• Barack Obama,  Polling

    Poll Watch: Obama Going The Wrong Way As 37 Per Cent Now Strongly Disapprove

    obama_index_0708

    The Obama honeymoon is definitely over in this latest Rasmussen Presidential poll.

    The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 32% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-seven percent (37%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of –5.

    The number who strongly disapprove inched up another point to the highest level measured to date and the overall Approval Index is at the lowest level yet for Obama (see trends).

    In the wake of last week’s disappointing report on job loss, consumer confidence has fallen to the lowest level in two months. The Rasmussen Investor Index shows investor confidence falling to the lowest level in three months. The number of investors who say the economy is getting worse jumped from 43% before the jobs report to 51% today.

    The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve.

    Overall, 52% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President’s performance so far. Yesterday and today are the first time that the number of voters who approve of the President’s performance has slipped below the 53% share of the vote he won last November. Forty-eight percent (48%) now disapprove.

    The bloom has come off the Obama rose and the press is continuing to give him positive treatment. What is up with that?

    You cannot fool the people – all of the time.


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  • Global Warming,  Greenpeace

    Big Deal: Greenpeace Global Warming Activists Arrested for Mount Rushmore Banner

    mt rushmore and global warming

    Three Greenpeace climbers have hung a banner on the face of Mount Rushmore to issue a challenge to President Obama: “America honors leaders, not politicians: Stop Global Warming.” The action is part of a global day of action staged by Greenpeace to urge world leaders, who are currently attending a G8 meeting in L’Aquila, Italy, to take the actions necessary to avert runaway climate change

    Yeah, and the Greenpeace activists are bothering folks in downtown Indianapolis today with some sort of petition.

    Greenpeace activists were arrested Wednesday for scaling Mount Rushmore and hanging a banner next to the carved face of Abraham Lincoln urging President Barack Obama to get tough on climate change.

    A video posted on the environmental group’s website showed the massive banner hanging on the South Dakota mountain face.

    Its message — “America honors leaders not politicians: Stop Global Warming” and an unfinished portrait of Obama — was barely visible as it was whipped by wind.

    “Doing what it takes to solve global warming demands real political courage,” Greenpeace USA deputy campaigns director Carroll Muffett said in a statement.

    “If President Obama intends to earn a place among this country’s true leaders, he needs to show that courage, and base his actions on the scientific reality rather than political convenience.”

    The protest comes as Obama meets with other G8 leaders in Italy.

    The inconvenient truth is that these activists should be protesting at the Great Wall of China or in India, where massive pollution problems exist.

    The video is here.

    Exit questions: How much is this going to cost the American economy and who is going to pay for it?


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  • Polling,  Sarah Palin

    Poll Watch: Is Sarah Palin Fit to Be President?

    Some interesting poll numbers just out.

    Favorable / Unfavorable

    • Sarah Palin: 46 / 45

    Do you think that Sarah Palin is fit to be President?

    • 37% Yes, 55% No

    Did Sarah Palin’s announcement that she will resign part way through her term as Governor of Alaska make you more or less likely to support her in a possible future campaign for President?

    • 30% More likely, 57% Less likely

    I think the second question is precisely why she resigned – and, of course to cash in her celebrity status.

    Stay tuned……


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  • economics,  Polling

    Poll Watch: Consumer and Investor Indexes Drop to Lowest Levels in Months

    This does not look good for the economy.

    The Rasmussen Consumer Index, which measures the economic confidence of consumers on a daily basis, dropped three points on Wednesday to 67.0, its lowest level in over two months. The index is down six points over the past week and down nine points over the past month. Today is the first update based entirely upon interviews conducted since last week’s report showing higher than expected job losses in June.

    Nationally, 24% of consumers say the economic conditions in the United States are getting better, down five points from the end of last week. Fifty-two percent (52%) of adults say the economy is getting worse.

    The Rasmussen Investor Index, which measures the economic confidence of investors on a daily basis, fell to its lowest level in three months. At 70.3, investor confidence is down fourteen points over the past week and fifteen points over the past month.

    Among investors, 26% think the economy is getting better, down five points from yesterday. Most investors (51%) say the economy is getting worse, down from 43% before the job report was released.

    No wonder the Obama Administration is floating the idea of another economic stimulus bill. The fact is economic stimulus I or Porkulus has been a failure and unemployment remains sky high.

