The initial failure to pass bailout legislation reflected a political system as bereft of confidence as the financial markets. President George W. Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson had no credibility to match the arrogance of their initial demand for absolute power in distributing $700 billion of public assistance (the old synonym for welfare).
You know what? Hank Paulson may not be the most powerful financial person in the country right now. That honor goes to Sheila Bair, the chairman of the FDIC.
Who do I blame for this financial disaster? Let me count the villains. Start with President Bush and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.
There are a few changes to report in the nation's Senate races since we last reviewed them in July-almost all of them in favor of the Democratic candidates. Yet the fundamental outlook hasn't changed terribly much. The Democrats will pick up a fair number of seats to pad their slim 51-to-49 margin. They are defending a mere 12 seats, and all their incumbents are running again. The Republicans have drawn the short straw, trying to protect 23 seats with five incumbents retiring in a tough political environment for the GOP.
What we've all witnessed this week was more than a failure of Wall Street or of Washington, it was a catastrophic failure of branding.
Trailing six points in Rasmussen’s poll, having fallen four points since he suspended his campaign last week, the question for John McCain is: Haven’t you learned anything?
While some debate whether Sarah Palin as a mother of five can be vice president, 67% of voters say children are a motivation for women in political office, not a distraction, and nearly one-third (31%) believe being a good wife and mother is a qualification to run for higher office.
The Rasmussen Employment Index, a monthly measure of U.S. worker confidence in the employment market, gained six points in September to 88.1.
Just as many American adults think an across-the-board tax cut would help the economy as the number who favor Congress passing a financial rescue plan, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
There is nothing new under the sun. The United States has endured major financial panics in 1837, 1873, 1893, 1907, 1929, 1933 and now
For the first time since Rasmussen Reports began polling on the issue, a plurality of voters in September say the U.S. mission in Iraq will be viewed as a success in the long term.
Now that autumn is officially upon us, the top weekend activity for most Americans is simply a long walk outside.
Just 26% of American adults have even a little bit of confidence that the nation’s policy makers know what they’re doing when it comes to the current problems on Wall Street.
Voters are evenly divided over whether Congress should take action to help the troubled financial industry or just let Wall Street work out its problems on its own, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Want a preview of Thursday's veepstakes debate between running mates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin? Pick up a copy of Christopher Buckley's latest satirical novel, "Supreme Courtship," that begins when a very unpopular American president decides to tweak Senate solons by nominating to the U.S. Supreme Court America's most popular TV judge, the "sassy, flippant, sexy," no-nonsense, gun-toting hottie from Texas, Pepper Cartwright.
A number of Republican House members and staff, along with others who are plugged in, are telling me that Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats will come back with a new bill that includes all the left-wing stuff that was scrubbed from the bill that was defeated today in the House.
While the results for the first presidential debate Friday were mixed, voters in surveys this weekend gave a boost in trust to Barack Obama over John McCain on a cross-section of issues.
Economic confidence among small business owners declined sharply in September amid rising concerns about economic conditions for their businesses and a bleak vision of where the economy is headed. The Discover(R) Small Business WatchSM fell to 74.6 in September, down 12.3 points from August.
As Congress prepares to vote on a proposed economic rescue plan, opposition to the measure has declined significantly. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey conducted Sunday found that 33% of Likely Voters now favor the plan while 32% are opposed and 35% are not sure.
In the midst of an economic crisis and an historic presidential election, voting Americans are evenly divided as to whether the nation’s best days lie ahead or in the past. Still, the current results are among the most optimistic of the past two years.
