Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Citizens are united and legislators don’t represent us

Corbin is professor emeritus of marketing at the University of Northern Iowa.

According to the most recent data from Pew Research Center, National Election Studies, Gallup, ABC/Washington Post, CBS/New York Times and CNN Polls, only one-fifth of Americans say they trust the federal government to do what is right. The June 12 headline from NBC News article sums it up: “ Americans agree on one thing: DC isn’t getting the job done.”

Thanks to tainted social media, prejudice-laden cable news, biased left- and right-wing think tanks and the disinformation and misinformation provided by politicians and their parties, one can only surmise Americans are greatly divided.

The surprising reality is Democrats, Republicans and independents agree on more issues – about 150 – than they disagree.

Here are some examples:


Abortion: Sixty-one percent of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases (Pew Research Center, June 13).

Gender issues: Gallup notes in a 2022 report that 71 percent of Americans support marriage between people of the same sex.

Gun control: Background checks are favored by 89 percent of the public. Banning assault weapons has 63 percent support, while 64 percent want to ban high-capacity magazines and 60 percent want a nationwide database to track gun sales (ABC News, May 27).

Immigration: Sixty-two percent of Americans feel immigrants strengthen the country; a complete reversal of the position expressed in 1994 (Pew Research Center, Jan. 31, 2019).

Voting: Data for Progress reveals 66 percent of voters want to prevent state lawmakers from overturning elections, while 60 percent support universal vote-by-mail and a majority want to make it easier to vote (Sept. 24, 2021).

Health care: Providing Medicare for all Americans to ensure everyone has health care coverage garners 69 percent support (The Hill, Apr. 24, 2020).

Cannabis: NORML reveals from its Apr. 8 research that 69 percent of Americans support legalizing cannabis plus 60 percent favor expunging cannabis-related convictions.

Racial justice: Eighty-six percent of citizens agree that racism is a problem and 87 percent believe books that discuss race or slavery should never be banned (CBS News, Feb. 22).

Taxes: An Oct. 16, 2021, Vox article notes 71 percent of voters support raising taxes on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans.

The Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland released an Aug. 7, 2020, report identifying nearly 150 issues on which the majority of Republicans and Democrats agree, including:

  • Social Security: Raising the cap on income subject to the payroll tax to $215,000 or more.
  • Poverty programs: Increasing funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
  • Energy and environment: Reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2 percent a year and providing tax incentives to promote clean energy.
  • Government reform: Overturning the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision and regulating campaign financing.
  • International trade: The United States should continue participating in the World Trade Organization and rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership that former President Donald Trump abandoned in 2017.
  • Federal budget: Roll back the tax cuts from Trump’s 2017 tax bill, impose a 4 percent surtax on income over $5 million and add a 1 percent surtax on corporate income over $100 million.

Let’s face it. Polarization has largely been brought on by political parties wanting to be in control and – let’s not forget – ego-driven and power-hungry politicians.

Examine the 15 issues identified above and note if your legislator is working counter to the will of the people. If so, vote the bums out. If your legislator’s voting record is in accordance with the majority of Americans, do your level best to insure their re-election.

Americans of all political persuasions are together on over 150 issues. But, now – more so than ever – we must have legislators who represent us before their party. For them to do otherwise is a dereliction of duty.

Read More

Declaration of Independence
When, in 2026, the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we should take pride in our collective journey.
Douglas Sacha/Getty Images

The Far-Right's Biggest Lie

The tactic of "the big lie" was developed by Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels. Tell a lie large enough, often enough, forcefully enough, and people will come to believe you and think that it is the truth.

Donald Trump and his MAGA followers have practiced the big lie often—think of "fake news" or "we are the party of the people"—and it has worked. It is a manipulative strategy to gain control of people's minds and thus of people themselves.

Keep ReadingShow less
The Voting Rights Act Turns 60 — but Its Promise Is Still Under Threat

The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 6 of that year, effectively prohibited racial discrimination in voting and required federal oversight to ensure its implementation. But the promise of the now seminal Voting Rights Act is at risk as Americans mark this milestone anniversary.

LOC; The 19th

The Voting Rights Act Turns 60 — but Its Promise Is Still Under Threat

Sixty years ago, a landmark piece of voting rights legislation was signed into law — a policy that has aimed to course-correct America’s wobbled experiment of representative democracy.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 6 of that year, effectively prohibited racial discrimination in voting and required federal oversight to ensure its implementation.

Keep ReadingShow less
The Battle Over Truth: Trump, Data, and the Fight for Reality
File:Donald Trump (29496131773).jpg - Wikimedia Commons

The Battle Over Truth: Trump, Data, and the Fight for Reality

I. The Battle Over Facts

When Donald Trump fired Dr. Kristine Joy Suh, head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after a disappointing July jobs report, it wasn’t merely a personnel decision—it was a sharp break with precedent. Suh’s removal upended decades of tradition in which BLS commissioners, regardless of who appointed them, were shielded from political retaliation to preserve statistical integrity. In his second term, Trump has made it clear that data isn’t merely information to be reported—it’s a narrative to be controlled. If the numbers align with his message, they’re hailed as proof of success. If they don’t, they’re dismissed as fake—or worse, subversive.

Keep ReadingShow less
Time to Toughen Up: Democrats Face a Crossroads

Democrats Donkey lifts weights

Time to Toughen Up: Democrats Face a Crossroads

As the 2026 midterms loom, a simmering debate within Democratic circles has reached a boiling point: Should the party abandon the moral high ground and play political hardball?

In recent years, Democrats have leaned heavily on the ethos of civility and hope—famously embodied by Michelle Obama’s 2016 rallying cry, “When they go low, we go high.” But with the GOP embracing increasingly combative rhetoric and tactics, some strategists argue it’s time for Democrats to recalibrate their messaging—and their muscle.

Keep ReadingShow less