There was so much more they wanted to do. Three years ago, Republicans retook the House with a fire-eating confidence and an ambitious plan to remake the U.S. government. They wanted to cut spending, of course. They wanted to get rid of Obamacare. But that wasn’t supposed to be the […] Read more »
The Government Shutdown: An After Action Report
This slide deck tries to put the government shutdown in perspective, starting with the lack of support for totally eliminating federal funding for the new health care law if it meant shutting down the federal government, and including our thoughts about why the shutdown happened, the initial consequences, and the […] Read more »
Nashville focus group: A raw sense of betrayal
Could Americans really get any angrier at Washington? Even before the recent government shutdown, congressional approval hovered around 10 percent, a minority thought the country was on the right track, and a “throw the bums out” mentality was rampant. Railing against the toxic mess in D.C. has been a winning […] Read more »
Conservatives, Get a Grip on Reality!
Here’s a question for conservatives and Republicans: Going into the 2012 Election Day, or even in the last few days before Election Day, did you think Mitt Romney was going to win? A couple of months ago, did you think the strategy of threatening to shut down the government or […] Read more »
The American People: Winners or Losers or Both?
A number of our elected representatives have somberly proclaimed that there are no winners from the recent government shutdown and near-default. These utterances have not prevented pundits from weighing in with various lists of “winners” and “losers” anyway. In many instances, of course, it takes a significant period of time […] Read more »
Beyond the Polls: Why Polling on the Debt Ceiling is ‘Mushy’
While we have avoided an unprecedented federal default for the time being, the debt ceiling matter hasn’t been resolved. We could be right at the brink again in just a matter of months. Pundits and politicians from both parties lean on recent polls to demonstrate why their perspective is the […] Read more »