Every year roundabout Christmastime, the Census Bureau releases its population estimates for each state for the 12 months ending on July 1. The numbers look dry on a sheet of paper (or on an Excel spreadsheet on your computer), but they tell some vivid stories. The more so when they reflect, as the numbers for 2008-09 do, the effects of a sharp downward shift in the nation's economy.
With the Christmas shopping season over, Americans admit to being less comfortable using their credit cards online than in past years as their worries about identity theft remain high.
Voters end a year that has produced some of the most far-reaching big government policies in decades with the same level of concern they’ve voiced for months.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 30% of voters nationwide believe the $787-billion economic stimulus plan has helped the economy. However, 38% believe that the stimulus plan has hurt the economy. This is the first time since the legislation passed that a plurality has held a negative view of its impact.
‘Twas the night before Christmas … and the Senate just barely made it out of town. At 7 in the morning of Christmas Eve, 60 Democratic senators passed the long-debated plan to reform health care in America.
All through the long winter night, my digital gadgets lay snug in their recharging docks as Enya crooned on the iPod. It was on such a wintertide eve last December that I resolved to figure out all the things these wonderful devices could do -- other than have me tend to their ravenous energy needs and update their programs.
It was the year of the Octomom, the balloon boy and the White House party crashers. The year of "Jon & Kate Plus 8" -- minus Jon. The year Tiger Woods ran into a tree, revealing a scandal that linked him not so much to another woman as duplicates of a pouty-lipped prototype.
The cares and woes of the preceding year are set aside on Christmas Day. Even the shopping, mercifully, is done. For most Americans, it’s a day off to celebrate the joys of family, peace on Earth – and, most importantly, the birth of Jesus Christ.
Senate Democrats are celebrating this morning for passing their version of health care reform, but voters still don’t like much of what they see.
Two-out-of-three (66%) Americans rate Christmas as one of the nation’s most important holidays in a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. That puts it at the top of the list for American holidays.
What's a yield curve, and why is it so important?
As they wake up on Christmas Eve morning, 23% of American adults have not yet finished their holiday shopping. In fact, a Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 17% have not even gotten started yet.
It's time to blow the whistle on two erroneous statements that opponents and proponents of the health care legislation being jammed through Congress have been making.
While most Americans consider the holiday season joyous, not everyone is feeling the spirit this year.
Just 29% of U.S. voters now say the country is heading in the right direction, the lowest level measured since early February, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
President Obama on Tuesday named the first White House cybersecurity chief, even as news reports surfaced that computer hackers may have stolen U.S.-South Korean military secrets and millions of dollars from Citgroup.
Voters, as they have all year, rate cutting the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term as President Obama’s number one budget priority.
Taking stock this second Christmas after the election of Barack Obama to the presidency -- as a conservative Republican (with growing "tea party" tendencies) -- I'm filled with a thrilling, unexpected hopefulness that the president may be well on his way to losing his battle for the hearts and minds of the American people -- tempered by a shocked disbelief that so much long-term damage could be perpetrated on our economy, national security and way of life in just 11 months of ill-judged governance.
Highly popular First Lady Michelle Obama is a little less well-liked this month but still rates far ahead of her husband as far as most voters are concerned.
Or happy holidays.
Does it really matter?
Once again this year, there are folks howling about the so-called "War on Christmas." With real wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention painfully high unemployment that has left parents struggling to play Santa, you'd think people would have better things to worry about. Think again.
