… Most Americans probably associate the idea of a public option with health care. When the Affordable Care Act was debated in 2010, proponents of a public option wanted anyone to be able to buy into a government health insurance option like Medicare that would compete with private health insurance […] Read more »
Belief in Bootstraps Is Strongest Where Pulling Up Is Toughest
A widening income gap and sagging social mobility have left dents in the American dream. But the belief that anyone with enough gumption and grit can clamber to the top remains central to the nation’s self-image. And that could complicate Democratic efforts to frame the 2020 presidential election as a […] Read more »
How Americans’ Economic Views Define — and Defy — Party Lines
Americans hold varying beliefs about the causes of inequality and the role of wealthy people in society. These stories largely break down along partisan lines. Democrats generally emphasize an unfair economy and the negative effects of wealth. Republicans commonly attribute economic fortunes to hard work and talent, and see wealthy […] Read more »
Black Democrats Say It’s the Economy, Still
A key base of support for the Democratic Party, black America, is lagging in its recovery from the recession and demanding more attention to economic issues than white voters. That divide could complicate presidential contenders’ attempts to woo African-American votes in 2020. A decade after the financial crisis, with national […] Read more »
5 reasons why income inequality has become a major political issue
Income inequality has captured America’s economic debate. President Donald Trump, elected with the votes of discontented blue-collar workers, slaps tariffs on allies and adversaries alike in the name of restoring yesterday’s middle-class manufacturing jobs. His 2020 Democratic challengers demand an array of federal initiatives, including higher minimum wages, tax hikes […] Read more »
Has Trump’s Anti-Rural Agenda Handed Democrats an Opening in Red America?
President Trump’s feckless trade war is bludgeoning the bottom line of the Republican Party’s reliable rural base. But the party’s disregard for the economic interests of its own constituents goes well beyond barriers to Chinese markets. Small towns and rural areas, along with some Rust Belt metros, are falling ever […] Read more »