One of Kevin McCarthy’s first acts as speaker of the House was to take a selfie with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the far-right conspiracy theorist and election denier who has emerged as one of his staunchest allies. That image, which Greene immediately posted on social media, encapsulates the wager McCarthy […] Read more »
Biden Approval Rating Jumps As He Pivots Toward Center
President Joe Biden’s approval rating has climbed to a nine-month high as he pivots to govern with a divided Congress, the January IBD/TIPP Poll finds. Biden’s job approval rating jumped 4.5 points to 49.1 in the new IBD/TIPP Poll. The IBD/TIPP presidential job approval figure indicates that 49.1% of adults […] Read more »
Reason To Believe: How and why irrationality takes hold, and what do to about it
… Why do people believe in outlandish conspiracy theories, such as that Covid-19 was a plot by Bill Gates to implant trackable microchips in our bodies? Or in blatant fake news, such as that Joe Biden called Trump supporters “dregs of society”? Or in paranormal woo-woo, like astrology, extra-sensory perception […] Read more »
Joe Biden is gaining ground. But Democrats want someone else in 2024.
President Biden notched significant victories in 2022: He signed deals on climate change, infrastructure and gun control, and Democrats expanded their Senate majority in the midterm elections. But despite these accomplishments, only 47 percent of Democrats want him to seek a second term. Biden’s numbers are trending upwards: In November […] Read more »
Short-Term Inflation Expectations Continue to Decline, Tick up Slightly in Longer Term
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data today released the December 2022 Survey of Consumer Expectations, which shows that inflation expectations continued to decline in the short term and were unchanged over the medium term. Longer-term inflation expectations edged up slightly. Household spending expectations fell sharply […] Read more »
McCarthy speaker saga shows Trump is far from untouchable ahead of 2024
Kevin McCarthy’s seven-year-plus dream to become House speaker finally became reality early Saturday morning. The California Republican’s tumultuous journey concluded after six Republican holdouts voted “present,” allowing him to win on the 15th ballot with a lower majority threshold. McCarthy credited Donald Trump for his support in the speaker’s race, […] Read more »