As uncertain and unruly and disheveled as the debt-ceiling debate may be, there are still good grounds to reach a deal. It could help the economy. It could keep the policy ball moving in the direction of smaller government. It could add a key business tax incentive for economic growth. And it could even stabilize the dollar.
For the second week in a row, Republicans hold a six-point lead over Democrats on the Generic Congressional Ballot, this time for the week ending Sunday, July 17.
The U.S. Department of Energy says that new light bulbs will cost more up front but save money in the long run. That, plus expected energy savings, has led to government regulations that will effectively ban the sale of traditional light bulbs starting next year.
Nearly one-half of Americans now think the United States can make major cuts in defense spending without putting the country in danger. They believe even more strongly that there’s no risk in cutting way back on what America spends to defend other countries.
Most voters still favor repeal of the national health care law and believe it will increase the federal deficit at the very time President Obama and Congress are trying to find ways to make significant cuts in government spending.
It's hard to keep up with all the arguments and proposals in the debt limit struggle. But what's at stake is fundamental.
Two-out-of-three (66%) Likely U.S. Voters think gaining control of the border is more important than legalizing the status of illegal immigrants already living in America when it comes to immigration reform policy.
Voters now see congressional Republicans as slightly more partisan than their Democratic counterparts and are more pessimistic about the overall level of partisanship in Washington, D.C. than they have been in nearly a year.
Democratic California state Sen. Loni Hancock is pushing legislation to end California's death penalty. "Capital punishment is an expensive failure and an example of the dysfunction of our prisons," she explained in a statement. "California's death row is the largest and most costly in the United States. It is not helping to protect our state; it is helping to bankrupt us."
After dipping to a two-year low last month, the number of Americans who expect to pay higher interest rates next year has returned to levels found earlier in 2011.
President Obama continues to insist that tax increases be part of any deal to raise the federal debt ceiling before he agrees to the level of spending cuts Republicans are seeking. But most voters don’t see it that way.
Voters continue to say President Obama is doing a better job on national security issues than economic issues, but his marks in both areas have improved slightly over the past several weeks.
Voters remain slightly more conservative when it comes to fiscal policy than they are on social issues, while 29% still say they are conservative in both areas.
One-in-five Americans (20%) say they or someone they know has bought large quantities of traditional light bulbs to use when those bulbs disappear off store shelves next year under new federal light bulb regulations.
At long last, President Obama seems to have run out of patience with the truculent Republicans who have rejected all of his overtures for a budget deal -- just as Moody's and other economic authorities again warned of the potentially catastrophic consequences of a debt default.
Voter optimism about U.S. involvement in Afghanistan has slipped back to levels measured before the killing of Osama bin Laden.
President Barack Obama has billed his "grand bargain" as the adult compromise because it has something for everyone to hate. The package would raise the $14 trillion debt ceiling (which the public hates), raise taxes by $1 trillion (which Republicans hate) and cut spending by $3 trillion (which Democrats hate) over 10 years. As the president argued in Monday's news conference, it's time for Washington to eat its peas.
In November 1946, a tall, mustachioed figure stood alone on a railroad platform at Washington's Union Station, waiting for the president of the United States to make his ignominious return to the capital. In victorious times, the platform would have been full of welcomers; as it was then, at the time of their party's defeat, Dean Acheson, the future secretary of state, was the only one waiting for President Harry Truman.
When it comes to frozen treats, Americans prefer to keep it simple.
Most Americans remain worried about inflation and lack confidence in the Federal Reserve to keep inflation under control and interest rates down.
