Year: 2017
Voters Have Insults for Trump
37% to 57%
A new Quinnipiac poll finds President Trump’s approval rate is a dismal 37% to 57%. In an open ended question asking for the right word for Trump, voters are overwhelmingly negative with the most popular word being “idiot,” followed by “liar” and “incompetent.” Pollster Tim Malloy: “President Trump is known for hurling insults and he’s getting slammed right back.”
Bloomberg: Tax Bill Based on ‘Fantasy’
“CEOs aren’t waiting on a tax cut to ‘jump-start the economy’ — a favorite phrase of politicians who have never run a company — or to hand out raises. It’s pure fantasy to think that the tax bill will lead to significantly higher wages and growth, as Republicans have promised. Had Congress actually listened to executives, or economists who study these issues carefully, it might have realized that. … Instead, Congress did what it always does: It put politics first. After spending the first nine months of the year trying to jam through a repeal of Obamacare without holding hearings, heeding independent analysis or seeking Democratic input, Republicans took the same approach to tax ‘reform’ — and it shows.”
— Michael Bloomberg
Ryan: Have More Babies or No More Entitlements!
“This is going to be the new economic challenge for America: people. Baby boomers are retiring — I did my part, but we need to have higher birth rates in this country. Baby boomers are retiring and we have fewer people following them in the workforce.”
— Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), suggesting that Americans need to have more babies or risk a collapse of popular entitlements like Medicare and Social Security, The Hill reports.
Graham Says One in Three Chance Trump Will Attack North Korea
30%
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told The Atlantic that there’s a 30% chance that President Trump initiates war against North Korea. Said Graham: “I would say there’s a three in 10 chance we use the military option.” He added that if the North Koreans conduct an additional test of a nuclear bomb — “I would say 70 percent.”
Democrats Have Worked Through the Stages of Their Grief — Now What?
In “The Kübler-Ross Politics of 2017,” Amy Walter of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report sums up where both political parties stand now. Here’s a sample:
The shift in mood among Democrats over the last year has been as dramatic. It’s been a bit like watching someone work through the Kubler-Ross stages of grief. Democrats spent much of December of 2016 in a state of disbelief: Did that really happen? How did that happen? By early 2017 they had moved on to anger: Hillary ran a terrible campaign; Democrats had no message; the Obama coalition is unsustainable. By spring there was bargaining: We must not focus our attacks on Trump or his voters. We have to make peace with the white working class electorate who is anxious and angry and desperate for real change. Democratic leaders in Washington tamped down talk of impeachment and focused instead on “A Better Deal.”
Today, however, that reticence is gone. Democratic senators are openly calling for the President to resign over allegations of sexual harassment. Not one red state Democrat supported the GOP tax bill. The fear of Trump and his legions of establishment-hating voters has receded. Democrats are now living off the adrenaline and energy that comes with an awakening of their own base; a base that was disillusioned and dispirited in 2016. Anger is the most powerful GOTV force there is.
Brutal, Venal Rascals
They did it today with no small element of venality,
Though they did it with more intent than mere rascality.
They wrested the web
Away from us plebs,
And turned us all into victims of net brutality.
Voters Will Hold Candidates Responsible for Tax Plan
55% to 26%
A new Quinnipiac poll finds American voters disapprove of the pending Republican tax plan by a wide margin, 55% to 26%, and 43% say they are less likely to vote for a U.S. Senator or Congressperson who supports the plan. Key finding: “Only 16% of American voters say the tax plan will reduce their taxes, while 44% say it will increase their taxes and 30% say the tax plan will have little impact.”
The Cost of Republican Extremism
“Starting around the 2010 Tea Party surge, Republican voters have repeatedly chosen the most extreme candidates during primaries, and have paid a real electoral price, particularly in the Senate. … If Republicans held all these seats today, and if they hadn’t run and lost with Roy Moore on Tuesday, they would hold a 57-43 margin in the Senate, and Democrats would have no shot at taking back the chamber next year. Extremism has cost the GOP a lot of power, and blunted the natural advantage the Senate’s small-state bias gives the Republican coalition.”
— Ezra Klein
How Is Trump REALLY Doing?
The Republican National Committee is polling true believers to measure how the president is doing. Here’s the poll:
