Polls

The President is about to give a major speech on jobs. What does the public think the country should do? The public wants jobs created to fix our crumbling infrastructure, paid for by tax increases on Wall Street and the super-rich. They do not want cuts in Medicare or Social Security. And business owners want customers, not deregulation or tax cuts.

More »»

Uh-oh. David Brooks is offering the President advice again. Since we're told that Brooks is one of President Obama's favorite columnists, there's always the chance that his latest idea will gain traction in the White House. Brooks is smart, and he's a good salesman, so his ideas may resonate with a lot of other powerful Democrats, too.

That would be a very, very bad thing indeed. He's using new catchphrases to dress up some very bad, very old, and very unpopular ideas.

Two old paradigms ain't worth forty cents.

The Brooks proposal may sound fresh, but it's really only a mash-up of two stale notions: That "bipartisanship" happens whenever well-heeled Democratic and Republican politicians cut a deal, and that "transformation" is always exciting and positive - no matter what you're transforming from or to.

Brooks is still thinking in clichéd, outmoded "left" vs. "right" terms. Like so many others in Washington, he doesn't realize that the world has changed. The Grand Compromise he's offering isn't between "liberals" and "conservatives," but between most Americans - Republicans and independents as well as Democrats, Tea Partiers as well as progressives - and the tiny band of Washington insiders that have hijacked that city's thinking with ideas they continue to peddle as "bipartisan."

More »»

Tuesday in A Chance To Show The Public -- TAKE THE VOTES I wrote, more »

More »»

A Washington Post poll taken in mid-October showed that 61% of people surveyed opposed the excise tax, with only 35% supporting it. A USA Today/Gallup poll taken at the same time showed essentially identical results, with 61% against the tax and 34% in favor. An Associated Press poll (pdf) taken a couple of weeks later showed 56% of respondents opposed to the tax and 26% in favor. (The less decisive responses to the AP poll may be due to the way they phrased the question.)

More »»

Across the right wing blogosphere, conservatives are rubbing their hands with glee. They think the Republican strategy of blocking real health care reform is beginning to pay off. To quote Senator Jim DeMint, "If we are able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. more »

More »»