How Both Parties Ignore What Their Voters Want

One reason a serious budget negotiation seems unlikely this fall is that any meaningful assault on the federal deficit would require each party to confront the contradictions between its fiscal agenda and its electoral coalition. Two long-term trends are creating this tension. One is an electoral reshuffling: Republicans increasingly depend […] Read more »

Americans Reject by 61% Obama Demand for Clean Debt Vote

Americans by a 2-to-1 ratio disagree with President Barack Obama’s contention that Congress should raise the U.S. debt limit without conditions. Instead, 61 percent say that it’s “right to require spending cuts when the debt ceiling is raised even if it risks default,” because Congress lacks spending discipline, according to […] Read more »

Reason-Rupe Poll: Americans Want Senate to Drop Gun Control, But Oppose 3D-Printed Guns

President Barack Obama has vowed to keep pushing for new gun control measures and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the failed gun vote in the Senate was “just the beginning.” However, the latest Reason-Rupe national poll finds just 33 percent of Americans feel the “Senate should debate and vote […] Read more »

Americans Give Guns, Immigration Reform Low Priority

Americans put reforming immigration and reducing gun violence — the focus of much of the attention on Capitol Hill in recent weeks — at the bottom of a list of 12 priorities for Congress and the president to address. Americans instead say leaders in Washington should give highest priority to […] Read more »