… While consumer confidence is up, business confidence is going in the opposite direction. It’s popular to say these days that business leaders are looking for certainty. That is no doubt true, but some of these feelings articulated by CEOs, CFOs, and other corporate leaders are really a nice way […] Read more »
Entitlement Cuts Feared Most in ‘Cliff’ Talks
As President Obama and congressional leaders race to avert the fiscal cliff, Americans remain concerned that whatever budget deal they strike will cut too much from Medicare and Social Security, according to a new poll. More of the Americans surveyed (35 percent) are worried about such cutbacks than seeing their […] Read more »
Voters want soft fiscal cliff landing, but offer no net
Americans clearly want Washington to solve its looming budget crisis, and they clearly reject almost every option to do that, according to a new McClatchy-Marist Poll. The only option that voters endorse, by a ratio of 3-to-2, is to raise taxes on the wealthy. [cont.] Steven Thomma, McClatchy Newspapers Read more »
More Americans Want Leaders to Compromise on Fiscal Cliff
Americans have become even more convinced over the past week that government leaders in Washington should compromise on their principles and beliefs on tax increases and spending in order to reach an agreement that avoids the “fiscal cliff” on Jan. 1. … Americans continue to give higher approval ratings to […] Read more »
Permanent Gridlock
… President Obama claims a mandate to raise taxes on the wealthy to reduce the deficit. Does the evidence back up that claim? Perhaps—it just depends on what evidence you are looking at. Some 60 percent of voters said that tax rates should either be “increased for all” or “increased […] Read more »
PPIC: California Ready to Slay the Ghost of Jarvis
Gov. Jerry Brown’s job approval rating is at a record-high, Californians are feeling more positive about the direction of the state and while Proposition 13 remains popular, so too is the notion of a “split roll” – leaving residential property tax rates alone but taxing commercial properties at their market […] Read more »