Poverty: A new report comes as a punch in the gut for proud Americans: One in seven of us is poor, government data show. Surprised? Don't be. It's what happens when you kill the most productive parts of a country.

Americans who see the tea party movement in a favorable light equal – or slightly surpass – those who see it unfavorably, according to a new Christian Science Monitor/TIPP poll

BOSTON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- While 44 percent of U.S. adults have a friendly view of the Tea Party movement, many say they would not go to a Tea Party event, a poll indicates.

The "middle class" seems to be top of mind for President Obama these days. But what qualifies as "middle class" can be tricky. To listen to him, it means any person earning less than $200,000. But for those who don't live in high-cost areas, the middle may be more like $50,000 to $75,000. And if that's the income range the president is targeting, he and his policies face a tough sell,

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LOS ANGELES (September 14, 2010) — The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index increased 1.7 points, or 3.9%, in September posting 45.3 vs. 43.6 in August. The index is 1.5 points below its 12-month average of 46.8 and 0.9 points above its reading of 44.4 in December 2007 when the economy entered into the recession, and 5.5 points below its all-time average of 50.8....

Labor Day finds union households more optimistic about the country's leadership and direction than other types of households. But then they may have reason to be: They benefited more from the $862 billion stimulus package. Not surprisingly, union households are apparently more supportive of President Obama and the job he is doing. But then, they are much more in tune with his politics. The

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The beach season may be over, but on the campaign trail the waves are still cresting.

The latest IBD/TIPP poll released Monday shows Republicans hanging a 10-point advantage over the Democrats in the generic congressional ballot.

To hear the geniuses of the Obama administration tell it, their economic policies are based on truths as certain and immutable as the laws of physics.

Men's opinion of the leadership that President Obama is providing the country slipped to 41.6 this month, undercutting its lows earlier this year, according to a gender breakdown of the IBD/TIPP Presidential Leadership Index. Among women, however, approval of the president was about the same as in the prior two months. Single women account for much of the strength, registering 59.8 vs. 46.7

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Half of Americans in our July poll believed the chances of a second economic recession were high even then. A majority of Republicans thought another recession was likely. Nearly one in three Americans (30%) thought that the chances of a depression were high. The shares of investors who gave high chances for a recession and depression were 38% and 28%, respectively.

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