The Economist (June 4)
Swiss voters will go to the polls on Sunday to decide whether to adopt a basic income for all citizens. Smaller experiments are underway in Finland and the Netherlands, but fundamentally “basic income is an answer to a problem that has not yet materialized…. A universal basic income might just make sense in a world of technological upheaval. But before governments begin planning for a world without work, they should strive to make today’s system function better.
Tags: Basic income, Experiments, Finland, Governments, Netherlands, Switzerland, Technological upheaval, Universal, Voters
Washington Post (June 1)
“British voters, who may be as weary as many Americans are of constantly being told that they cannot ‘turn back the clock’ and that history’s centralizing ratchet has clicked irreversibly too many times, might soon say otherwise.”
Tags: Brexit, Centralizing, History, Irreversibly, U.S., UK, Voters, Weary
LA Times (March 2)
“Donald Trump is not fit to be president of the United States. Many people have said it—politicians of both parties, economists, pundits, business leaders—but millions of GOP primary voters don’t seem to be listening.”
Tags: Business leaders, Donald Trump, Economists, GOP, Politicians, President, Primary, U.S., Voters
LA Times (February 9)
“Billionaire businessman Donald Trump won the New Hampshire Republican primary Tuesday with an unconventional brew of celebrity, voter anger and disdain for the traditional rules of politics.”
Tags: Anger, Celebrity, New Hampshire, Primary, Trump, Unconventional, Voters
Washington Post (October 28)
Ten Republican candidates (Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Chris Christie, John Kasich and Rand Paul) faced off in the latest debate. They seemed “to be testing a strategy of winning by whining. Certainly, voters are discontented and even angry. But do they want a leader who campaigns by kvetching?”
Tags: Angry, Bush, Carson, Christie, Cruz, Debate, Discontented, Fiorina, Huckabee, Kasich, Paul, Republican, Rubio, Strategy, Trump, Voters, Whining
New York Times (September 27)
Big money politics is reaching new highs in the U.S. “Top-tier Republican donors will pay $1.34 million per couple for the privilege of being treated as party insiders, while the Democratic Party will charge about $1.6 million.” Make that lows. “More big money can only leave less hope for voters concerned that the richest donors are buying ever more influence over politicians, with favoritism and corruption an inevitable result.”
Tags: Big money, Corruption, Democrat, Donors, Favoritism, Influence, Insiders, Politics, Republican, U.S., Voters
The Economist (June 13)
In Turkey, voters sent a “signal to Erdogan.” They showed “they prefer liberal democracy to Islamist autocracy. But they have made it harder to form a government,” which is creating some uncertainty. President Erdogan’s future is also uncertain. Though “his march towards one-man rule has been checked, it is premature to write him off.”
Tags: Democracy, Erdogan, Government, Islamist autocracy, Turkey, Uncertainty, Voters
Wall Street Journal (March 23)
“French voters still don’t have a convincing pro-growth option.” While “Sunday’s first round of voting in French municipal elections won’t much affect national policy… it does send a signal about where the electorate stands.” The majority voted “for manifestos that would consign France to more economic stagnation.”
Tags: Economic stagnation, Elections, France, Manifestos, Policy, Pro-growth, Voters
New York Times (November 12)
Only 36.3% of U.S. voters even bothered to vote in last week’s election. “The abysmally low turnout in last week’s midterm elections — the lowest in more than seven decades — was bad for Democrats, but it was even worse for democracy. In 43 states, less than half the eligible population bothered to vote, and no state broke 60 percent.”
New York Times (November 12)
Only 36.3% of U.S. voters even bothered to vote in last week’s election. “The abysmally low turnout in last week’s midterm elections — the lowest in more than seven decades — was bad for Democrats, but it was even worse for democracy. In 43 states, less than half the eligible population bothered to vote, and no state broke 60 percent.”
