Americans’ confidence in American leadership is flagging to such a degree that it poses a critical threat to our democracy, particularly as moneyed interests seek to manipulate the malaise and stir policy and politician away from principle and toward profit. CONT. Charles M. Blow, New York Times Read more »
Public Faith in Congress Falls Again, Hits Historic Low
Americans’ confidence in Congress has sunk to a new low. Seven percent of Americans say they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in Congress as an American institution, down from the previous low of 10% in 2013. … Americans’ current confidence in Congress is not only […] Read more »
Eric Cantor’s primary loss and Wall Street reform
Pundits have blamed Eric Cantor’s shocking upset in the Virginia 7th District Republican primary on many things, from immigration, to the broader alienation of “establishment” Republicans from their activist, Tea Party base, to Cantor’s poor performance minding his own district. But challenger David Brat put the coddling of big banks […] Read more »
Who’s Looking Out for the Little Person? Small Businesses Fly; Congress Flunks
Americans overwhelmingly say small businesses are on their side, followed by local news media and local government. But helpfulness scores turn middling to mildly negative for a range of other institutions in society – and sharply negative for one, the U.S. Congress. CONT. Gary Langer, ABC News Read more »
Polling for a new federalism
Several items in the news lately demonstrate that our nation’s current strain of federalism is straining. State-legal marijuana vendors in Colorado and Washington cannot use banks because of federal rules. The federal and some state governments are vexed over handling tax and other legal matters for same-sex couples married in […] Read more »
Penalties for Mortgage Bond Flaws Seen OK With Investors in Poll
Penalties against some of the biggest banks for actions such as selling shoddy mortgage bonds and rigging interest rates were deemed too high by 28 percent of respondents to a Bloomberg Global Poll, while a majority said they were about right or too low. CONT. Dawn Kopecki, Bloomberg Read more »