Tuesday, December 22, 2009

RASMUSSEN REPORTS: OBAMA REACHES TWO NEW LOWS -21 Approval Index, -12 Overall Approval

MERRY CHRISTMAS MR. PRESIDENT

BTW, on the off chance you're wondering why your numbers are swirling down the bowl: IT'S YOUR AGENDA, STUPID!!!!


DAILY PRESIDENTIAL TRACKING POLL

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 25% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-six percent (46%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -21 That’s the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for this President (see trends).

Fifty-three percent (53%) of men Strongly Disapprove along with 39% of women. Most African-American voters (58%) Strongly Approve while most white voters (53%) Strongly Disapprove.

Seventy-four percent (74%) of Republicans Strongly Disapprove as do 52% of unaffiliated voters. Forty-seven percent (47%) of Democrats Strongly Approve.

For the second straight days, the update shows the highest level of Strong Disapproval yet recorded for this President. That negative rating had never topped 42% before yesterday. However, it has risen dramatically since the Senate found 60 votes to move forward with the proposed health care reform legislation. Most voters (55%) oppose the health care legislation and senior citizens are even more likely than younger voters to dislike the plan.

One bright spot in the numbers for the President is that 51% of voters still say former President George W. Bush is more to blame for the nation’s economic woes. Just 41% point the finger of blame at the current President.

The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve. It is updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update). Updates are also available on Twitter and Facebook.

Overall, 44% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. Fifty-six percent (56%) now disapprove.

UPDATE

Also discussing these polling results are:


Left Coast Rebel

The Reaganite Republican: NEW LOW for America's Clueless Affirmative-Action President








Thursday, December 17, 2009

H/T to Miss T.C. Shore for her post link to a magnificently fun and thorough waste of precious and unrecoverable time.

From the Blogging Uber Vixen Miss T.C. Shore at ...In a Handbasket



TIger Hunting

This game is sick and disgusting. I don't know why I find it so funny. And fun.
This will be my ONLY Tiger Woods related post. I swear!

FAT UGLY WHITE RICH SELF APPOINTED LEFTWING PROPAGANDIST MICHAEL MOORE VOWS BOYCOTT OF CONNECTICUT

From Michelle Malkin comes the piece below on the gargantuan Rabelaisian scolding Turd from Flint Michigan threatening a Progressive Boycott of Connecticut if Nutmegger voters don't immediately cave to his infantile demand that we remove Joe Lieberman from office by a procedure not available under our Constitution.

Beclowned: Michael Moore threatens to boycott Connecticut over Lieberman

By Michelle Malkin • December 16, 2009 09:10 PM

Nutroots hero Michael Moore sent the state of Connecticut a boycott threat and demanded that voters there recall Joe Lieberman over health care.

His Tweet:

People of Connecticut: What have u done 2 this country? We hold u responsible. Start recall of Lieberman 2day or we’ll boycott your state.

One itty-bitty problem: Connecticut has no recall mechanism.

In fact, as Caleb Howe explains:

…Moore has an article at his own website, a repost of a Politico article, featuring a Connecticut state legislator calling for Lieberman’s ouster. The article, on Moore’s own website, points out that recall is not possible under the constitution.

Is there anyone on this planet quicker to claim the constitution is being violated at every turn than Michael Moore and his groupies? So yes, to state the obvious, it’s hilarious that he’s so quick to dismiss as conveniences him.

We all know Moore is a clown, so this isn’t breaking news. But I never pass on the chance to point out the stupidity of inexplicably influential jackasses.

Beclowned!

MICHAEL: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PRETTY PLEASE, WITH 320 POUNDS OF SUGAR ATOP, SCHEDULE YOUR BOYCOTT, BUT JUST MAKE IT PERMANENT. I SWEAR, I WON'T MIND A BIT!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Rasmussen Daily Tracking Poll & Trends: Obama -18 Index, Total Disapprove Hits High of 55%

President Obama and his agenda are now in serious trouble domestically. Today's Rasmussen Daily Presidential Approval Index shows Obama at -18, a mere point higher than yesterday's all time low of -19. But this high negative hardly tells the whole story.

