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What to know about buying flood insurance

Major flooding in Eastern Kentucky in recent days has led to at least 35 deaths as of Monday, as well as widespread damage to homes and businesses.

Severe weather is continuing to hit the region, but the tragedy is already raising questions about how residents nationwide can prepare for future flooding, and namely, if they should buy flood insurance.

Most homeowners insurance policies do not cover flooding. 

Congress in 1968 established the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), a system managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that enables property owners and renters to purchase flood insurance for their communities in exchange for their communities adopting regulations that reduce potential flood damage.

Americans with homes or businesses in high-risk flood areas with government-backed mortgages are required to have flood insurance, but the program is available to more than 22,500 communities across the country that have various flood-risk levels.

FEMA suggests all residents consider buying flood insurance no matter where they live or how significant the risks may seem.

“Flooding can happen anywhere at any time,” FEMA’s flood preparation website says. “Poor drainage systems, summer storms, melting snow, neighborhood construction and broken water mains can all result in flooding.”

FEMA says more than 40 percent of filed NFIP claims between 2014 to 2018 were from regions outside of high-risk flood areas. The program has received a total of 2.5 million claims since its inception.

The program is conducted in partnership with more than 50 insurance companies to offer the same rates and coverage, and premiums are determined based on a methodology that includes the value of one’s home and the property’s flood risk.

Policies under NFIP also include standard coverage limits.

The limits include a maximum $250,000 benefit for repairing a single-family homeowner’s building or a $100,000 maximum benefit for damaged contents for renters and homeowners. Businesses’ buildings and contents are each protected at a maximum benefit of $500,000.

NFIP today protects more than 5 million policyholders’ combined $1.3 trillion in assets, according to FEMA. 

In major flooding situations, presidents can issue a disaster declaration to make available aid to supplement recovery efforts. President Biden did so for areas of Kentucky on Friday and on Saturday added individual assistance.

FEMA says the aid comes in two forms: loans that require repayment or a FEMA disaster grant that includes an average $5,000 per household, which is far less than the average flood insurance claim. The agency still suggests NFIP flood insurance for the best protection.

“Disaster assistance from FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration is designed to kick-start recovery, but is not enough restore your home to its pre-disaster condition or to replace your treasured household items,” FEMA says.

Flood insurance policies typically have a 30-day waiting period before coverage takes effect.

Source: TEST FEED1

Veterans, advocates refuse to leave Capitol until toxic burn pits bill passes

Veterans and advocates spent the weekend staked out outside the Capitol demanding that GOP senators drop their opposition to much-anticipated legislation to help veterans who are suffering illnesses due to toxic exposures. 

Republicans last Wednesday blocked passage of the Sgt. 1^st Class Heath Robinson Honoring our PACT Act, which would benefit an estimated 3.5 million veterans. 

While the Senate is expected to hold another vote on the bill this week, those protesting outside said they were tired of waiting.  

“These veterans don’t have time! They’re running out of time. They need health care now, and if they don’t get it, they’re dying!” said Natalia Kempthorne-Curiel, who traveled with her father Nathan Kempthorne to the demonstration. 

“No one should have to deal with this — they shouldn’t have to deal with this. They shouldn’t have to be outside while they’re suffering already,” she added. 

About two dozen advocates stood outside the Capitol on Thursday, venting their frustrations to members of the press about the GOP senators who backtracked on the bill, citing concerns about how funds are allocated. 

The Senate initially passed the PACT Act by a vote of 84-14 in June, and the House passed the bill in July by a vote of 342-88. The upper chamber needed to re-pass the bill because the House version included technical corrections. 

But last Wednesday, only 55 senators voted to pass the bill, falling short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. Twenty-five Republicans who had previously supported the bill changed their votes to oppose it. 

“We had so much support and we celebrated that the Republicans and Democrats could come together and do the right thing,” said Susan Zeier, whose son-in-law’s name is in the title of the bill. 

