Voters aren’t brimming with confidence that the United States can win the war in Afghanistan, but, despite news reports of a worsening situation there, support for a continued U.S. military presence in the country is unchanged.
Some of the headlines in recent days are not worthy of belief. No, I'm not referring to the headlines that Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, however odd that many seem to many (including, it seems, Obama himself). I'm referring to the headlines earlier in the week to the effect that the health care bill sponsored by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus will cut the federal deficit by $81 billion over the next 10 years.
Intrepid explorer who discovered America or merciless oppressor of the native peoples who already lived here? Some historians paint a darker picture of Christopher Columbus these days, and nearly a quarter (24%) of adults now don't think America should honor him with a national holiday.
Americans are much more skeptical of the motivation behind the awarding of the prestigious international Nobel Prizes following President Obama's win Friday of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker opened the gates to hell this month when he ruled that strategists for Proposition 8 -- the 2008 ballot measure, passed by 52 percent of California voters, that limited marriage to a man and a woman -- must release internal campaign documents to measure opponents.
In trying to understand what is happening in the nation and world, we all employ narratives -- story lines that indicate where things are going and what is likely to happen next. We can check the validity of these narratives by observing whether events move in the indicated direction. If so, the narrative is confirmed. But if things seem to be moving in an entirely different direction, it's time to discard the narrative and look for another.
President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," with the award committee citing his push for nuclear disarmament and his outreach to the Muslim world.
At the Democratic National Convention in Denver last summer, then-Sen. Barack Obama pledged to "finish the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan."
Forty-three percent (43%) of likely voters say President Obama is doing a good or excellent job handling national security issues, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
President Obama says U.S. children need to spend more time in school to make them more competitive with students from other countries, and 49% of Americans think the president is right.
Just 30% of U.S. voters now think President Obama is governing in a bipartisan fashion, down 12 points from late January and the lowest such finding of his presidency.
Afghanistan used to be a great issue for Barack Obama. As a candidate, he repeatedly argued that George W. Bush and his Defense Department had lost their way, focusing too much attention (and troops and resources) on Iraq while shortchanging the more important mission in Afghanistan.
DELAWARE- SENATE: Republicans got just the break they were hoping for in the Delaware Senate race. Republican Rep. Mike Castle will run, challenging the Vice President's son, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden (D). Biden would have defeated any other Republican, but Castle is leading Biden in early polls. The Vice President has great sway, but the dynasty issue helps Castle.
Team Obama is in economic trouble on two fronts right now: The dollar could be headed toward its demise, while the jobs and unemployment numbers have gotten worse. (The unemployment rate is up to 9.8 percent as of the September report released last week.) And there's a simple policy mix the White House could adopt to fix this. It could enact the Mundell-Laffer supply-side approach of a steady King Dollar for price stability and low marginal tax rates to spur jobs and economic growth.
Most members of the Senate Finance Committee were relieved this week to find that their health care reform plan will cost under $900 billion over the next 10 years and is actually projected to bring the federal deficit down by $81 billion.
Just 60% of U.S. voters now say that American society is generally fair and decent, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Some in Congress are considering a second stimulus plan to fight the country’s growing unemployment problem, but 62% of U.S. voters oppose the passage of another economic stimulus package this year.
With the off-year midterms just a year away, the Crystal Ball will focus on the statehouses. It gets us out of Washington and away from Congress--and that is refreshing in itself.
The latest signals from the White House suggest that President Obama now realizes he must do more -- and quickly -- to ease the economic suffering of working families. He knows that most Americans believe his administration and Congress have so far provided more help to major banks and Wall Street investment firms than to workers and small companies, as a survey released by pollster Peter Hart reported recently.
In terms of health coverage, one date separates the most secure Americans from the least secure: a person's 65th birthday. Age 65 is when one qualifies for Medicare, the government insurance program for the elderly and disabled. It's become a source of intergenerational strife -- not so much between the old and young as between the old and the nearly old.