At this point Obama has also hit a Total Disapprove of 55% versus a Total Approve at 44% giving Boz a negative overall disapproval rating of -11, yet another record low.

Click the chart to go to Scott Rasmussen's Trends Page

To paraphrase the Clinton Campaign's slogan used most effectively against Papa Bush in 1992: "Its your AGENDA stupid!"


Friday, December 11, 2009

Rasmussen Reports: Republicans Lead in 5 of 6 2010 Senate Races

In 5 out of 6 2010 U.S. Senate Seat Races, Republican challengers are leading their potential Democrat Opponents. In five of these races, the Demoncrats are the incumbents. Click on the linked Orange state names below to read the full Rasmussen Poll report for the respective race.


NEVADA
Basically, a Referendum on Harry "the Dweeb" Reid




PENNSYLVANIA
Its Pat Toomey's to lose, not a great lead, but still a lead.
Expect privilege addicted Arlen to get really nasty on Toomey. And yes, its another referendum on the Democrat incumbent.


All three Republicans leading Chris (The Bankers' Butt Boy) Dodd
A clear referendum on this rotting corpse of a political skunk



COLORADO




ILLINOIS
Boz's Home State, and Kirk (R) behind in only
one of three potential match-ups and in that race by just 2 percentage points, probably within the margin of error.
Not too slouchy for the seat formerly held by Mr. Hope N. Change.



And finally,

from the land of Bill & Hill,

ARKANSAS
Incumbent Blanche Lincoln running behind
all 4 potential Republican opponents
.



Wednesday, December 9, 2009

REPUBLICANS: ADAPT OR PERISH

On Monday (Dec 7), Rasmussen Reports released poll results showing that the Tea Party movement would best the Republicans in a three way contest.

These numbers ought to be a piercing and painful clarion call to the national Republican leadership to get back quickly to the core conservative principles of (1) strictly limited government interference and (2) a strong fiscally conservative approach to the economy and never stray from them again.

In a nutshell, Republicans: Adapt to the clear will of the people, or die.

UPDATE: Matt at ConservativeHideout2 has also picked up on this story and discussed it at greater length here


Tea Party Tops GOP on Three-Way Generic Ballot
Monday, December 07, 2009

Running under the Tea Party brand may be better in congressional races than being a Republican.

In a three-way Generic Ballot test, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Democrats attracting 36% of the vote. The Tea Party candidate picks up 23%, and Republicans finish third at 18%. Another 22% are undecided.

Among voters not affiliated with either major party, the Tea Party comes out on top. Thirty-three percent (33%) prefer the Tea Party candidate, and 30% are undecided. Twenty-five percent (25%) would vote for a Democrat, and just 12% prefer the GOP.

Among Republican voters, 39% say they’d vote for the GOP candidate, but 33% favor the Tea Party option.

For this survey, the respondents were asked to assume that the Tea Party movement organized as a new political party. In practical terms, it is unlikely that a true third-party option would perform as well as the polling data indicates. The rules of the election process—written by Republicans and Democrats--provide substantial advantages for the two established major parties. The more conventional route in the United States is for a potential third-party force to overtake one of the existing parties.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The standard Generic Congressional Ballot shows Republicans holding a modest lead over Democrats. It appears that the policies of the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress are currently enough to unite both those who prefer Republicans and those who prefer the Tea Party route.

Data from the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll shows that just 55% of conservatives nationwide consider themselves Republicans. Recent polling shows that 73% of Republican voters believe their leaders in Washington are out of touch with the party base.

Republican voters are paying a lot more attention to the Tea Party movement than anyone else. Forty-three percent (43%) of GOP voters are following news about the movement Very Closely. Another 30% are following it Somewhat Closely. Just 12% of Democrats are following stories about the Tea Party movement Very Closely.