    Stay tuned……


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  • Mark Kirk,  Roland Burris

    Republican Mark Kirk Will Run Against Roland Burris for Illinois U.S. Senate Seat

    Illinois GOP Representative Mark Kirk

    Looks like GOP Rep Mark Kirk is making the run for an illinois U.S. Senate seat occupied by Roland Burris who was appointed by impeached Governor Blago to replace President Barack Obama.

    Just hours after Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan took herself out of the running for the seat held by Sen. Roland Burris (D), Rep. Mark Kirk (R) has begun telling influential folks in Washington that he will make the race.

    Kirk is widely regarded as the strongest candidate Republicans can field given his proven ability to win votes in a Democratic leaning district and his fundraising prowess.

    Kirk has held the 10th district, which went for President Barack Obama with 61 percent in 2008, since 2000 and has beaten back several serious challenges during that time.

    He had been expected to make the race for months but backed off when Madigan made it clear she would consider the race.

    Kirk starts the race in impressive financial shape after raising $580,000 between April 1 and June 30. He began July with $1.1 million in the bank.

    But, conservatives in Illinois are not happy with Kirk and there may be yet another candidate to challenge him in the Republican Primary, Illinois Republican Party Chairman, Andy McKenna.

    At least it looks like the GOP will be able to make a credible race of it against the hapless Senator Roland Burris – if indeed he is not forced out for another more electable Democrat such as Tammy Duckworth.

    Stay tuned…..


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  • GOP,  Henry Waxman

    California Democrat Representative Henry Waxman: GOP “Rooting Against” USA

    Henry Waaxman

    Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. speaks to reporters after Democrats serving on the Energy and Commerce Committees met with President Barack Obama in the State Dining Room at the White House to discuss energy independence, health care reform, and other legislative priorities in Washington, May 5, 2009

    Over Climate Change legislation?

    Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who has had an eventful couple of weeks to say the least, believes House Republican opposition to climate change legislation and the stimulus indicates they’re cheering against the good ol’ US of A.

    “It appears that the Republican Party leadership in the Congress has made a decision that they want to deny President Obama success, which means, in my mind, they are rooting against the country, as well,” the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman told WAMU radio host Diane Rehm on Tuesday morning, promoting his new book, “The Waxman Report.”

    Of course, the GOP immediately asked for an apology for such a stupid statement.

    But, I thought the left of which Waxman is a charter member supported the axiom that dissent is the highest form of patriotism?

    Guess only when Waxman and his cohorts are the dissenters, right?


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  • Polling,  Sarah Palin

    Poll Watch: Does Sarah Palin’s Resignation as Alaska Governor Really Matter?

    Palin July 7 2009

    Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin talks with state Rep. Reggie Joule, D-Kotzebue, as an unidentified person takes photos before a bill-signing ceremony in Kotzebue, Alaska on Tuesday, July 7, 2009

    Mike Blumenthal over at Pollster.com has some interesting poll interpretations re: Sarah Palin’s resignation as Alaska Governor and I recommend that you read them all.

    2009-07-09_paling by party

    I agree with Blumenthal’s take.

    All in all, the data support the interpretation given by Republican consultant Alex Castellanos to USA Today‘s Susan Page: “For independents and Democrats, [Palin’s] already not their candidate, and with Republicans her support is not based on her record as governor of Alaska.”……

    Again, we should treat these results as preliminary and hold off on firm conclusions until we have better, more comparable data based on more than few days’ reflection, but on first blush, it looks as those Palin’s resignation announcement made less of an impression on Americans than the punditry of the last few days might lead you to believe. Palin’s abrupt resignation probably confirmed or deepened existing impressions, but it does not appear to have changed many minds.

    Given the fact that Sarah Palin is almost guaranteed a $15-25 million paycheck over the next twelve months, compared to the minimal political damage she is about to endure, does anyone not think she made a wise, albeit bold decision.

    Exit answer: No, it doesn’t matter.


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  • Barack Obama,  Day By Day,  economics

    Day By Day by Chris Muir July 8, 2009 – Run, Don’t Walk

    daybyday070809

    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    President Obama’s and the Congressional Democrat’s propensity to TAX AND SPEND has already started with the failed Economic Stimulus I and add this to Cap and Trade, Obamacare, and Economic Stimulus II you have massive government spending.

