Category: Edition No. 175 – August 2019

*Any statements in this issue of the Watch which are not sourced are mine and identified by “WW”.

Note: I was recently asked when I started writing the Washington Watch. It was in 1987 as the Kirkpatrick and Lockhart Washington Watch. I was a partner in that law firm at the time. The only copy which I have on hand is issue #4 from July 1987.

63% of Americans say the country is on the wrong track, including 62% of men and 64% of women. 37% of Americans say the country is headed in the right direction. This includes 38% of men and 36% of women. [Morning Consult/Politico 8/7/19] Continue reading “State of the Nation”

49% of Americans oppose a single payer health care system in which all Americans would get their health insurance from one government plan that is financed in part by taxes. 44% support such a plan. [NBC/WSJ 7/9/19] Continue reading “This and That”

“As I try to live while confronting an incurable illness, I remember how much I enjoyed the youthful process of learning. Thus, I now read and learn from every book possible. I remember one of Blaise Pascal’s ‘Pensées,’ in my own translation:

‘Man is but a reed, the weakest in nature. A puff of gas, a drop of water is sufficient to kill him. But the difference between him and what kills him is that he knows he is dying.’

“It is my brain that still defines me. When I am thinking, I am living. I must fuel the brain by reading. It is that alone that separates me from the cancer that attacks my bone marrow and spills out too many white blood cells. Of course, I will fail as I try not to ‘go gentle into that good night.’ Perhaps it’s that failure that will again remind me I am alive.” Continue reading “Quotes”

As of August 7th, the Politico/Morning Consult survey found that 41% approve of the job that President Trump is doing as president while 56% disapprove. Those approving of the job he is doing include 39% of women, 44% of men, 30% of Hispanics, 10% of African Americans, 82% of Republicans and 8% of Democrats. Continue reading “President Trump”

The 59th presidential election will take place on November 3, 2020. 445 days from today. Continue reading “2020”

Approval of the Congress generally remains quite bleak, having dropped since the first of the year. Continue reading “Congress”

In Japan, women in the workforce are only 4% of managers and hold only 2% of seats on boards of directors. Women hold only 10% of the seats in the lower house of the legislature.

Married couples are not allowed to have different last names, which is a special burden on women who have established themselves in the workplace. 42.5% of adults support changing the law which requires women to take their husband’s name, while 29.3% oppose change. 52.3% of those aged 70-79 opposed the change while 13.6% of those aged 30-39% oppose the change. [Marika Katanuma, Bloomberg] Continue reading “Women Will Get It Done”