No Con Hurts Like an Affinity Con By Froma Harrop
Losing money doesn't feel very good. Losing it as victim of a con feels even worse. And being conned by a trusted friend multiplies the hurt.
Losing money doesn't feel very good. Losing it as victim of a con feels even worse. And being conned by a trusted friend multiplies the hurt.
As the National Football League playoff picture begins to take shape, the battles for the two wild card positions in each conference are among the most intriguing stories as the season winds down. Recent Rasmussen Reports surveys in Florida, Georgia and Massachusetts examined the confidence among adults in those states in their team’s ability to make the post season tournament.
Democrats now lead by five percentage points in the latest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 42% of voters would vote for their district’s Democratic candidate while 37% would choose the Republican candidate.
The Supreme Court on Monday opened up another avenue for smokers to sue tobacco companies, but 71% of U.S. voters say the companies should not be held liable for health problems that current smokers develop.
Forty-seven percent (47%) of U.S. voters say they are willing to pay more for goods and services if it means a cleaner environment, even as President-elect Obama promises to move ahead aggressively on both the economic and ecological fronts.
The news that Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late president and much-dubbed Princess of Camelot, is seeking to replace Hillary Clinton in the United States Senate has set many tongues to wagging.
As we enter one of America's bleaker winters -- though not so bleak as the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge nor the winter of 1941-42 after Pearl Harbor and then Wake Island -- please permit me to lapse for a moment from the secular and the material to an old memory.
We have reached the end of another election cycle, but this has been no ordinary campaign. The marathon of presidential politics was everyone's focus, and the unforgettable cast of characters was long, from Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side to John McCain and Sarah Palin on the Republican.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas – except maybe in economically hard-hit Michigan and slow-to-get-started Florida.
Debate ran high within Barack Obama’s transition team over whether the next secretary of Education should be a traditionalist in sync with the national teachers’ unions or a reformer who will help break the hold those unions have on Democratic Party policy. Obama's choice of Chicago School Superintendent Arne Duncan is seen as a move to bridge those competing camps.
With just one weekend left until Christmas Day, nearly a third of adults (31%) still have not started their holiday shopping yet. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 29% have already finished.
Al goes to the doctor.
Al: "I'm still short of breath. I know you told me to quit smoking, and honestly, I've tried. But kicking the habit is really stressful. Doc, can you help me?"
After Chairman Mao's revolution about 60 years ago, people in the United States played the blame game by asking, "Who lost China?" Well, following the breakdown of an arduous seven-hour Senate negotiating session on Thursday night, many are asking, "Who lost the U.S. car business?"
Sixty-nine percent (69%) of Americans generally say “Merry Christmas” to greet people at this time of year, but 71% are not offended by others who say “Happy Holidays.”
Forty-seven percent (47%) of homeowners in Michigan believe their homes will be worth more in five years than they are now, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state. That result is 12 percentage points below what homeowners think nationwide.
Jay Leno, host of NBC's "The Tonight Show," is moving to prime time next fall, and 42% of adults are at least somewhat likely to watch his new show, according to a Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Seventy-eight percent (78%) of Florida voters say former Governor Jeb Bush is likely to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez in 2010.
Even though half of Massachusetts voters say that the quality of healthcare in their state has stayed the same since enacting a universal healthcare bill, only 40% say using the system as a model would be good for the rest of the country.
Nearly half of U.S. voters (46%) say the quality of health care will decrease if the government oversees a national health plan, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Forty five percent (45%) of U.S. voters say it is likely President-elect Obama or one of his top campaign aides was involved in the unfolding Blagojevich scandal in Illinois, including 23% who say it is Very Likely.