Every few years, the botanical garden down on the National Mall proudly boasts its prized “corpse flower.” In years when our federal swamp gets hot and icky enough, the foul-smelling plant turns a throbbing purple and blooms.
Americans recognize the importance of sports and teamwork in a child’s development, but they also think there should be winners and losers at the end of the day.
Finally, the political debate has turned away from gotcha fake news stories to real issues – Obamacare and the biggest proposed cuts in the federal government in decades, to be precise.
Before the election, some pundits were predicting that a Trump defeat would cause the Republican Party to split into at least two discrete new parties -- one representing the old GOP's business establishment, the other for the populist firebrands of the Tea Party. As the fight over gutting Obamacare reveals, those factions are in an uncomfortable marriage. But a full-fledged rupture doesn't appear imminent.
More and more schools around the country are eliminating long-standing systems that rank high school students on the level of their academic achievement including the designation of senior class valedictorians and salutatorians. But Americans aren’t eager to embrace the change.
Perceptions matter. People make decisions, even life-altering decisions, based on what they perceive as likely to happen. To the extent that public policy affects such decisions, the perception of likely policy change can affect behavior even before the change happens -- even if it ends up never happening.
"The senator from Kentucky," said John McCain, speaking of his colleague Rand Paul, "is working for Vladimir Putin ... and I do not say that lightly."
What did Sen. Paul do to deserve being called a hireling of Vladimir Putin?
Voters are a little more protective of Obamacare now that Congress is debating its future, but most still believe big changes in the law are likely in the next few months.
Lawmakers in Hawaii are considering a bill that would require all pregnancy centers to refer patients to facilities that provide abortions, a move pro-lifers say violates their religious beliefs and free speech rights. While most voters are pro-choice, few favor a law like the one in Hawaii.
Voters tend to agree that Obamacare is in big trouble but fear Republicans may go too far in trying to fix it.
Democrats have a path to winning a House majority next year, but that possibility is highly dependent on variables over which they have effectively no control. That’s the takeaway from our initial ratings of 2018’s House races, a list that is heavy on Republicans who start this cycle only mildly endangered.
Voters see President Trump as a man with a mission, more than either of the major political parties including the one he represents.
Voters have more confidence that Republicans know where they are going.
The good should never be the evil of the perfect. House Speaker Paul Ryan's health care bill is a very good first step. Massive repeal of Obamacare tax hikes will be great for the economy. Getting rid of the Affordable Care Act mandates will be great for health care. Private-sector competition and choice are always better than government-run anything. The Republican Party has to practice bipartisanship within itself.
The United States has the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world, but most voters don’t know that. Voters tend to see cutting the tax rate as an economic plus but are evenly divided over President Trump’s plan to cut it by over half.
Here come the hyperpartisan hounds.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has refuted reports that he is considering a run for the U.S. Senate, and voters are glad to hear it.
Remember how for years after President Obama first got elected we had to hear all about how Republicans destroyed the economy?
Pope Francis in an interview last week indicated that he is open to the idea of married men becoming priests in order to combat the church’s shortage of clergy, and most American Catholics approve.
