Welcome to the website of the Winston Group, a strategy and survey research firm in Washington, D.C. Our site features new postings on our research on major issues, election analysis, economic analysis, videos from our Economic Discussion Points YouTube channel, charts such as Inflation/Consumer Price Index trending, and post election analyses. We hope you’ll find our resources useful, and be sure to check back for frequent updates.
A Look At Federal Tax Revenues
As the tax debate progresses, we will hear more about federal tax revenues, and the extent to which current levels of revenues are sufficient or if tax increases are needed. Democrats are saying that Republican tax cuts have deprived the federal government of needed revenues. Let’s take a look at the current revenue intake, and you can judge for yourself. The chart below shows revenue totals from the Congressional Budget Office from 2017 forward. (The Tax Cuts
Latest Posts
The Honesty Gap And The Importance Of NAEP
Protect NAEP: The Gold Standard For Education Accountability
Tax Tools #1 – Brief Overview of Tax Research
Tax Tools #3 – Views About The Tax Cuts And Jobs Act
Policy and Politics
7 Key Facts From the 2024 Election
It was a new day in Washington as Trump returned to the White House and Republicans have control of the Senate and House. In light of the inaugural events, here is a recap of seven must-know facts from the 2024 election: For more election insights, see our 2024 post election report.
The Battle For Free Speech Is On
Meta has announced a change to their content moderation policies, admitting previous policies have gone too far and fact checkers “have destroyed more trust than they created.” Mark Zuckerberg called the recent election a “cultural tipping point towards once again prioritizing speech.” Nowhere is the battle over free speech more intense than in higher education,
The Big Change For Congressional Republicans In 2025
For the past four years, Republicans’ main focus has been defining Democrats and Biden policies. The communications and policy environment is about to dramatically change in the new Congress as Republicans now have the White House, Senate and House. This means that the focus can no longer be on Biden
A Look At Federal Tax Revenues
As the tax debate progresses, we will hear more about federal tax revenues, and the extent to which current levels of revenues are sufficient or if tax increases are needed. Democrats are saying that Republican tax cuts have deprived the federal government of needed revenues. Let’s take a look at
The Challenge Trump Still Faces On The Economy
The Winston Group’s David Winston is quoted in an article in today’s Wall Street Journal about President Trump’s address to Congress last night. Read the full piece here.
Washington Never Returned To Pre-COVID Spending Levels
Washington is in an uproar over DOGE’s cost-cutting measures, but the inconvenient truth is that the federal government never returned to pre-COVID spending levels after the pandemic was over. Former President Biden announced COVID was over on September 18, 2022. On April 10, 2023, he signed the termination of the COVID-19 national emergency
The Honesty Gap And The Importance Of NAEP
Last month, the Collaborative for Student Success released its latest “Honesty Gap” analysis, looking at the differences between the shares proficient as measured by state standardized tests and the shares proficient on NAEP. What they found is that in many states, the gaps persist. “If we believe that NAEP is
Protect NAEP: The Gold Standard For Education Accountability
In today’s Roll Call, The Winston Group’s David Winston writes about NAEP’s critical function in ensuring our education system is on track — and letting us know when it is not. There are reasonable arguments to be made about the size of the federal government and whether certain crucial programs
Education Recovery Scorecard: “Pockets of Success”
Less than two weeks after the 2024 NAEP scores were released — showing continued declines in reading and stagnation in math — the latest Education Recovery Scorecard was released, bearing similar news. The report, produced by the Center for Education Policy at Harvard University and The Educational Opportunity Project at
Roll Call: The Democratic Party owns Joe Biden’s policy fails
The Winston Group’s David Winston in today’s Roll Call writes that Democrats should consider a different playbook moving forward. Many Democrats, especially those in the progressive wing, believe they lost because they didn’t go far left enough. They couldn’t be more wrong, and that thinking has put the Democratic Party
Protect NAEP: The Gold Standard For Education Accountability
In today’s Roll Call, The Winston Group’s David Winston writes about NAEP’s critical function in ensuring our education system is on track — and letting us know when it is not. There are reasonable arguments to be made about the size of the federal government and whether certain crucial programs
Roll Call: Setting the record straight on Biden’s spending
The Winston Group’s David Winston writes in today’s Roll Call about how much Presidents Trump and Biden spent during their terms, and who is to blame for the near-historic inflation levels. The scale of spending was clearly a central concern about inflation. Ask almost anyone in Washington how much money