Seventy percent (70%) of Republican voters have a favorable opinion of the Tea Party movement while only seven percent (7%) offer an unfavorable view. Interestingly, 49% of Democrats have no opinion one way or the other.

Among unaffiliated voters, 43% have a favorable opinion of the Tea Party efforts while 20% say the opposite.

Forty-one percent (41%) of all voters nationwide say Republicans and Democrats are so much alike that a new party is needed to represent the American people. Republicans are evenly divided on this question, while Democrats overwhelmingly disagree. However, among those not affiliated with either major party, 60% agree that a new party is needed, and only 25% disagree. Men are far more likely than women to believe a new party is needed.

As for the voting preference, the Tea Party bests the GOP among both men and women and in all age groups except those over 65.

The Tea Party candidates are the first choice among political conservatives. Among moderates, the Tea Party candidates are more popular than Republicans. However, nearly half of all moderate voters prefer a Democrat.

Among the Political Class, not a single respondent picked the Tea Party candidate.

However, among those with populist or Mainstream views, 31% prefer the Tea Party, and 26% are undecided. Twenty-three percent (23%) pick a Republican candidate, and 19% are for the Democrat (See more on the Political Class-Mainstream divide).

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Conn Senate Race: Per Rasmussen, all three leading Republican contenders beat Dodd in One on One matchups.

Great news from Rasmussen for us Nutmeggers and, by extension, the rest of the country as well:


2010 Connecticut Senate: Dodd Struggles Against All Republican Challengers
Tuesday, December 08, 2009

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Connecticut now finds Dodd attracting just 35% to 40% of the vote against three possible Republican challengers.

Former GOP Congressman Rob Simmons is still his toughest opponent, leading Dodd 48% to 35%. Seven percent (7%) prefer some other candidate in this contest, and 11% are undecided. Those figures are a slight improvement for Simmons since September.

The newest Republican in the race, Linda McMahon, the ex-CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, earns 44% of the vote to Dodd’s 38%. Eight percent (8%) opt for another candidate, with nine percent (9%) not sure.

Long-shot candidate Peter Shiff, the widely-known president of Euro Pacific Capital, is essentially even with Dodd and holds a one-point edge, 40% to 39%. In their race, eight percent (8%) like some other candidate, and 14% are undecided.

An incumbent who polls below 50% is generally viewed as vulnerable, and the fact that even Shiff is now moving up on Dodd suggests that next year’s election continues to be a referendum on the longtime senator.

.....

For the rest, click here

Friday, December 4, 2009

GOLDMAN SACHS HONCHOS ARMING FOR POPULAR UPRISING AGAINST BANKERS????

Here's a great piece on how Obama's Puppeteers at Goldman Sachs are starting to get a wee bit nervous about the rising tide of public anger against ..... well, THEM. It makes for a great read. H/T Christopher Fountain


From Karl Denninger: Goldman Arming Itself? :->

Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- “I just wrote my first reference for a gun permit,” said a friend, who told me of swearing to the good character of a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker who applied to the local police for a permit to buy a pistol. The banker had told this friend of mine that senior Goldman people have loaded up on firearms and are now equipped to defend themselves if there is a populist uprising against the bank.

Let me give those fine bankers from Goldman Sachs (and the other big banking and trading houses) a few pieces of advice. And yeah, it's unsolicited and free, so you figure out whether it has value.

  1. A handgun is a close-quarters defensive weapon. The FBI says that of shootings involving a handgun, most happen at something like 7 feet (yes, feet) of range or less. Oh, and you'd be surprised at how many people miss at that same seven feet. No, guns in real life don't work like in the movies where each bullet has a GPS in it and directs itself to its target, and when shot people don't go flying backward through windows. Guns simply make holes in things, wherever they are pointed when they go "bang" is where the bullet will travel, and all the energy that goes into the target also goes into your body (Newton's laws of motion and all.)

