Friday, March 02, 2018
Obamacare Is More Popular Than Ever Before
Trump and the Republicans seemed convinced that most Americans didn't like Obamacare. That's why they tried to repeal it. They were unsuccessful in repealing Obamacare, but they were able to damage it.
But their efforts did not bring them the accolades they expected. In fact, according to this new poll, Obamacare is more popular now than it has ever been -- with 54% having a favorable opinion of it and 42% having an unfavorable opinion (a significant gap of 12 points in favor of Obamacare).
That doesn't mean the Republican efforts have not had an effect on health care in the U.S. though. As the chart below shows, now 14% have no health insurance at all -- significantly higher than the11% not having coverage under Obamacare before the Republicans damaged it. Three percentage points may not sound like much, but it translates into millions of people in a country as large as ours.
These charts use information in a new Kaiser Family Foundation Poll -- done between February 15th and 20th of a random national sample of 1,193 adults, with a 3 point margin of error.
Trump Tax Cut Being Exposed As Giveaway To Corporations
When the Trump/GOP tax cut was being debated in Congress, it was hailed by Trump (and his Republican cohorts) as benefitting mostly the middle class. That is now being exposed for the LIE that it always was.
Trump said corporations (who got the biggest tax cuts of all) would use those cuts to raise wages for workers and create a massive number of new jobs. That is not happening. Job creation is rocking along at the same pace it was before the cuts, and while a few companies gave a one-time bonus to some employees, workers are still struggling to keep up with inflation.
Here's just some of what Derek Thompson said about the effect of the cuts in The Atlantic:
The most basic criticism of the GOP’s tax cut was that the boons for corporations and their shareholders would far outweigh the benefits for ordinary workers. That’s exactly what seems to be happening. Stock buybacks announced between January 1st and February 15th reached historically high levels, totaling about $170 billion in that period. That’s 28 times larger than the total value of end-of-year bonuses that were credited to the corporate tax bill—some of which had been announced months earlier and had nothing to do with the tax cuts. Companies might be advertising new bonuses. But they’re quietly reaping the benefits of higher profits.
Thursday, March 01, 2018
Dem Advantage Grows After 8 Days Of Texas Early Voting
There has now been 8 days of early primary voting completed in Texas (February 20th through February 27th), with three more days to go (early voting ends on March 2nd). The top chart shows the total number of voters that have cast votes in each party's primary.
It shows that enthusiasm remains high among Democrats -- far higher than in previous years. Through the first 8 days, about 44,157 more Democrats (308,896) have voted than Republicans (264,739). These numbers (from the Texas Secretary of State) are only from the largest 15 counties in the state, but those counties contain about two-thirds of the state's registered voters. The chart below shows the totals in each of those 15 counties.
This is very encouraging. If the Democrats can turn out this well in the Fall, and Independents (who don't vote in party primaries) break for Democrats, this could actually be a very competitive election -- something Texas hasn't seen statewide in more than two decades.
The Public Is Demanding Changes To Our Gun Control Laws
As the top chart shows, the public has no confidence that the Republican-controlled 115th Congress will take any action to control gun violence in this country. This is because most of the members of Congress are either bought off by the NRA (through large campaign donations) or are afraid voters will punish them if they vote for stricter gun control.
There's not much to do about those who have been bought by the NRA (except to vote them out of office), but it is time to do away with the myth that the voters don't want stricter gun control.
As the charts below show, there are several gun control measures that the public supports. None of these violate the Constitution's Second Amendment, and none of them would infringe on law-abiding citizens right to buy and possess a gun. And best of all, all of them are supported by a majority of registered voters (and members of the three political groups, including Republicans).
The country is changing, and most Americans no longer believe the lies being told by the NRA. It is time for Congress to act. The public is demanding that action.
All of these charts reflect information in a new Politico / Morning Consult Poll -- done between February 22nd and 26th of a random national sample of 1,992 registered voters, with only a 2 point margin of error.
Trump's Amazing Hypocrisy About Protecting Classified Info
Donald Trump railed about Hillary Clinton refusing to protect classified information by using a private e-mail server (even though it has been shown that no classified information was exposed to anyone who didn't have the right to see it). Unfortunately, he has not been so strict about protecting classified information in his own administration -- allowing many to see that info without the proper security clearance. Here is how NBC News puts it:
If there was one issue Donald Trump campaigned on more aggressively than the others in 2016, it was the importance of handling classified information — when it came to Hillary Clinton’s private email account and server.
“She set up this illegal server knowing full well that her actions put our national security at risk and put the safety and security of your children and your families at risk,” Trump said in Phoenix, Ariz., on Oct. 29, 2016. . . .
Why is this stroll down memory lane important? Yesterday, we learned that White House senior adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner — who had access to highly classified information and was even viewing the Presidential Daily Brief — lost his top-security clearance.
That came, of course, after NBC News reported that scores of top White House aides, including Kushner, lacked permanent security clearances. And also yesterday we learned from the Washington Post that officials “in at least four countries have privately discussed ways they can manipulate Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, by taking advantage of his complex business arrangements, financial difficulties and lack of foreign policy experience, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with intelligence reports on the matter.”
And who can forget this story from last spring? “President Trump revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in a White House meeting last week, according to current and former U.S. officials, who said Trump’s disclosures jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State.”
We’ve seen the Trump White House engage in plenty of hypocrisy over the past year — the vows to clean up the “swamp,” the promises that wealthy Americans wouldn’t benefit under the tax law — but its carelessness about who is seeing classified information might be the biggest hypocrisy of all.
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