Americans put reforming immigration and reducing gun violence — the focus of much of the attention on Capitol Hill in recent weeks — at the bottom of a list of 12 priorities for Congress and the president to address. Americans instead say leaders in Washington should give highest priority to [...] Read more »
Trust in Government, Obama Approval Slip
President Barack Obama’s re-election glow is gone. Congress’ reputation remains dismal. And only about one in five Americans say they trust the government to do what’s right most of the time, an Associated Press-GfK poll finds. [cont.] Charles Babington & Jennifer Agiesta, AP Read more »
Democrats Risk Alienating Young Voters by Opposing Cuts in Entitlement Spending
My National Journal colleague Ron Brownstein wrote a column for last week’s magazine that I thought was the most important piece of the week. In it, he argues that “large portions of the Democratic base still don’t understand the political and economic dynamics of the party’s changing electoral coalition.” Brownstein [...] Read more »
GOP Doubles Down on Ryan to Change the Narrative
In what can only be regarded as an interesting gamble, Wisconsin Rep. Paul D. Ryan and House Republicans this week are proposing an economic agenda oddly similar to the one they have been offering for the past two years. … Whatever you think of the proposal as a policy document, [...] Read more »
People agree the sequester is bad. They don’t agree on how to fix it.
Big majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents believe that the sequester will hurt the economy and the military. But a newly released Washington Post-ABC News poll reveals that no proposed solutions to the sequester (of five tested) rallies majority support across party lines. That’s the conundrum facing Obama and Congress [...] Read more »
The War On Entitlements
The debate over reform of Social Security and Medicare is taking place in a vacuum, without adequate consideration of fundamental facts. These facts include the following: Two-thirds of Americans who are over the age of 65 depend on an average annual Social Security benefit of $15,168.36 for at least half [...] Read more »
The Real Conservative Echo Chamber
The James Madison Institute, a conservative think tank in Florida, has a new poll out that purports to show that 59 percent of Floridians oppose the Medicaid expansion that Republican Governor Rick Scott just endorsed. It’s a push poll. And it’s a great example of the phenomenon that keeps making [...] Read more »
Polling on Raising the Age of Medicare Eligibility: Historic Trends and Current Nuances
With Medicare spending expected to rise as a share of the federal budget and the nation’s economy, policymakers are challenged to find ways to reduce the future growth in Medicare spending, while preserving the quality and affordability of care, and assuring fair payments to plans and providers. … Given the recent [...] Read more »
A Bipartisan Nation of Beneficiaries
As President Barack Obama negotiates with Republicans in Congress over federal entitlement spending, a new national survey by the Pew Research Center finds that a majority of Americans (55%) have received government benefits from at least one of the six best-known federal entitlement programs. [cont.] Pew Read more »
Obama Wins Almost 50% Republicans on Tax Mandate in Poll
President Barack Obama won the public argument over taxes so decisively that almost half of Republicans now say he has an election mandate to raise rates on the rich. Majorities of about 2-to-1 also read the election results as an endorsement of Obama’s pledge to protect Social Security and Medicare [...] Read more »