  2. There are, by some estimates, more firearms in America than there are people. Americans bought something like 20 billion rounds of ammunition this year alone. Indeed, there are shortages of many sorts of ammunition and have been all year. While some of that lead undoubtedly was expended at the practice range, an awful lot of it is being stockpiled. Everyone who is stockpiling it in various amounts is doing so for different reasons, and most would self-declare it as protection against "zombies." Definitions of "zombie" differ.

  3. There are a lot of hunting rifles in America. Most hunters can easily hit a deer-sized target at well beyond 100 yards with said rifle. I'm willing to bet that Mr. Investment Banker can't hit the broadside of a barn at 100yds with his brand new pistol that he's probably never fired, and probably never will.

  4. Don't bother with soft body armor. It's useless against rifles. It is effective against pistols, which is why cops wear it (see that FBI stat about most handgun battles happening within seven feet.) But again, a hunter can easily hit a deer-sized target at well beyond 100 yards, common hunting rifles are legal almost literally everywhere, even in places like NYC, and a person armed with a handgun doesn't have a prayer in hell defending against a person with a rifle 100 or more yards away that has drawn a bead on them.

  5. Unless you're prepared to practice with that weapon on a regular basis, and unless you have personally been in a life-threatening situation (a real one, not some mock-up or fake "game" run at some "weekend commando" class you were undoubtedly sold to make you feel macho with that shiny new handgun) there is at least a 50% chance that if you really do wind up confronted by some crazed nutball at close range you will either miss or worse, freeze - and the "bad guy" will simply take your gun from you and then kill you with your own weapon. Go ask the military about this - studies have shown that despite putting new soldiers through a grueling "basic training" course a veryat them, intentionally fire high - that is, they miss on purpose in their first firefight. It turns out that most people have a hard-wired aversion to killing other humans. That's probably a good thing but psychopaths seem to be missing that inhibition. If someone really does come after you they're pretty much by definition one of those psychopaths. significant number of them will, when first confronted with an enemy shooting

Finally, if you're a "big banker" and concerned about your safety you might want to consider that in the 1800s there were lots of guns too, and yet they were both unnecessary and inadequate. Bankers during the panic of 1873 were simply hauled out of their offices bodily and hung from the lamp posts. We don't have lamp posts any more in Manhattan, so you have an advantage there, and I've not noted a run on boiled rope.

Yet.

A better strategy for your self-protection is to turn state's evidence and rat out someone else. Like your boss, for instance.

Get on the side of the people and help them. You folks in those tony executive suites (and suits) know full well that this entire bubblelicious line of BS you ran on middle-class America for more than two decades was an out-and-out fraud. It is impossible to argue otherwise - after all, it really is just fifth grade math on the nature of exponential functions, and unlike most of America it has to be presumed that if you got a Harvard MBA you passed. Therefore it can also be assumed that claims of ignorance will not serve you.

Let's face it - the economy isn't going to recover. All the stories I hear (and now Bloomberg is willing to print, which is surprising) in the anecdotal department are that you folks have your Gulfstreams fueled up and your bug-out bags packed and sitting by the door.

Most of you have figured out the math - there's simply too much debt that you created and sold off into the market, and you've all patted yourselves on the back as you walked out of Treasury smug in the "knowledge" that you'd be bailed out. Remember this picture?

Yeah, it was all good, right? Uh, well it was - for you. But for the rest of America, it sucked. You took the "CARD" act (the Credit Card reform act) and used the delay in its implementation to ram down Americans throats 29.9% interest rates and huge reductions in credit lines - even for those who had never been late. The Fed (one of you folks - banksters all) could have told you to cut it out and in fact demanded that you do so, but of course didn't.

The supposed "zero interest rates" are great for your bonuses - record bonuses, right? But nobody in America is getting the benefit except you. We the people are all paying more to borrow - when we can borrow at all. Bank Credit is contracting at a record rate. The stock market is on a tear, gold is on a tear, oil has more than doubled since March.

