As President Barack Obama and lawmakers spar over huge federal deficits, they’re confronted by a classic contradiction: Most Americans want government austerity, a survey shows, but they also want increased spending on a host of popular programs: education, crime fighting, health care, Social Security, the environment and more. Less for […] Read more »
President Obama is about to lose the PR battle on the sequester
… More Americans trust Obama on the sequester than Republicans, but the margin between the two seems to be down. Obama held a 26pt lead over congressional Republicans in December per Pew Research, which dropped to 18pt in mid-February and 13pt by the end of the month. After the sequester […] Read more »
Most feel sequester will personally affect them
Congress and President Obama continue to remain at odds on how best to reduce the federal deficit — causing the automatic spending cuts referred to as the sequester to start taking effect last Friday. A CBS News Poll conducted as the sequester cuts were about to begin finds that most […] Read more »
Public polls fail us on sequester
The public polling community is letting us down with generally sketchy work on the sequester. We are going down a dark path we have never traveled before, and none of the surveillance I have seen prepares us for the event and public reactions. With some exceptions, the public polls seem […] Read more »
Republicans at odds with the public
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) recently opined that Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) would be unable to keep his job if he compromised with the president and the Democrats on sequestration. The senator knows a great deal more about internal GOP dynamics than I do, but his assessment carries with it a […] Read more »
Inaction on the Budget: The American People Are Partly to Blame
At a time when beating up on “Washington politicians” is so much in vogue, it may be time for the American people to look in the mirror. Two recent surveys from the respected, non-partisan Pew Research Center shine a spotlight on the public attitudes that contribute to political gridlock. [cont.] […] Read more »