“And to pull this out from under us at the eleventh hour, it’s really cruel,” she said.

Thursday evening, Rosie Torres, the founder of the nonprofit organization Burn Pits 360, and other veterans advocates began brainstorming how they were going to pressure the Senate to finally pass the bill. They were already planning to hold a big rally to advocate passage of the bill, so they decided to start that evening with a sit-in outside Congress. 

“Slowly but surely, people started trickling in, and people have flown in from New York, take the train, taking the bus,” Torres said. “Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina — these people are driving. They’re in the cars and they’re coming.”

Torres first became involved with the issue of burn pits after her husband, Army Capt. Le Roy Torres, suddenly fell ill after his deployment to Iraq. As she researched the issue, she came across a Facebook group where people shared their stories of loved ones becoming sick or dying. 

Torres, who at the time was working for the Department of Veterans Affairs, couldn’t get the care that she needed for her husband. 

“We were up against something huge if I myself, who work here and understand the system, can’t get access to specialized health care or answers,” she said. 

The PACT Act looks to expand eligibility for veterans benefits to post-9/11 veterans who were exposed to toxins from burn pits, which were widely used for waste disposal at military sites. The bill adds 23 illnesses linked to burn pits and toxic exposure to the VA’s list of presumptive service conditions. 

The measure also looks to expand presumptions related to Agent Orange exposures to veterans who served outside of Vietnam.

Some people who joined the demonstration outside of the Capitol weren’t there for themselves, but for other veterans who were suffering as a result of toxic exposures.

Kempthorne, who served in the Navy and Air Force, suffers several respiratory illnesses — including allergic rhinitis and acute sinusitis — related to his service. But he has friends with much worse illnesses that need care.

“My friends, whenever I call them, they’re talking about wanting to kill themselves — that happens all the goddamn time. And they’re sick of it,” Kempthorne said.

“They’re sick of being sick. The only thing that they’re staying alive for is their children and their spouses. It’s the only reason they’re staying alive.” 

Dan Eggert, who served in the Army Reserve and Wisconsin National Guard, is currently undergoing treatment for colon cancer. He says he doesn’t like to think that his cancer was due to toxic exposures, but is grateful for the access to care from the VA. 

Eggert joined the protest because he wants other veterans to have the same care.

“We shouldn’t have one class of veterans that’s lucky enough to get care and another class of veterans that sits on the sidelines and loses everything because they don’t have it,” Eggert said. 

The most outspoken Republican against the bill has been Sen. Pat Toomey (Pa.), who has argued it includes a “budgetary gimmick” to create $400 billion that could be spent on matters unrelated to veterans’ care.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, has hit back at the Pennsylvania Republican’s concerns, and urged his GOP colleagues to get back on board with the bill. 

“I think the American people see through all this garbage that happened last week in Washington, D.C. And they, along with the veterans, are saying enough is enough. Let’s get this done; our veterans deserve this benefit” Tester said on CNN Sunday.

The GOP’s turn against the bill occurred hours after Democrats announced a deal on a new spending deal, fueling speculation that the opposition was linked to the revived reconciliation efforts. 

The protest urging GOP senators to change their vote has garnered the attention of several high-profile guests — including gun control activist David Hogg, Maryland Democratic gubernatorial nominee Wes Moore and Chef José Andrés, who delivered food on Saturday.

Comedian Jon Stewart has also been an outspoken supporter of the veterans, appearing across cable TV networks since Thursday to rail against Toomey and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), who voted against the bill. 

President Biden delivered a surprise on Saturday, when he had Veterans Affairs Secretary Dennis McDonough deliver pizza to the veterans. The president spoke with the advocates via FaceTime, after his plans to visit them personally were disrupted when he tested positive for COVID-19.

Biden has made the issue of toxic exposures a personal one, opening up about his belief that the cancer his son Beau Biden died of in 2015 was connected to toxic exposures during his military service.

