The Democrats have moved to a five-point lead in the latest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that, if given the choice, 44% of voters would vote for their district’s Democratic candidate, while 39% would choose the Republican candidate.
When President-elect Obama had a chance to squash the tax-hike threat once and for all at his news conference Monday, he took a pass and let the question linger for another day. But his new economic cabinet appointments strongly suggest there will be no tax hikes next year.
Thanksgiving is upon us. This is the time for expressing gratitude. But what does one do on Thanksgiving this year, smack in the middle of perhaps the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression? You give thanks, dummy.
The Discover(R) Small Business Watch (SM) continued to decline for the third straight month, dropping below 70.0 for the first time since the Watch was established in August 2006. The index fell 3.9 points in November to 67.5.
Though just 12% of voters give Congress good or excellent job approval ratings, it’s the highest ratings for the legislature since mid-May.
Wall Street is reportedly reassured by President-elect Obama’s choice of Timothy Geithner to be secretary of the Treasury, but right now 53% of U.S. voters don’t know enough about him to have an opinion about his selection.
Nearly half of U.S. voters (49%) say the United States should not close the terrorist prison camp at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba, but the identical number (49%) also say Barack Obama is Very likely to close it in the first year of his presidency.
This time it looks like Congress is listening to the voters. Nearly half of U.S. voters (48%) told Rasmussen Reports this week that it is better for the economy to let companies like General Motors fail rather than providing government subsidies to keep them in business.
We Americans are blessed with a history that teaches that things work out right. Our first president set the precedent of relinquishing power he could have had for life and returning to his farm. Two of our greatest presidents were struck down, Abraham Lincoln by an assassin and Franklin Roosevelt by grave illness, at a moment of transcendent victory.
Over half of U.S. voters (53%) give Barack Obama good or excellent marks on how he will handle the economy, up five points since right after Election Day, although he won’t formally begin to execute his plans for another two months.
Following the election of Barack Obama on November 4, confidence in the War on Terror soared to all-time highs, but that spike in confidence has disappeared. Confidence is back to pre-election levels, still near the highest levels recorded in the past five years.
A plurality of investors - for the first time ever - say they would rather put new investment money in a bank savings account than in the stock market or in real estate. This marks a dramatic change over the past year in response to worsening conditions on Wall Street and other troubling economic factors.
As Barack Obama makes his way through the transition to power, he is learning the steps of an old dance. Having promised change, he now surrounds himself with experience. Having poured scorn not only on the Bush administration but at times on the Clinton administration as well, he now welcomes those who served his Democratic predecessor, including the former first lady who ran against him.
Despite an historic post-election drop in the stock market, Americans seem a bit more optimistic about the future since Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States last week.
With the country in the midst of an historic economic slowdown, over half of Americans (57%) say they are going out to eat less often now than they were six months ago, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Nearly half of U.S. voters (48%) say it is better for the economy to let companies like General Motors fail rather than providing government subsidies to keep them in business.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has called for a pause in the financing request for the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), halting it at $350 billion.
Here's the worst kept secret in politics: Presidential campaigning never ends. For periods of time it becomes quieter--a little subtler--but it never stops.
As routine as elections may seem, they are the seminal events in the life of a democracy. Campaigns and elections not only set the direction of the Republic, they also shed light on America's political health. Every November we have the opportunity to take stock of what we did at the polls, and what that says about the status of the 232-year-old American experiment.
I was thinking about what we traditionally call the postelection "honeymoon," of which President-elect Barack Obama is now in the second week. But what exactly is meant by the metaphor?
