The sixth year of a two-term presidency is rarely kind. The public’s initial romance with the president has faded. The brief momentum he thought he earned by winning reelection has faded too. The White House doesn’t set the agenda any more; events are in charge now. … And if the past […] Read more »
What voter turnout means for efforts to remedy income inequality
The gap between rhetoric about income inequality and action to deal with it is sizable. There are many reasons for that, but one possible explanation, according to a provocative new book, is the contrasting views of Americans who vote and those who do not. The book is titled “Who Votes […] Read more »
Most Back Minimum Wage Hike & Policies to Address the Wealth Gap
Two-thirds of Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll support increasing the minimum wage, rejecting arguments that doing so could encourage layoffs and reflecting majority sentiment that current federal government policies favor the wealthy. Those who support a higher minimum wage even have a recommended level: The average response […] Read more »
Is the Safety Net Just Masking Tape?
… Two years ago, Mike Konczal, a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, opened a productive line of inquiry in a blog post called “Are We at the Completion of the Liberal Project?” Konczal described two approaches to the liberal state. In the first, “you would have the government maintaining full employment, […] Read more »
Americans Won’t Be Easily Reassured About the Economy
… Conventional wisdom holds that if people see the economy improving, they will be less likely to “throw the bums out” in the next year’s elections. But the key is public perception of the economy, not month-to-month shifts in numbers. Although the National Bureau of Economic Research dates the last […] Read more »
Americans Say Dream Fading as Income Gap Hurts Chances
The widening gap between rich and poor is eroding faith in the American dream. By almost two to one — 64 percent to 33 percent — Americans say the U.S. no longer offers everyone an equal chance to get ahead, according to a Bloomberg National Poll. And some say the […] Read more »