Friday Open Thread [1.18.13]
From the New Hampshire Union Leader:
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives need to take a firm stand against Washington’s reckless spending habits. They just need to find a better place to make that stand than from atop the debt ceiling. […] The Republicans view the debt ceiling increase as their one chance to squeeze spending concessions from a President who otherwise will never agree to reduce federal appropriations. The trouble with forcing that standoff is that Republicans cannot win it. Obama will stand firm, and they will have to flinch or shut down the government. Either way, Obama wins and Republicans lose more credibility, which makes it harder to force a showdown on spending on more favorable ground in the future.
As the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision approaches, a new Pew Research poll finds 63% of Americans remain opposed to overturning the historic ruling on abortion, while just 29% want it reversed. See, David Anderson? You are in an overwhelming minority of people who want to criminalize abortion. So stop pretending you speak for everyone.
A new New York Times/CBS News poll finds 51% of Americans approve of the way President Obama is doing is job with 41% disapproving.
“Mr. Obama’s job approval rating is similar to that of George W. Bush at the start of his second term, but much lower than the ratings of the previous two presidents who served eight years. (President Bill Clinton’s approval rate was 60 percent in January 1997 and Ronald Reagan’s was 62 percent in January 1985.) More than 8 in 10 Democrats approve of his job performance, 8 in 10 Republicans disapprove and independents are evenly divided.”
Meanwhile, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that 49% of Americans hold a negative view of the Republican Party while 26% have a positive view. By comparison, the Democratic Party has a net positive rating, with 44% holding a favorable view of the party and 38% holding an unfavorable one.
“By the way, most of the recent negative movement for the GOP is among core Republicans. The GOP was already viewed very negatively by Democrats and indies; it couldn’t really get much worse with those two groups. So this latest shift for the GOP is due to the fact that a growing number of core Republicans were not happy with how the party handled the fiscal cliff.”
Michelle has bangs now.
Interesting shift for the GOP base, perhaps lack of success for their radical goals? Wholesale rejection by the nation for much of what they want? Or perhaps the extremist’s day in the sun is done and most of the GOP base never wanted a Paul Ryan America. I suspect it’s a case of the more you know the more you don’t like for the average Republican, every time the GOP trots out the destruction of Medicare and Social Security as we know them they find themselves walking it back at a brisk clip. On the same subject Paul Ryan for president in 2016? Oh Puh-leeze!!!
Headline of the Day. Seriously.
First thank you for posting these results. Second I wonder (and this it the first time I’ve ever thought of it) how many of those disapproving of Obama’s handling methods are disproving of his treating Republicans more politely, and giving their party more respect, than the dog shit they are… I mean, if someone asked me right after Obama went from sucking $1.6 Trillion of soaking the filthy rich, to $.8 Trillion, I’d be pretty pissed off too.
I’m just mentioning this because up until now, I always saw that number as being interpreted in Democrat versus Republican, the Dems being 51, the Republicans being 46… But really, how many pissed off progressives are there (who still use land lines), who not knowing the slant of the poller and are possibly thinking that their “disapproval” will push the President back towards the mainstream of his party, would say they disapprove of the president’s handling.
There needs to be a new question, “Is it because he is too weak or too forceful that you don’t approve?”
“There needs to be a new question, “Is it because he is too weak or too forceful that you don’t approve?””
If Obama had Clinton’s or Reagan’s second-term employment numbers it wouldn’t matter. We wouldn’t even be trying to parse the approval numbers.
Just to put David Anderson in correct light, the same percentage of people on his side is equal to the same percentage who believe that the CIA knew of Osama’s attack on 9/11 in advance and purposefully let it happen. 29%.
Which proves one thing. If you rank below 47%… you don’t matter.
Yes, Obama will have to be compared to Roosevelt…. Considering the scope of financial collapse that only happened to both, that is probably fair.
Let’s just hope Obama doesn’t give in to Roosevelt’s 1937 austerity impulse. This month’s tax cuts on the rich are an uncomfortable harbinger.
Yes it will take longer now to reduce the deficit. But… at least there is now more incentive for the upper echelons to invest into physical capital instead of liquid assets.
Has anyone else noticed the complete absence for the first time since 2005, there no one is announcing gas prices will peak at $5.00 a gallon? Instead, the headlines read: Gas Prices will be lower in 2013 than previous summers…
That was a predicted indicator to look for btw for when/if taxes went up.