[StBernard] Poll: Lowest Congressional Approval in Two Decades

Westley Annis Westley at da-parish.com
Thu Sep 3 08:33:48 EDT 2009


Actually John, they've been around for awhile, not sure if they are considered a liberal or conservative polling/reserach group.


>From wiki:




The Pew Research Center is a Washington, D.C. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.> -based think tank <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_tank> that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the United States <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States> and the world. The Center and its projects receive funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pew_Charitable_Trusts> .

The Pew Research Center is a strictly non-advocacy organization, while the Pew Charitable Trusts supports advocacy <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advocacy> and non-advocacy projects.

The Center's work is carried out by seven projects:

* Pew Research Center for the People and the Press <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pew_Research_Center_for_the_People_and_the_Press&action=edit&redlink=1>
* Project for Excellence in Journalism <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_Excellence_in_Journalism>
* Pew Internet and American Life Project <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pew_Internet_and_American_Life_Project&action=edit&redlink=1>
* Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life
* Pew Hispanic Center <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pew_Hispanic_Center>
* Pew Global Attitudes Project <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pew_Global_Attitudes_Project>
* Pew Social and Demographic Trends Project <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pew_Social_and_Demographic_Trends_Project&action=edit&redlink=1>

Here's some info on the Pew Charitable Trusts from wiki:



The Trusts, a single entity, is the successor to, and sole beneficiary of, seven charitable funds established between 1948 and 1979 by the adult children of Sun Oil Company <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunoco> founder Joseph N. Pew <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_N._Pew&action=edit&redlink=1> and his wife, Mary Anderson Pew. The four co-founders were J. Howard Pew <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=J._Howard_Pew&action=edit&redlink=1> , Mary Ethel Pew <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mary_Ethel_Pew&action=edit&redlink=1> , Joseph N. Pew, Jr. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_N._Pew,_Jr.> , and Mabel Pew Myrin <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mabel_Pew_Myrin&action=edit&redlink=1> . The Trusts is based in Philadelphia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia> , Pennsylvania <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania> , with an office in Washington, D.C. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.> .

Joseph Pew and his heirs were politically conservative <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative> . The J. Howard Pew Freedom Trust had as its mission to "acquaint the American people with 'the evils of bureaucracy' and 'the values of a free market <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_market> ' and 'to inform our people of the struggle, persecution, hardship, sacrifice and death by which freedom <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_%28philosophy%29> of the individual <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual> was won.'" Joseph N. Pew, Jr. called Franklin Roosevelt <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Roosevelt> 's New Deal <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal> , "a gigantic scheme to raze U.S businesses to a dead level and debase the citizenry into a mass of ballot-casting serfs."[2] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pew_Charitable_Trusts#cite_note-1>

Most of the early beneficiaries were conservative organizations such as the John Birch Society <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_Society> , the American Liberty League <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Liberty_League> , and the American Enterprise Institute <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Enterprise_Institute> ,[3] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pew_Charitable_Trusts#cite_note-2> [4] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pew_Charitable_Trusts#cite_note-3> although the beneficiaries also included a cancer research institute, a museum, higher education, the American Red Cross <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Red_Cross> , and historically black colleges <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historically_black_colleges> . For many years, the Trusts tended to fund charities and conservative causes located in Philadelphia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia> .

In 2004, the Pew Trusts changed from a foundation into a nonprofit. It can now raise funds freely and devote up to 5% of its budget to lobbying the public sector.

According to the 2007 Annual Report, <http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Static_Pages/About_Us/PP_2007.pdf> five of the 12 persons currently serving on the Board for the Trusts are named Pew, including the Chair. Two of the five are physicians.




The Trusts' public policy areas include the environment, state policy, economic policy and health and human services.

The Trusts, with other groups, backed an effort to create marine protected areas <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_protected_areas> in the Pacific Ocean, near the Marinas Islands.[5] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pew_Charitable_Trusts#cite_note-washpost2009jan7-4> The protect area was officially designated in January 2009, and includes the Mariana Trench, the deepest ocean canyon in the world. Another marine protected area that the Trusts and other groups sought to protect is Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papah%C4%81naumoku%C4%81kea_Marine_National_Monument> which was protected by President Bush in 2006.[6] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pew_Charitable_Trusts#cite_note-pewsite-5>

The Trusts also funds the Pew Research Center <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pew_Research_Center> , the third-largest think tank <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_tank> in Washington DC <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_DC> , after the Brookings Institution <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookings_Institution> and the Center for American Progress <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_American_Progress> .

The Trusts have worked closely with the Vera Institute of Justice <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Institute_of_Justice> on issues related to state correction policies in the "Public Safety Performance Project." [1] <http://www.pewpublicsafety.org/> [2] <http://www.courant.com/news/custom/topnews/hc-noparole-0921,0,3863424.story?coll=hc_tab01_layout> In 2008, the Pew Center on the States reported that more than one in 100 adults in the United States is in jail or prison, an all-time high. The cost to state governments is nearly $50 billion a year and the federal government $5 billion more. The report compiled and analyzed data from the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Justice_Statistics> and Bureau of Prisons <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Prisons> and each state's department of corrections.[7] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pew_Charitable_Trusts#cite_note-washpost2008feb29-6> [8] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pew_Charitable_Trusts#cite_note-pewcenterstudy-7>

In 2007 the Trusts issued a report lauding states that had adopted strategies recommended by the Trusts to avoid increased incarceration of felons, praising in particular Connecticut <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut> for its "data driven policies." In the wake of the July 2007 Cheshire home invasion <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_invasion> , in which two paroled criminals were charged with three murders, the Connecticut Chief State's Attorney admitted the state's criminal justice data system was "nonexistent." [3] <http://www.courant.com/news/custom/topnews/hc-cheshire0912.artsep12,0,2806832.story?coll=hc_tab01_layout> Governor M. Jodi Rell <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Jodi_Rell> abandoned this effort in September 2007 by announcing a parole moratorium for violent offenders. Following a Quinnipiac University <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinnipiac_University> poll showing overwhelming opposition to the early parole of criminals [4] <http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1296.xml?ReleaseID=1116> , state legislators proposed the more traditional approach of longer sentences and additional prison space. [5] <http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-cheshirebills1117.artnov17,0,7863462.story>

The Trusts funds the Pew Biomedical Scholars <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pew_Biomedical_Scholars&action=edit&redlink=1> Program in the Biomedical Sciences, intended to support promising early and mid-career scientists investigating human health, both basic and clinical. The awards provide flexible support ($240,000 over a four-year period). Grantees are encouraged to be entrepreneurial and innovative in their research.[6 <http://www.pewtrusts.org/our_work.aspx?category=498>

JY






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I don't think Pew Research knows what they're talking about - I've never
heard of them..must be a Democratic pollster. The claim..."The Democratic

Party continues to hold substantial advantages over the GOP on nearly all

issues and leadership traits." This contradicts every other national
pollster, including Rasmussen and Zogby. They have Congress's approval
ratings in the low teens with the GOP twice as high as the Demos.

John





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