Texans Want Background Checks & Higher Minimum Wage

The Republicans in Congress have sold out to the NRA and the gun manufacturers. They have absolutely refused to make all gun buyers go through a background check to purchase a firearm -- in spite of the fact that between 80% and 90% of all Americans want it. They seem not to care that over 30,000 people in this country are killed with guns each year own this country, and about 40% of all gun sales are done without any background check (including criminals and terrorists).

One might think that the bright red state of Texas would agree with those Republican officials, but that would be wrong (see top chart). It turns out that 89% of all Texans want a background check to be done for ALL gun buyers (including 91% of Republicans, 80% of Independents, and 94% of Democrats). Republican officials are not only out-of-step with all Texans, but they are also out-of-step with the Texans in their own party.

And that's not the only issue where they disagree with most Texas voters (see bottom chart). It turns out that 72% of Texans would support raising the minimum wage to at least $10 an hour (including 53% of Republicans, 74% of Independents, and 94% of Democrats). Once again, these GOP officials find themselves disagreeing with all Texans and a majority of those in their own party.

These charts were made from information in a new Public Policy Polling survey -- done between August 12th and 14th of a sample of 944 likely Texas voters, with a margin of error of 3.2 points.