by jpitney | Feb 27, 2021 | Civility
From Washington State University:
by jpitney | Feb 26, 2021 | Civility, Congress, Deliberation, House of Representatives
Jonathan Bydlak at R Street: Dear Majority Leader Schumer, Minority Leader McConnell, Chairwoman Klobuchar, and Ranking Member Blunt: The COVID-19 pandemic, growing economic hardship for many American families, a national reckoning over racial injustice, and the...
by jpitney | Feb 25, 2021 | Congress, Public Opinion
Jeffrey M. Jones at Gallup: Thirty-five percent of Americans currently approve of the way Congress is handling its job, a 10-percentage-point increase since January and the highest Gallup has measured in nearly 12 years. The current results are from a Feb. 3-18...
by jpitney | Feb 24, 2021 | Debt, Economic Policy
Many posts have discussed the deficit and the debt. Policymakers and the general public have tended to ignore these problems in recent years, in part because of low inflation and interest rates. We have not had a double-digit annual increase in the consumer price...
by jpitney | Feb 23, 2021 | Civility
James Wigderson at RightWisconsin: A resolution calling for peace in politics died at the county Republican Party caucus level on Saturday [2/13]. The Oconto County Republican Party decided against approving a resolution that condemns the use of violence to achieve...
by jpitney | Feb 22, 2021 | Civility, Polarization, Uncategorized
J.D. Tuccille at Reason: “Political polarization is having far-reaching impacts on American life, harming consumer welfare and creating challenges for people ranging from elected officials and policymakers to corporate executives and marketers,” according...
by jpitney | Feb 21, 2021 | Congress, Constitution, Deliberation, House of Representatives, Senate
Yuval Levin at National Review: If the problem to be solved is that cross-partisan agreement is necessary for Congress to legislate but such agreement is very rare now, then there are broadly two sorts of possible paths toward reform: You could look for ways to make...
by jpitney | Feb 20, 2021 | Civility, Polarization
From Arkansas State Senator Jim Hendren: I’m here to talk to you today about something that has been weighing heavy on my heart and mind for some time now. And the time has come for me to address it publicly. Like so many of you, I look around at our country today and...
by jpitney | Feb 18, 2021 | Biden, Congress
Nan Swift at R Street: President Biden deserves credit for resisting the calls of others in his party to wipe out $50,000 in student loan debt per borrower “with the flick of a pen,” as Politico reports. So far, it appears the president intends to work with Congress...
by jpitney | Feb 16, 2021 | Congress, House of Representatives, Senate
Tara Golshan and Kevin Robillard at HuffPo report that congressional Democrats are planning to revive earmarks. “Chair DeLauro supports Member-directed funding for community projects,” said Evan Hollander, a spokesperson with the House Appropriations Committee, which...