But if you go to Harlem in NY City you don't see "economic recovery." Nor do you if you step outside of the enclaves in Washington DC where everyone sucks on the government tit. No, what you see is both the NY and California State Governments on the verge of insolvency, property and other taxes heading to the moon to try to keep the states from having to fire police officers for lack of funds, and the crumbling of our infrastructure - along with the hiss of an overpressurized "social safety net."

The vampire squid sucked too much blood (debt service requirements) and now the host is dying from volumetric shock, all the while screaming not for whole blood (all gone!) but anything - even an injection of saline simply to make up the volume.

Now please don't get me wrong - I happen to think that you should not lend more. After all, we're here because we got drunk on credit, and you can't drink yourself sober, despite what CNBS keeps screaming about and calling for (including "The Donald" this morning, who's one of those folks who I suspect is going to wind up with all of his so-called "wizard deals" in the pine box of Chapter 7.)

No, we as a society need to go through the DTs and detox. Some of us will go bankrupt. That's ok. Indeed, if you as a citizen were imprudent - if you lied about your income to get a mortgage, if you played the HELOC game to pay off a credit card you ran to the sky (and then did it again - and again!), if you put yourself into a debt hole from which you cannot reasonably climb out, you should declare bankruptcy and get it over with. Discharge that which you can, take the hit to your credit and reputation, and learn from the experience.

Frugality isn't a sin, it's a virtue. It is, indeed, the first step of true capital formation - which is how, ultimately, we create jobs - and true prosperity.

In this vein you need to come out and tell the truth - you lent too much and you're NOT going to do it any more - no matter how loud people scream. We need reality in this country, not more fantasy.

But you folks who stole all this money?

You need to give it back.

Yeah, we know you can't give it all back since you blew some of it on Netjets to various exotic vacation destinations and high-priced hookers. We understand that.

What America doesn't understand and is increasingly unwilling to tolerate is the smug grin you folks have on Wall Street, having not only run Americans into bankruptcy but when your imprudent lending threatened to bankrupt you instead of sucking it up you extorted Congress to the tune of more than $12 trillion in direct support and guarantees.

That is you forced the bankrupt consumer to go broke twice and cover your imprudent acts, as all that money to cover up your insolvency is now being forcibly extracted from Main Street by the government through taxes!

Here's the problem, in a nutshell: If we don't get the debt out of the system - really get it out, not just shuffle it around and shift who's balance sheet it sits on - we can't restart true economic growth.

Without true economic growth we cannot regain the lost jobs, and people cannot regain their ability to earn an honest living and support themselves and their families.

You and I both know that The Government cannot continue to run $1.5 trillion deficits for very long. Indeed, it might be able to do it for even one more year. Ultimately Uncle Sam's credit card will come back declined just like the subprime homeowner, and when it does the thin veneer that has papered over the bankruptcy you have served up on the American people and her government will be ripped away like a bandage that has adhered to a scab.

That's when the riots start and both you and I know that too. It's why you're buying those guns.

But the guns won't save you if ugly times come.

Only preventing the riots will save you, and preventing the riots means we must stop bankrupting the country.

That in turn means we must stop ladling on more and more debt - HERE AND NOW!

Getting that bad debt out means that both borrowers (who are already going bankrupt) and lenders (who are thus far being protected) need to go bust.

That's reality.

This is beyond politics, wishes, dreams or desires - it is mathematics.

Justice, on the other hand, demands that the frauds and abuses not stand. No, ripping off Jefferson County Alabama is not acceptable, and paying a fine is not enough. People need to go to prison. Ditto for the other cities and states where these scams were run - and that's a huge number.

I understand your fear, Wall Street. If I robbed Main Street America of trillions of dollars I'd be afraid too.

Main Street is angry, and with good cause - and the "moguls" who claim that happy days will return if we can all start charging up our credit cards and HELOCing our houses again are not only wrong they're poking sticks into a hornets nest. That's right out of "Dumb and Dumber."

Arming yourselves won't solve the problem you created, and it also won't protect you should the mood in America turn truly ugly.

Do the right thing Wall Street.

Not only will it be good for your soul, it will be good for Main Street.