What Trump did (and didn’t) do with his State of the Union address — And the real test ahead

In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Trump’s conciliatory tone on American leadership during World War II and Holocaust remembrance was a reassuring sentiment that our country needs to hear and that goes beyond this address. But it’s concerning that the president’s current negotiating position on immigration […] Read more »

Trump’s audience in the House chamber isn’t the one that matters

Let’s start with the fact that I’m writing this before, not after, the State of the Union. (Deadlines are sometimes inconvenient.) So, with that caveat in place, I’m going to suggest that whatever Donald Trump said in his speech, whatever antics the Democrats planned to distract and disrupt the proceedings, […] Read more »

When shutdown politics add to economic woes, nobody wins

The Congressional Budget Office told us this week that the U.S. economy is likely to take a $3 billion hit from the partial government shutdown, assuming federal employees will get their back pay. $3 billion is a significant amount, but it is likely to have a relatively small impact in […] Read more »

Republican Favorability Down; Views of Democrats Steady

As the longest government shutdown in U.S. history came to an end, Gallup polling suggests that the Republican Party’s image has suffered more than the Democratic Party’s. The GOP’s favorability rating fell to 37% from 45% in September. At the same time, Americans’ favorable views of the Democratic Party remained […] Read more »