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Dead Constitution See other Dead Constitution Articles Title: 54% Say States Should Be Able To Opt Out of Federal Programs Most voters continue to believe states should be able to ignore federal programs they don’t like, especially if the federal government doesn’t help pay for them. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 54% of Likely U.S. Voters believe states should have the right to opt out of federal programs they don’t agree with. Thirty-one percent (31%) disagree and say states shouldn’t have the right to opt out while 15% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.) Support for states’ rights jumps higher when the question involves federally mandated programs with no checks attached. Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters think states should have the right to opt out of such programs if the federal government doesn’t help pay for them. Twenty-one percent (21%) disagree and 16% are undecided. Data released yesterday showed that 50% of now believe the federal government has too much influence over state governments. Only 11% think it has too little influence. Fifty-four percent (54%) think states should have the right to opt out of the new national health care law or any portion of it that they disagree with. More than half the states are challenging the constitutionality of the health care law in court, many focusing on the requirement that every American must have health insurance. Fifty-six percent (56%) of voters say letting states compete to determine the most effective standards and guidelines would do more to reduce health care costs than having the federal government calling the shots. Most voters also continue to favor repeal of the health care law as they have every week but one since its passage by Congress in March 2010. There’s a wide difference of opinion on both questions between the Political Class and Mainstream voters. Sixty-six percent (66%) of those in the Mainstream think states should have the right to opt out of federal programs, but 82% of Political Class voters disagree. Similarly, while 74% of Mainstream voters feel states should be able to reject unfunded federal mandates, 80% of the Political Class oppose giving states that power. (Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook. The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on August 23-24, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology. Tea Party members are twice as likely as non-members to think states should be allowed to opt out of federal programs they disagree with. Male voters believe more strongly than female voters that states should be able to reject federal programs they don’t agree with. Pro-life voters agree much more than pro-choice voters do. Support for letting states opt out of all federal programs is down a few points compared to February of last year. Seventy-three percent (73%) of Republicans and 61% of voters not affiliated with either of the major parties think states should have the right to opt out of federal programs. Fifty-four percent (54%) of Democrats disagree. When it comes to unfunded mandates from the federal government, GOP voters and unaffiliated voters are even more strongly opposed, and a plurality (43%) of Democrats share that opposition. One-in-five Americans believe individual states have the right to break away from the country, although a majority doesn’t believe it will actually happen. The federal government is now challenging Alabama’s new crackdown on illegal immigration in federal court on the same grounds it’s using to stop the law Arizona passed last year. But 67% of voters think a state should have the right to enforce immigration laws if it believes the federal government is not enforcing them. While a number of states now face serious budget shortfalls, most voters continue to oppose federal bailouts to help them out. Fifty-four percent (54%) oppose allowing states to file for bankruptcy. Just 17% of voters believe the federal government now has the consent of the governed.
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