President Obama left office a popular figure — 62 percent of Americans approved of the way he handled his job over the past eight years, ranking him third among outgoing presidents since CBS began asking the question in 1981 – behind outgoing presidents Bill Clinton (68 percent) and Ronald Reagan […] Read more »
Can salesmanship about the tax bill change the GOP’s midterms fortunes?
“I think it’s selling itself,” President Trump said Friday, with customary bravado, as he signed into law the $1.5 trillion, Republican-passed tax cut. Every Republican running in a competitive race in 2018 is hoping he’s correct, but they face an uphill climb to turn the president’s words into reality. There […] Read more »
Consumers judge 2017 the best year since 2000
Consumer confidence continued to slowly sink in December, with most of the decline among lower income households, according to the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers. The extent of the decline was minor, with the December figure just below the average for 2017 (95.9 versus 96.8), said U-M economist Richard […] Read more »
Only the Economy Could Change the Political Atmosphere
There is no shortage of numbers and developments that should be worrisome to Republicans as they approach the 2018 midterm elections. Democrats swept both of the 2017 gubernatorial races, in New Jersey and Virginia, captured a U.S. Senate seat in ruby-red Alabama, and scored strong state legislative gains across the […] Read more »
Public Opinion and the Tax Reform Law
One of the most commonly remarked upon aspects of the new tax reform law is its unpopularity with the American population as a whole. Our research at Gallup shows that just about three in 10 Americans approved of the bill a couple of weeks before it was passed; over half […] Read more »
Republicans Are Taking Voter Concerns About The Tax Bill Too Literally
In reading coverage of the Republican tax bill, which passed the House on Wednesday and is ready for President Trump’s signature, I was reminded of this famous clip of the 1992 “town hall” presidential debate between Bill Clinton and George W. Bush,1 in which a voter asked the candidates a […] Read more »