Forty-nine percent (49%) of voters nationwide now rate the U.S. health care system as good or excellent. That marks a steady increase from 44% at the beginning of October, 35% in May and 29% a year-and-a-half ago.
It's that time of the year again. Time to feel like a fool. I started early this year, at Bed Bath and Beyond. Mind you, I love the store -- two shiny new floors of beautiful things that you don't have to try on. I'm a goner for candles and diffusers, not to mention cordless vacuum cleaners.
Double-digit. That hyphenated adjective has been used most often recently to describe October's 10.2 percent unemployment rate. But it can also be used to describe the federal budget deficit as a percentage of the gross domestic product. That precise number is not yet known, but it may turn out to have a more dire effect on our national life than October's unemployment rate.
While Christmas is still several weeks away, seven percent (7%) of Americans say they've already completed their holiday shopping.
The puzzling thing about politicians of either party who claim to be "centrist" or "moderate" is how much they sometimes sound like party-line right-wing Republicans.
A blog entry posted at CQPolitics.com looked at a recent Rasmussen Reports poll and another by the Kaiser Family Foundation and concluded that the “new polls disagree on whether a government overhaul of the nation's health care system will leave people better off or worse off.”
Fifty-six percent (56%) of Americans view Thanksgiving as one of the nation's most important holidays. That's up three points from a year ago.
Voters are a bit less inclined this month to blame President Obama’s policies for the country’s current economic problems.
Political junkies often get so focused on the day-to-day tactics of campaigning and spinning that they forget about the fundamentals.
Former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs has indicated that he might consider an independent bid for the White House in 2012, and early polling shows he could attract up to 14% of the vote.
Next year's gubernatorial contest in Massachusetts is tighter than ever, even though it's now a three-way race.
Democratic incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand may have a serious problem on her hands if Rudy Giuliani gets in next year’s race for the U.S. Senate in New York State.
Only 31% of U.S. voters now say the country is heading in the right direction, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. The percentage of voters who feel this way has remained in the narrow range of 31% to 35% since late June, but voter perceptions of the nation’s current course hve only been this low two other times this year, the last time in early October.
Two noteworthy responses to my column last week ("An Exit Strategy To Die For") deserve my reply. In the online magazine Commentary, Max Boot, one of the most respected foreign-policy voices on the right, explicitly dissented from the central premise of my column.
On Wednesday, President Obama will issue the White House's standard hokey pardon of a Thanksgiving turkey. It goes with the job.
Attorney General Martha Coakley holds a 15-point lead among likely Democratic Primary voters in Massachusetts in the race to fill the U.S. Senate seat of the late Edward M. Kennedy.
Voters are a bit more skeptical this month about the $787-billion economic stimulus plan, but overall views of the stimulus have remained largely unchanged since President Obama signed it into law in February.
Sixty-three percent (63%) of U.S. voters say political correctness prevented the military from responding to warning signs from Major Nidal Malik Hasan that could have prevented the Fort Hood shootings from taking place.
Doctors would jab sharp instruments into King Henry VIII's arm and drain blood out of his body. The best medical minds of the 16th century prescribed bloodletting as a means to "rebalance the body's humors," the spring equinox being the ideal time. Henry didn't argue with his physicians. After all, Tudor England had the best health care system in the world.
Republican candidates have extended their lead over Democrats to seven points, their biggest lead since early September, in the latest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot.