    Who is going to pay for it?

    American taxpayers making more than $250,000 a year?

    Frak, there are NOT enough high earner folks to pay for it all.

    So, what happens?

    A Bill Clinton type reversal: A Middle Class Tax increase to pay for “INVESTMENTS.”

    And, the RIGHT was worried about the 2010 midterm Congressional elections? Flap’s only hope is that Harry Reid rams all of these new taxes through the Senate earlier rather than later this Fall.

    Previous:

    The Day By Day Archive


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  • Del.icio.us Links

    links for 2009-07-07

    • Wolff agrees Google is the "most likely" buyer of Twitter, given its deep pockets and the fact both Stone and Williams are alums of the search giant. Facebook "would sorely love to buy Twitter," he adds, but it's unclear if Stone and Williams would want to trade shares in one pre-public company for another.

      News Corp. is also a likely entrant to any Twitter bidding war, according to Wolff, author of (most recently) The Man Who Owns the News: Inside the Secret World of Rupert Murdoch.

    • The Ventura County Young Republicans announce that Former Miss California, Carrie Prejean, to be the keynote speaker for the 2009 convention. A California native, the 21 year old model was crowned Miss Greater San Diego in 2007, and most recently was the former Miss California 2009. She was second runner up in the April Miss USA pageant.

      Ventura County Young Republicans believe that “Carrie is a fresh new face for conservatives in California. We feel that adding her to our slate of speakers will greatly amplify the excitement around our convention. We are proud to continue pushing the envelope in recruiting vibrant young Republican leaders.”

      The dinner banquet will take place at 6:30pm on Saturday, August 15th at the Grand Vista hotel in Simi Valley, Ca.

    • Dozens of protesters, some of them in wheelchairs, blocked the hallway outside Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Capitol office for hours Tuesday to protest proposed cuts to health and social service programs.

      Spokeswoman Denika Boardman said that 15 to 20 of the participants were willing to be arrested, if necessary, to press their case that the state needs new revenue to help balance its $26.3 billion budget hole.

      The protest, called People's Day of Reckoning, began about 1 p.m. and was still going strong about 5 p.m. Organizers said the event drew about 120 people at its height, dropping to about 75 within a couple hours.

      California Highway Patrol Capt. Bob Ghiglieri said the demonstration was peaceful, public safety was not endangered, and that no decision had been made late Tuesday afternoon on dispersing the group.

    • U.S. mortgage fraud reports jumped 36 percent last year as desperate homeowners and industry professionals tried to maintain their standard of living from the boom years, the FBI said on Tuesday.

      Suspicious activity reports rose to 63,713 in fiscal year 2008, which ended last September, from 46,717 the year before. California and Florida, centers of the housing bust, had the highest numbers of suspicious reports as foreclosures jumped, the stock market dropped and credit dried up.

      (tags: FBI housing)
    • The top U.S. military officer warned on Tuesday that time is running out for dialogue with Tehran to avoid either a nuclear-armed Iran or a possible military strike against the Islamic Republic.

      Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it is critical for diplomatic efforts to reach a solution before Iran develops a nuclear weapon or faces an Israeli or U.S. strike to turn back its nuclear program.

      "That window is a very narrow window," Mullen told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

      "There's a great deal that certainly depends on the dialogue and the engagement," he said. "I'm hopeful that that dialogue is productive. I worry about it a great deal if it's not."

      Mullen noted that some forecasters believe Iran could be as little as a year away from developing a nuclear bomb, adding: "The clock has continued to tick."

      (tags: Iran Israel)
    • Turning to domestic issues, the president said that when Vice President Joe Biden recently told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that the White House “misread” the economy when planning the stimulus package in January, the president said that “what Vice President Biden was referring to was simply the fact that when we passed he stimulus, we hadn’t gotten the full report of the first quarter contractions in the economy that turned out to be way worse than anybody had anticipated.”

      But the president denied that his economic prescription was wrong because the diagnosis was incomplete.

      “There’s nothing that we would have done differently,” he said. “We needed a stimulus and we needed a substantial stimulus.”
      ++++++
      Oh really?

