia, director of Puente Arizona, one of the groups helping to organize the protests.
Garcia said he and other protesters “will not be there to antagonize or to be anything less than nonviolent, but we do have to be careful.” He noted that in July, when Trump made his first presidential campaign stop in Arizona, Trump supporters yelled racial slurs at protesters. Some protesters were also spat on, shoved and hit by Trump supporters. (Read more from “Latino, Immigrant Activists to Protest All Trump Arizona Events” HERE)
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Protesters Block Traffic Around Trump Rally
Dozens of protesters blocked traffic near a Donald Trump event in Arizona on Saturday, while demonstrators marched in New York City to protest the GOP front-runner.
The protesters in Arizona parked vehicles sideways on Shea Boulevard, blocking both lanes of traffic into Fountain Hills, where Trump held a rally Saturday afternoon, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Joaquin Enriquez told CNN.
Enriquez described Shea Boulevard as the main artery into the area and the protesters’ actions were causing motorists to drive into oncoming traffic as they tried to get around them. Traffic was backed up for miles due to the blockage. (Read more from Protesters Block Arizona Rally HERE)
Following President Barack Obama’s nomination of Chief Judge Merrick Garland of the D.C. Circuit to fill the vacancy left by sudden passing of Justice Antonin Scalia, there has been an intense clamor from the left for the Senate to “do your job!”
By this, they mean that the Senate has a constitutional obligation to give Garland a hearing and an up-or-down vote, which Senate Republicans have announced they are not going to do. But is the Senate obligated under the Constitution to do so?
The answer is clearly “no.”
The president “shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint … Judges of the supreme Court ….” That’s all Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution says about the confirmation process for justices to the Supreme Court of the United States.
The Senate can, if it so chooses, “do its job” by withholding its consent and advising the president that it will not consider any nominee to fill this vacancy until after the forthcoming election.
Then Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., had no doubt that the Senate could “do its job” by refusing to consider a nominee for the Supreme Court.
He made that point crystal-clear in 1992 when President George H.W. Bush was in office when he said:
The Senate … must consider how it would respond to a Supreme Court vacancy that would occur in the full throes of an election year. It is my view that if the president goes the way of Presidents Fillmore and Johnson and presses an election-year nomination, the Senate Judiciary Committee should seriously consider not scheduling confirmation hearings on the nomination until after the political campaign season is over.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., clearly had this same understanding when he announced a year and a half before the end of the George W. Bush administration that the Senate should not confirm any nominee to the Supreme Court should a vacancy occur until after the next election.
In 2005, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., also reminded us:
The duties of the Senate are set forth in the U.S. Constitution. Nowhere in that document does it say the Senate has a duty to give presidential nominees a vote. It says appointments shall be made with the advice and consent of the Senate. That is very different than saying every nominee receives a vote.
And, of course, then Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., certainly felt he was doing his job when he helped to lead a filibuster against the nomination of Samuel Alito—in other words, an effort to deny him an up-or-down vote—to the Supreme Court, something he now says he regrets.
According to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, out of the 160 men and women whose names have been submitted by presidents to the Senate for consideration for positions on the Supreme Court, 36 were not confirmed, and 25 of those did not receive a vote.
You would have to go all the way back to 1888 for the last time an election-year nominee was confirmed under divided government, as we have now.
In that year, Democratic President Grover Cleveland nominated Melville W. Fuller to be chief justice, who was confirmed by a Senate in which the Republicans had a two-vote majority. Suffice it to say that, in marked contrast to earlier times, today, two facts are obvious: The Supreme Court plays a far more active role in deciding issues that were formerly resolved by the people through the democratic process, and the confirmation process is far more politicized—both developments Scalia decried.
What the Senate chooses to do is, of course, up to the Senate. But those who are now saying that by choosing not to schedule a hearing for Garland, the Senate is not “doing its job” or is otherwise failing to carry out a constitutional obligation are dead wrong. (For more from the author of “Liberals Told Senators ‘Do Your Job’ on Court Nominee. What the Constitution Says.” please click HERE)
00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-03-19 01:08:152016-04-11 10:51:23Liberals Told Senators ‘Do Your Job’ on Court Nominee. What the Constitution Says. [+video]
