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Survey of Pennsylvanians Finds Little Trust In Institutions to Steer Economy

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Survey of Pennsylvanians Finds Little Trust In Institutions to Steer Economy

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=prnw.20090330.NE90787&show_article=1&catnum=0

Mar 30 08:37 AM US/Eastern

Statewide Research Examines Opinions on Numerous Topics

MANSFIELD, Pa., March 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Pennsylvanians have slight confidence in institutions to steer the troubled economy. That's one result from the 2009 Mansfield University Survey released.

"Forty-four percent have little or no trust in the free market to guide the nation's economy and 52 percent do not trust the government to guide the economy," says Dr. Timothy Madigan, associate professor of sociology and co-director of the annual survey of adult Pennsylvanians.


Fifty-seven percent say the primary recipients of federal economic stimulus packages should be individual taxpayers rather than large banks and corporations. Only 11 percent said large companies and banks should be the primary recipients of stimulus money. Forty percent say that the stimulus plan should be focused "long term" while 21 percent favored "short, medium and long term" goals. Eighteen percent said the stimulus should focus on the short term.

The 2009 Mansfield University survey asked 708 Pennsylvanians over the age of 18 for their views on a variety of topics. It is directed by MU sociology professors Timothy Madigan and Janice Purk. The results have a 3.6 percent margin of error. Among the findings:

Expansion of Gambling

Fifty percent of adults in Pennsylvania oppose legalizing video slot machines in taverns while 45 percent support the idea. "These levels of support and opposition are expected because they are close to the percentages of state residents who say that they do and do not gamble for money," says Dr. Madigan.

Impact of Smoking Ban

Forty-eight percent say they are more likely to eat out at restaurants since Pennsylvania instituted a smoking ban in the past year. Only 11 percent said they would be less likely to eat out and the remainder said the ban made no difference in their dining plans.

Local Police

Seventy-three percent of state residents are opposed to the practice of small towns eliminating local police coverage and turning to the Pennsylvania State Police to provide coverage. Around 58 percent say that if a town eliminates its local police force it should be required to pay a user fee for the State Police to provide services.

Cell Phones

Eighty percent say that hand-held cell phones should be banned from use while driving in Pennsylvania. Six states have banned this practice. Pennsylvania still permits it.

Interrogation of murder suspects

Eighty-four percent believe police should be required to videotape interrogations of persons suspected of first-or second-degree murder. "If interrogations for serious crimes such as murder are videotaped, and later on convicted individuals contend that their confessions were coerced, reviewing videotapes will answer a lot of questions," Madigan says. "Some states are now doing this by policy for all murder interrogations."

Global Warming

Pennsylvanians are cooling to the idea of global warming. "This year, the number of firm believers in global warming declined to 65 percent," says Dr. Madigan. "Last year it was over 70 percent and had been rising steadily since 1999 when we first asked the question." At the same time, the number of people who do not believe in global warming rose to 28 percent. "This matches the height of disbelief first recorded by our annual survey on this topic a decade ago," Madigan says.

The war on terror

Sixty-three percent of Pennsylvanians believe it is extremely or very important to find a non-military solution to the war on terror. Only eight percent, however, think such a solution is very likely to be found. Forty-six percent believe it is very unlikely to be found.

SOURCE Mansfield University

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