Most of new climate and health care law has bipartisan support

Bipartisan majorities support most of the Inflation Reduction Act

The Inflation Reduction Act, which President Biden signed into law this week, has been described as the biggest expansion of climate change policy in history. And it also has significant tax and health care components.

Unlike some other recent major legislation enacted by Congress – like the infrastructure bill, the Electoral Count Act and the CHIPS Act – this one moved through in a purely partisan fashion.

But, data collected by the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consumption showmost components of the bill actually have bipartisan support among the American public. According to surveys conducted by PPC and the Deliberative Democracy Lab at Stanford, a majority of Republicans, Democrats and independents approve of 13 out of 20 elements of the bill.

“While there has been grave concern about the state of our democracy, the movement of this bill should give Americans hope that our system can and does work, and that Congress is acting to reflect the will of the people,” said Steven Kull, director of the PPC.

Get the full breakdown of the data.

Civic groups unite in call for more election workers

Tuesday was National Poll Worker Recruitment Day, established by the Election Administration Commission to help state and local officials attract more volunteers (and, in some places, paid staff) for elections.

Amid ongoing concerns about Covid-19 and newer threats of violence against election workers from backers of the “Big Lie,” election officials are concerned they will not have enough people to properly staff polling locations in November.

Therefore, a number of civic engagement proponents spent Tuesday running campaigns to get people to register as election workers. Many of them are part of a campaign run by Power the Polls, which helped recruit 700,000 in 2020.

“Now, more than ever, it’s critical that polls are staffed by non-partisan, well-trained, and objective individuals who will administer a safe, secure, and accessible election,” wrote Kyle Miller, impact associate for coalition partner Protect Democracy.

Read more.

The Fulcrum is looking for new voices

Do you believe you can represent a constituency whose voice may often go unheard in America? In an ongoing effort to share ideas, criticisms and other opinions about efforts to fix democracy and reduce polarization, The Fulcrum is recruiting new writing across partisan, racial, geographic, age and gender spectrums. If you are interested in becoming a contributor, please email opinions@fulcrum.us.

Podcast: What Personal Passion and Purpose Bring To Our Lives

The latest episode of “How Do We Fix It?” explores six unique perspectives about passion, purpose and meaning in our own lives.

Among the stories:

Investment advisor and wealth manager Karen Firestone shares a story about a chance encounter with advice columnist Ann Landers, who gave her a new understanding of risk vs. reward.
Obstetrician-gynecologist Rose Gowen speaks about her mission to get her small city with a large obesity problem to exercise more and eat better food.
Emily Esfahani Smith, author of "The Power of Meaning", talks about her passion for learning from strangers.
Long distance trucker Finn Murphy reveals a long-time love of America's roads and highways.

Listen.