Americans start the new year with a variety of national concerns on their minds. Although none is dominant, the government, at 21%, leads the list of what Americans consider the most important problem facing the country. The economy closely follows at 18%, and then unemployment/jobs and healthcare, each at 16%. […] 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 »
America has changed. Have government and business?
Are government policies and business practices out of touch with the changing state of American families? A new survey, which is part of a broader examination of the role of women in society, shows that many Americans believe the answer to that question is yes. The survey was commissioned for […] Read more »
How Republicans turned against unemployment insurance
Just six Republicans senators joined a united Democratic caucus Tuesday to move forward with an extension of long-term unemployment benefits. The policy’s newfound controversy after years of easy passage parallels a sea change in Republican attitudes nationally on the issue. CONT. Scott Clement, Washington Post Read more »
How ‘polarized’ is the American electorate?
The American people are “polarized.” That idea is repeated so often as an explanation for why Washington seems mired in dysfunction and gridlock that no one even stops to question it anymore. Yes, the system is polarized, in the sense that we have divided government on the federal level, or, […] Read more »
Americans lack faith that government can or will solve the nation’s top problems
Americans enter 2014 with a profoundly negative view of their government, expressing little hope that elected officials can or will solve the nation’s biggest problems, a new poll finds. Half say America’s system of democracy needs either “a lot of changes” or a complete overhaul, according to the poll conducted […] Read more »