Saturday Open Thread [1.30.2016]

Saturday Open Thread [1.30.2016]

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An interesting thing is happening: President Obama's poll numbers are rising. The Washington Post reported this week:
President Obama’s job-approval rating has rebounded into positive territory, boosted by improving assessments of his handling of the nation’s economy since 2012 and thawing ratings on handling the terrorist threat, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Fifty percent of Americans approve of Obama’s overall job performance in the new poll, similar to 51 percent in October. While barely positive, Obama’s marks are up slightly from 45 and 46 percent in the past two months…. Fully 50 percent approve of his handling of the economy, while 46 percent disapprove, the best margin in Post-ABC polls since 2009.
In late January of 2008, President Bush's approving rating was in the high 20's to low thirties. In fact, President Obama's approval rating is practically identical to that of Ronald Reagan at this stage of his Presidency. Reagan was at 47% approval in late January, compared to Obama's 48%, according to Gallup. Nate Silver added yesterday that the latest RealClearPolitics average shows the president’s support reaching its highest point since June 2013. It could be a temporary blip, of course, but Nate added, “Maybe Obama looks a little better in comparison to the unpopular set of candidates they’ve been seeing and hearing so much from lately.”

The Weekly Addresses

In this week’s address, the President discussed his plan to give all students across the country the chance to learn computer science (CS) in school. In his weekly message, Governor Markell unveiled a Fiscal Year 2017 state budget that invests in stronger schools and workforce training, innovation and infrastructure to spur economic growth, better health and a high quality of life. This week, the House Administration Committee released House Bill 165, sponsored by Rep. Debra Heffernan, which would make full-time State of Delaware employees who have at least one year of employment eligible for 12 weeks of paid maternity and paternity leave.