Americans are feeling more optimistic about the economy, and a majority of adults favor the Biden administration’s landmark $1.9 trillion coronavirus and economic relief package known as the American Rescue Plan Act. Only 25% oppose the law, which provides funding and economic aid to individuals, businesses, schools, and state and […] Read more »
After a Year of Pandemic and Crisis, How Have Americans’ Values Changed?
The year 2020 was marked by several related crises: the COVID-19 pandemic, deepening economic inequality, and increasingly visible racism and violence against people of color. Did this year change the public’s views on health-related issues? A 2019 Commonwealth Fund/New York Times/Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health survey of Americans’ […] Read more »
Roosevelt. Johnson. Biden?
… It is pretty safe to say the reason Biden won the party nod is that once Bernie Sanders elbowed aside his colleague Elizabeth Warren and effectively consolidated the Left, panic set in among the centrists, and voilà: Doubts about Biden disappeared and the nomination was his, precisely because he […] Read more »
Gun control fails quickly in Congress after each mass shooting, but states often act – including to loosen gun laws
After mass shootings, there are more calls for gun control. Here’s one in Boulder, Colo., where 10 people died in a shooting. Jason Connolly / AFP/Getty Images Christopher Poliquin, University of California, Los Angeles Recent mass shootings at three spas in Atlanta, Georgia and a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado have […] Read more »
Can this political moment of good feelings last?
In our partisan times, it’s hard to find polling results that go against the grain, so to speak. Over the past four years, then-President Trump’s position on any given issue cleaved public opinion along party lines, regardless of the merits. Democrats opposed opening schools simply because Education Secretary Betsy DeVos […] Read more »
The Biden Agenda Doesn’t Run Through Washington
… Cities and their inner suburbs need an immediate lifeline from Washington to stabilize their finances after the devastation of the pandemic. But once those communities regain their balance, they could become crucial allies for Biden. By working with big metros, the president would be aligning federal policy with powerful […] Read more »