“That was huge for us,” Torres said of Biden’s visit. “We were talking to a father of a soldier who passed away, not to the president in that moment. So, it felt very sincere, just a moment that we had to share together.”

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said last week that the Senate would hold another vote on the bill on Monday. But on Monday his office said there will be a vote on the bill “in the coming days.”

“These brave Americans sacrificed everything. They risked life and limb, and the very least we can do as a country is to ensure they receive top care,” Schumer said.

“I urge both sides to work together to quickly pass the PACT Act so we can send it to the president’s desk ASAP,” he added. 

Torres said the demonstration outside the Capitol would continue until the bill gets passed.  

“Every day that they delay is another veteran that dies. So, we will be here until we get the vote passed,” Torres said. “We’re not going anywhere.”

Source: TEST FEED1

The real reason Xi is upset over Pelosi’s Taiwan visit

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) planned visit to Taiwan has ignited major controversy even in her own party. Some say the Taiwan Straits are a powder keg and we can’t risk lighting a stick of dynamite, while others argue we can’t give into China’s bullying. But what is really, eating at Chinese President Xi Jinping and why is China’s government so easily enraged when it comes to Taiwan?

The easy answer is to reunite a breakaway province from 73 years ago for the glory of China and to achieve territorial integrity over a land mass slightly larger than Maryland, that they’ve never actually ruled over. 

That is too simple and outdated. At the heart of why China obsesses over Taiwan to the point they could conceivably start World War III, is because Taiwan’s democratic success story is an existential threat to Xi Jinping’s legitimacy and authoritarian rule.

China’s leaders and propaganda machine constantly emphasize how “Western-style” liberal democracies, with all its advertised luxuries and freedoms, are a fool’s errand. They can’t work, especially not with Chinese sensibilities. There is no way to enjoy both freedoms and economic prosperity. You need our tough rules and order — our government surveillance, control and crackdowns — or you will live in chaos.

But Taiwan’s progress neatly destroys this narrative. Taiwan only became a democracy a quarter-century ago, but in that time has become the eighth-strongest democracy in the world with a vibrant, free-market economy. At a glance, the Taiwanese people are almost indistinguishable from the Chinese people. They use the same language, are vast majority Han Chinese ethnicity, and descend from the same thousands of years of Chinese history and culture before the 1949 Civil War divided them. In fact, the largest collection of Chinese artifacts going back 8,000 years has since resided in Taiwan’s National Palace Museum when the fleeing Chinese Nationalists took nearly 700,000 pieces with them. (If visiting, I recommend the jade cabbage and pork belly stone.)

But the obvious, key difference between the mainland Chinese and Taiwanese people is what system of government rules over them. The Chinese government is afraid Taiwan will make too many Chinese people wise up to how their justification for authoritarian rule is bunk. Despite China’s highly sophisticated censorship systems blocking outside information, Taiwan remains a threat because of their deep interconnectedness and exposure to China. It’s the same reason why the Chinese government ruthlessly crushed Hong Kong’s freedoms and protests.

Even with ongoing geopolitical tensions, China remains Taiwan’s largest trading partner. Since 2008, China and Taiwan fully relaxed their previous travel restrictions and began allowing hundreds of direct flights between them for tourism, to visit relatives, to do business or to study. In the years immediately before the pandemic, more than 2.5 million Chinese citizens visited Taiwan annually. With this constant back and forth and intermingling, it’s inevitable mainland China will pick up on the notable perks of Taiwan’s democratic system.

For example, China and Taiwan were both proud of their initial COVID-19 response with some of the world’s lowest rates of infections. The difference? In China, the government enforced cruel COVID-19 lockdowns by forcefully separating parents from children for quarantine, and literally dragging uncooperative people through the streets.

In Taiwan, the government formed a central COVID-19 command center that held daily news briefings for public transparency. They used highly effective contact tracing through advanced technologies and provided rations of free masks to its citizens.