    • The Obama administration hoped spending $787 billion in stimulus would jump-start the economy, build new schools and usher in an era of education reform. So far, government auditors say, many states are setting aside such grand plans and simply trying to stay afloat.
      Since Obama signed the stimulus bill in February, the economy has shed more than 2 million jobs. Unemployment now stands at 9.5 percent, the highest in more than a quarter century.
    • A key lawmaker says senators at work on health care legislation are having second thoughts about imposing a tax on high-end insurance coverage that workers receive on the job.

      Sen. Kent Conrad says polling shows widespread public opposition to the idea, and lawmakers are now considering other options to help pay for an expansion of care to millions of people who now lack insurance.

      The North Dakota Democrat did not go into details Tuesday.

      In a compilation of four public opinion polls shown to lawmakers, opposition to taxing health care benefits ranged from 59 percent to 70 percent. In private talks, lawmakers have been discussing a tax on workers who receive coverage that has particularly high premiums.

      (tags: Obamacare)
    • A Senate Democrat involved in negotiations on legislation to overhaul the health-care system said senators may be souring on a plan to tax some employer-provided health benefits.

      Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said that public polls conducted over the July 4 congressional recess and reviewed by senators are causing lawmakers to have second thoughts about limiting the tax exclusion for employer health plans.

      "It remains a significant option, but we're looking at other options," Conrad told a group of reporters Tuesday. "When you go out and ask people across the country, their initial reaction is, they don't like it."

      Senate Finance Committee members, including Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., Conrad and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, are trying to prepare a bill for consideration by the Senate in July. They are hunting for new revenues to offset as much as half of the bill's expected $1 trillion cost.

      (tags: Obamacare)
    • 81: Average percentage of those who survive a diagnosis of prostate cancer in the United States versus 43% in Britain under their National Health Service.

      90: Number of days, on average, each Canadian patient must wait for an MRI under the Canadian government-run health care system.

      (tags: Obamacare)
    • Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday ordered Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) to drop a proposal to tax health benefits and stop chasing Republican votes on a massive health care reform bill.

      Reid, whose leadership is considered crucial if President Barack Obama is to deliver on his promise of enacting health care reform this year, offered the directive to Baucus through an intermediary after consulting with Senate Democratic leaders during Tuesday morning’s regularly scheduled leadership meeting. Baucus was meeting with Finance ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) Tuesday afternoon to relay the information.

      According to Democratic sources, Reid told Baucus that taxing health benefits and failing to include a strong government-run insurance option of some sort in his bill would cost 10 to 15 Democratic votes; Reid told Baucus it wasn’t worth securing the support of Grassley and at best a few additional Republicans.

      (tags: Obamacare)
    • Facing criticism for having backed the “wrong” side in the recent coup in Honduras, President Obama Tuesday tried to explain his advocacy on behalf of ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

      “America supports now the restoration of the democratically-elected President of Honduras, even though he has strongly opposed American policies,” the president told graduate students at the commencement ceremony of Moscow’s New Economic School. “We do so not because we agree with him. We do so because we respect the universal principle that people should choose their own leaders, whether they are leaders we agree with or not. “

      (tags: barack_obama)
    • President Barack Obama gets a lackluster 49 – 44 percent approval rating in Ohio, considered by many to be the most important swing state in a presidential election, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. This is President Obama's lowest approval rating in any national or statewide Quinnipiac University poll since he was inaugurated and is down from 62 – 31 percent in a May 6 survey.

      By a small 48 – 46 percent margin, voters disapprove of the way Obama is handling the economy, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. This is down from a 57 – 36 percent approval May 6. A total of 66 percent of Ohio voters are "somewhat dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied" with the way things are going in the state, while 33 percent are "very satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied," numbers that haven't changed since Obama was elected.

      (tags: barack_obama)
    • House Ways and Means Committee members are likely to propose a surtax on high-income Americans to help pay for an overhaul of the health-care system, according to people familiar with the plan.

      The tax would be similar to, yet much smaller than, a surtax proposed in 2007 by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, a person familiar with the committee’s talks said. That plan would have added at least a 4 percent levy on incomes exceeding $200,000, and was projected to reap as much as $832 billion over 10 years.

      Two people familiar with closed-door talks by committee Democrats said a House bill probably will include a surtax on incomes exceeding $250,000, as Congress seeks ways to pay for changes to a health-care system that accounts for almost 18 percent of the U.S. economy. By targeting wealthier Americans, a surtax may hold more appeal for House Democrats than a Senate proposal to tax some employer-provided health benefits.

