The U.S. budget deficit is worse than ever. Taxes already have been raised, so efforts to narrow the shortfall should focus only on spending. The only fair deal is a straight trade: relief from the cuts under sequestration in return for reductions to entitlements. Yet there’s no incentive for Democrats […] Read more »
Overview of the Fall 2013 Wisconsin Survey Results
St. Norbert College and Wisconsin Public Radio released the results of their fall 2013 Wisconsin Survey. Wendy Scattergood, assistant political science professor and associate to the Strategic Research Institute at St. Norbert College, provides an overview of the key survey results. St. Norbert College Read more »
How Both Parties Ignore What Their Voters Want
One reason a serious budget negotiation seems unlikely this fall is that any meaningful assault on the federal deficit would require each party to confront the contradictions between its fiscal agenda and its electoral coalition. Two long-term trends are creating this tension. One is an electoral reshuffling: Republicans increasingly depend […] Read more »
The Politics of the Shutdown
… In one sense, YouGov’s research confirms what polls elsewhere have shown already: nobody came off well during the shutdown, and Republicans came off especially badly. A few days after the shutdown ended, YouGov found that 66% disapproved of Congressional Republicans’ handling of the crisis, to only 53% who felt […] Read more »
Fox News Poll: 46 percent say random people on street could do better than Congress
The recent government shutdown over the budget and Obamacare has voters feeling angry and frustrated with lawmakers in general — and Republicans in particular, according to the latest Fox News poll. President Obama has fared better, although he hasn’t escaped the ire of voters either. CONT. Dana Blanton, Fox News Read more »
A Very Expensive Tea Party
The recent government shutdown and confrontation over the federal debt ceiling gained the Republicans nothing, at best – and may have cost them politically as a party. But it slowed the economy and undermined confidence in public finances in a way that will have a significant negative impact on future […] Read more »