The Chinese government also knows that Taiwan will be harder and harder to roll back as it progresses, to eventually force the Taiwanese to integrate with mainland China’s regime. Taiwan is led by a female president, while China remains a highly patriarchal society with deep underrepresentation of women in power. Taiwan is the first and only Asian country with legalized gay marriage. In China, even allusions to fictional gay relationships must be censored, including from the films “Lightyear” and “Fantastic Beasts 3,” to the very real Freddie Mercury, depicted in “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Meanwhile, Taiwan has a transgender woman Cabinet member. In China, however, being transgender is considered a mental disorder.

China constantly uses threats, economic coercion or bluster to quash any additional legitimacy Taiwan may receive exactly because it directly undermines their own. They cite issues of sovereignty and a three-quarters of a century historical grudge, but this is mostly misdirection. China sees the danger in a free Taiwan and so vows to end it.

Valerie Shen is vice president for national security at Third Way, a centrist think tank in Washington, DC. Follow her on Twitter: @ValerieShen

Source: TEST FEED1

DHS watchdog halted efforts to obtain missing text messages from Secret Service, Trump officials

The watchdog at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) abandoned efforts to recover missing text messages from across its various agencies deleted in the wake of Jan. 6 and minimized its criticism of those that failed to produce them, according to emails released by lawmakers.

The evidence, released Monday by the House committees on oversight and homeland security, was accompanied by a renewed call for Inspector General Joseph Cuffari to step aside from his investigations into how DHS agencies responded to the Jan. 6 attack. 

“These documents raise troubling new concerns that your office not only failed to notify Congress for more than a year that critical evidence in this investigation was missing, but your senior staff deliberately chose not to pursue that evidence and then appear to have taken steps to cover up these failures,” the committees wrote in a letter to Cuffari.

The letter marks the second time in a week that Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), chair of the Committee on Oversight, and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chair of the Committee on Homeland Security, have asked for Cuffari to recuse himself from the investigation.

The letter from the committees offers more details following a Friday report from The Washington Post outlining how Cuffari’s office halted efforts to recover or obtain text messages from the Secret Service or from top Trump-era DHS officials.

Cuffari first notified lawmakers earlier this month that some Secret Service agents’ text messages were “erased” as part of a device replacement program. (The agency contends any text messages that might be missing were lost through a software transition.) 

Documents obtained by the Project on Government Oversight also indicate that Cuffari was unable to obtain text messages from acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf or his deputy Ken Cuccinelli.

In each case, Cuffari knew for months that the messages were lost, and only informed lawmakers of the issues with the Secret Service, a potential violation of laws governing inspectors general that require rapid notification of “particularly serious or flagrant” abuses of public records laws.

“Your July 13, 2022, letter failed to mention that a year earlier, and just six weeks after you initially requested text messages of Secret Service personnel, senior officials in your office instructed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that the Office of Inspector General (OIG) no longer needed Secret Service text messages as part of its investigation related to the January 6 attack,” the committees wrote.

The two panels obtained emails from Cuffari’s deputy, Thomas Kait, directing a liaison to halt efforts to obtain text messages.

“Jim, please use this email as a reference to our conversation where I said we no longer request phone records and text messages from the USSS [United States Secret Service] relating to the events on January 6th,” Kait wrote on July 27.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) would reverse course roughly four months later and seek some of the messages, but as the watchdog hit a wall in obtaining them, it diminished the issue in an agency memo.

A February document initially noted that OIG had failed to get the requested information. But Kait and others tweaked the document, instead writing that they “received a timely and consolidated response from each component to our December 3, 2021 request; however, additional and clarifying information is needed before we can complete the reviews.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Feds agree to reverse Trump-era decision opening central California lands to drilling

California officials on Monday announced a settlement reversing a Trump-era decision opening central California to new oil and gas drilling on public lands. 

The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) and a trio of state agencies against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 2020. Newsom and Bonta joined the state Air Resources Board Department of Fish and Wildlife and Department of Water Resources in a challenge to BLM plans to allow drilling on more than 1 million acres of public lands. 