      (tags: Obamacare)
    • Add it all up, and it looks like the next year is going to be a pretty lucrative one for Sarah Palin, Inc. By our estimates, she’s going to pull in anywhere from $17 million to $20.75 million in the next 12 months. At the low end of that range, she's tied with Sandra Bullock and Serena Williams on the 2009 Forbes Celebrity 100, which measures wealth, fame and power. Williams just won Wimbledon for the first time in six years, while Sandra Bullock had a career rebound with The Proposal. Are those omens for Palin?
      (tags: sarah_palin)
    • New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte (R) announced she will be resigning her post to pursue a campaign for the Senate, landing Republicans a top-tier recruit to run against Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH), according to Politico.

      "A recently-released Granite State poll confirms that she'd be the strongest Republican candidate for the seat held by retiring Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH). Of all the potential GOP candidates, she held the highest approval ratings and led Hodes in a head-to-head matchup."

      (tags: Kelly_Ayotte)
    • The clogged tourist travel route between Southern California and Las Vegas has been designated a federal high-speed rail corridor, in a move that officials hope will signal increased cooperation between the regions on building speedier train travel.

      U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Thursday that the route is now considered part of the federally designated California high-speed-rail corridor.

      LaHood called the congestion on Interstate 15 linking Southern California and the Las Vegas area “very bad for business, very bad for safety and certainly very bad for the environment.”

      He made the announcement at a news conference in Las Vegas, accompanied by Sen. Harry Reid and California Department of Transportation Director Will Kempton.

    • A group of the biggest U.S. banks said they would stop accepting California's IOUs on Friday, adding pressure on the state to close its $26.3 billion annual budget gap.
      The development is the latest twist in California's struggle to deal with the effects of the recession. After state leaders failed to agree on budget solutions last week, California began issuing IOUs — or "individual registered warrants" — to hundreds of thousands of creditors. State Controller John Chiang said that without IOUs, California would run out of cash by July's end.

      But now, if California continues to issue the IOUs, creditors will be forced to hold on to them until they mature on Oct. 2, or find other banks to honor them. When the IOUs mature, holders will be paid back directly by the state at an annual 3.75% interest rate. Some banks might also work with creditors to come up with an interim solution, such as extending them a line of credit, said Beth Mills, a California Bankers Association spokeswoman.

    • The U.S. should consider drafting a second stimulus package focusing on infrastructure projects because the $787 billion approved in February was “a bit too small,” said Laura Tyson, an outside adviser to President Barack Obama.

      The current plan “will have a positive effect, but the real economy is a sicker patient,” Tyson said in a speech in Singapore today. The package will have a more pronounced impact in the third and fourth quarters, she added, stressing that she was speaking for herself and not the administration.

    • Al Gore today compared the battle against climate change with the struggle against the Nazis.

      The former US Vice President said the world lacked the political will to act and invoked the spirit of Winston Churchill by encouraging leaders to unite their nations to fight climate change.

      He also accused politicians around the world of exploiting ignorance about the dangers of global warming to avoid difficult decisions.

      Speaking in Oxford at the Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment , sponsored by The Times, Mr Gore said: “Winston Churchill aroused this nation in heroic fashion to save civilisation in World War II.”

    • Russia's foreign minister warned Tuesday that the U.S. would jeopardize progress toward a new treaty with Russia on nuclear arms cuts if it decides to create a global missile defense system.

      Sergey Lavrov spoke a day after the Russian and U.S. presidents reached a preliminary agreement setting targets for further reductions of the world's largest offensive nuclear arsenals.

      Lavrov's message was that Russia will not agree to the cuts—which both countries say they want to codify in a treaty before the existing START I agreement expires in December—if the U.S. fails to assuage its concerns over missile defense plans.

    • Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin praised the hospitality and openness of U.S. former President George W. Bush in a telegramme sent hours before meeting his successor Barack Obama.

      "During the last years we have been working on strengthening Russia-U.S. cooperation. Although there were differences between our countries, I always valued your openness and sincerity," Putin said, congratulating Bush on his 63rd birthday on July 6.

      "With special warmth I recall your hospitality in the Crawford ranch and your family estate in Kennebunkport," Putin wrote, referring to their 2007 meeting at the Bush family vacation home when the two leaders went fishing and ate lobster.