While the 115th Congress was more legislatively active than its recent predecessors, the proportion of substantive to ceremonial legislation was much the same.
No matter who they blamed for previous government shutdowns or how much they felt personally affected by them, most Americans have had negative opinions about them.
Taxpayers with incomes of $200,000 or more paid well over half (58.8%) of federal income taxes, though they accounted for only 4.5% of all returns filed (6.8% of all taxable returns). By contrast, taxpayers with incomes below $30,000 filed nearly 44% of all returns but paid just 1.4% of all federal income tax.
This Congress has passed more substantive bills so far in its session than any since 2007 – though nearly a third of them were to undo Obama-era rules.
On the occasion of President Obama’s last State of the Union address, a look back at his first congressional address – his priorities, those of the public at the time and what’s happened in the years since.
Some political observers predict that Obama will be using his veto pen a lot more in his last two years in office than he did in the first six. Recent history indicates that presidents do veto more bills when both houses of Congress are controlled by the opposing party.
The healthcare industry, food and drink establishments and temp services have driven most of the jobs growth since Barack Obama took office nearly six years ago.
The Supreme Court’s long-awaited decision in the Hobby Lobby case says “closely held” corporations can have religious rights that need to be respected. What was it talking about?