The officials alleged the plan would open up the lands without a proper environmental review or an analysis of its impact on local residents.

The terms of the Monday settlement include a moratorium on new oil and gas leasing while the BLM conducts a more thorough review. The agency specifically agreed to conduct a new supplemental environmental impact statement before holding any new lease sales. The California officials will also reserve the right to dispute or challenge the replacement statement, according to Bonta’s office. 

“Fracking is dangerous for our communities, damaging to our environment, and out of step with California’s climate goals,” Bonta said in a statement.

“The Trump Administration recklessly opened Central California up to new oil and gas drilling without considering how fracking can hurt communities by causing polluted groundwater, toxic air emissions, minor earthquakes, climate impacts, and more. In keeping with the Bureau of Land Management’s mission to preserve the health of our public lands, it must reassess this Trump-era mistake.” 

Newsom spearheaded a number of state-level challenges to the Trump-era environmental and energy policies, most notably when the Trump administration announced plans to revoke a waiver allowing the state to impose stricter tailpipe emissions standards than the federal government. The waiver has since been restored under the Biden administration. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Florida LGBTQ+ voters say they are 'extremely motivated' to vote in midterms

LGBTQ+ voters in Florida say they are “extremely motivated” to vote in the state’s midterm elections this year as current elected officials limit access to reproductive and gender-affirming health care, according to a poll published Monday by the LGBTQ+ media advocacy group GLAAD.

More than two-thirds of LGBTQ+ voters and their allies are “extremely motivated” to vote this year, according to the poll, which collected responses from 600 registered voters in Florida from July 5-12. Fifty-eight percent of those voters said they are even more motivated to show up to the polls this year than they were in the 2020 presidential election.

“Florida’s LGBTQ voters and ally voters have grave concerns about their basic human rights, including access to abortion, freedom of speech, and evidence-based healthcare for LGBTQ youth,” Sarah Kate Ellis, the president and chief executive of GLAAD, said Monday. “They’re motivated to make a difference in this crucial election.”

Approximately 77 percent of LGBTQ+ and ally voters in Florida believe it is “more important than ever” to vote this year. They say the restoration of abortion rights, meaningful gun safety reform and lowering inflation are key objectives.

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Voters also expressed interest in repealing a recently implemented law that limits how public school educators through high school may address topics including sexual orientation and gender identity with their students. The law, officially titled the Parental Rights in Education law, has been dubbed by its critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

Cory Berneart, an elementary school teacher on the west coast of Florida, told GLAAD that the law is “a solution to a problem that does not exist.”

According to Sunshine State Standards, which establish the core curricula for Florida K-12 public school students, teachers are neither required nor expected to educate their students on sexual orientation or gender identity.

More than 70 percent of LGBTQ+ and ally voters in Florida believe the intent of the Florida law is to attack LGBTQ+ people and strongly agree that similar bills will be “emotionally damaging” to youth and their families, according to the GLAAD poll. 

Roughly 77 percent of LGBTQ+ and ally voters surveyed also said they have a “somewhat” to “very” unfavorable opinion of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), whose administration this year has introduced multiple measures to restrict access to reproductive and gender-affirming health care.

DeSantis in April signed into law a bill banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest. The enforcement of that law has since been blocked by a judge who said the law violated the state constitution.

In June, Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), which controls most of its Medicaid program, published a notice for a proposed rule to eliminate coverage for puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries when they are used to treat gender dysphoria.

The state Health Department has also said that gender-affirming health care, including social transition, should not be made available to anyone younger than 18.

According to the Williams Institute, a public policy think tank focused on issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity, roughly 4.6 percent of Floridians are LGBTQ+ and 24 percent of LGBTQ+ people in Florida are raising children. 

The state ranks third in the nation for the most same-sex couples, behind New York and California.

Source: TEST FEED1

Bipartisan senators introduce bill to codify abortion rights

A bipartisan group of senators on Monday introduced legislation that would codify the right to an abortion into federal law, but it faces an uncertain future.

The bill from Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) comes after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion rights case, and left the authority to regulate the procedure to individual states.

“After the Supreme Court gutted a woman’s right to make personal health care decisions, Congress must restore that right,” Kaine said in a statement.

The bill aims to prevent states from enacting laws that impose an “undue burden” on access to pre-viability abortions, while also allowing some “reasonable” limits on post-viability abortions, so long as they don’t impact the life and health of the mother.

The bill does not define viability, or what would constitute a danger to the life and health of a mother. 

The bipartisan legislation is an attempt to find a middle ground on abortion rights after a Democratic-only effort, the Women’s Health Protection Act, failed twice on the Senate floor this year. 

That legislation would have codified Roe while also expanding abortion access. Every Republican voted against it, as well as Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.).

Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, dozens of states have either completely banned abortion or severely restricted access to the procedure.   

The bipartisan legislation also ensures access to contraception. Abortion rights advocates are concerned Republican state legislatures emboldened by the decision overturning Roe could try to outlaw some contraceptives such as Plan B and intrauterine devices. 

There is also concern that Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court case that granted a personal right to contraception, could be overturned.

“For five decades, reproductive health care decisions were centered with the individual — we cannot go back in time in limiting personal freedoms for women,” Murkowski said in a statement. 

But it’s not clear if the bipartisan bill will be brought to the Senate floor. It’s likely to get opposition from Democrats for being too conservative, and from Republicans who don’t want to allow any abortion rights.

Source: TEST FEED1

Democrats introduce bill to guarantee cash refunds for canceled flights

Democratic lawmakers on Monday introduced a bill that would require airlines to provide cash refunds to travelers when they cancel or significantly delay a flight.

The bill, which would codify a Department of Transportation rule mandating cash refunds, comes as passengers continue to grapple with widespread delays and cancellations stemming from technical problems and a shortage of workers. 

The measure would also give travelers the right to a cash refund if they cancel their flight at least 48 hours before their scheduled departure. Airlines commonly give travelers a voucher that can only be used to purchase another ticket with that carrier and has an expiration date. 

“Enough is enough: Travelers are sick of wasting their valuable time fighting the airlines to receive their legally-required cash refunds,” Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said in a statement. “And they are tired of making flight reservations months in advance, only to face a health scare that forces them to choose between canceling a nonrefundable flight, or traveling and risking the health of their fellow passengers.”

The Cash Refunds for Flight Cancellations Act is backed by Sens. Markey, Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.). Reps. Steve Cohen (Tenn.), Jesús García (Ill.) and Jamie Raskin (Md.) are introducing a companion bill in the House. 

Supporters of the bill say that airlines often offer customers a voucher without informing them that they are legally entitled to a cash refund if their flight is cancelled. They point to a 2021 Wall Street Journal investigation revealing that top airlines racked up $10 billion in unused travel credits at the end of 2020 as travelers canceled their trips due to COVID-19. 

The bill would require airlines to provide refunds within 30 days of a canceled flight, or a voucher, if the customer prefers, that would be redeemable indefinitely.

Travelers have inundated lawmakers with complaints about flight disruptions and refunds after high-profile meltdowns this summer. American carriers canceled roughly 1,400 flights over the Fourth of July weekend and more than 3,400 flights over the Juneteenth holiday weekend, according to analytics firm masFlight.

Source: TEST FEED1

Trump, DeSantis top prospective 2024 GOP primary: poll

Former President Donald Trump would enter the 2024 Republican presidential primary as the heavy favorite for the party’s nomination, though Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is emerging as the clear runner-up should Trump decide against another campaign, according to a new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll.

The poll, which was shared exclusively with The Hill on Monday, found that in a hypothetical eight-way primary for the GOP’s 2024 nod, Trump is far-and-away the frontrunner, scoring 52 percent support. DeSantis, meanwhile, is the only candidate to win double-digit support at 19 percent. Former Vice President Pence comes in third, with just 7 percent.

But in the event that Trump doesn’t mount another bid for the White House – and he has repeatedly hinted that he will – DeSantis’s support rises to 34 percent, putting him 15 points ahead of Pence. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley are tied for third place in that scenario at 7 percent support each.

The survey is only the latest sign that DeSantis, a rising Republican star, could be a competitive force should he launch a campaign for the White House in 2024.

When it comes to overall favorability, DeSantis has Trump beat, though he remains less well-known than the former president. Thirty-six percent of voters say they have a favorable view of the Florida governor compared to 30 percent who have an unfavorable opinion of him.

Meanwhile, Trump’s favorability remains underwater at 44 percent to 49 percent.

Only two other Republicans – Pence and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) – included in the survey have favorability ratings above water, according to the Harvard CAPS/Harris poll.

“Despite Jan. 6, Trump maintains a strong base in the Republican Party though Ron DeSantis is clearly up and coming,” Mark Penn, the co-director of the Harvard CAPS/Harris poll, said. “Trump would beat DeSantis today but most people in the country don’t want Trump to run again so his victory is not assured despite a good starting point.”

The Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll survey of 1,885 registered voters was conducted from July 27-28. It is a collaboration of the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University and the Harris Poll.

The survey is an online sample drawn from the Harris Panel and weighted to reflect known demographics. As a representative online sample, it does not report a probability confidence interval.

Source: TEST FEED1

Democrats, GOP in dead heat in generic congressional ballot: poll

Democrats and Republicans are locked in a statistical dead heat as the parties race to gain seats in Congress months before the midterm elections, according to a new Harvard CAPS-Harris poll released exclusively to The Hill.

Voters are split 50-50 when asked if they would vote for a Democratic or Republican candidate for Congress today. That’s a switch from May, when the same Harvard CAPS-Harris poll showed the GOP was leading 51 percent to 49 percent.

The midterm elections are shaping up to be a close call as Republicans campaign on high inflation and a probable recession while Democrats seek to go on offense over the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision and GOP opposition to climate change and gun control.

Mark Penn, the co-chair of Harvard CAPS-Harris polling, said Republicans are losing ground they once held with swing voters — including moderate Democrats and Independents who might vote for them.

“Despite poor ratings for the administration and big concerns about inflation, the Republican Party is still seen as too far to the right for these moderate Democrats and so they have not closed the sale on the midterms,” Penn said.

The president’s party generally loses seats in the House during their first midterm election, which has led many pundits to predict the House will flip to the GOP. Republicans only need to pick up a few seats to take the majority.

The Senate is a different situation, as a number of the competitive races are being held in states won by President Biden in 2020.

The most close-watched races include Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, where Republicans are seeking to hold seats, and Arizona and Georgia, where Democratic incumbents are seeking full terms. Biden won all four of those states in the 2020 election.

Amid polarized times, neither political party is seen as highly favorable. About 48 percent of voters approve of the Republican Party, according to the Harvard CAPS-Harris poll, while 43 percent of voters approve of the Democratic Party.

The issue most expected to dominate the elections this year is inflation, a top concern for 36 percent of Democratic voters and 49 percent of GOP voters, the poll shows.

The second most pressing issue is abortion rights, a major concern after the U.S. Supreme Court decision eliminated what had been a 50-year constitutional right to abortion.

About 26 percent of voters are concerned about abortion access. Democrats, at 20 percent, are far more likely than Republicans, at eight percent, to be concerned about abortion rights.

The Harvard CAPS-Harris poll was conducted from July 27 to July 28 among 1,885 registered voters.

The survey is an online sample drawn from the Harris Panel and weighted to reflect known demographics. As a representative online sample, it does not report a probability confidence interval.

Source: TEST FEED1