Palin using her star power against selected House Democrats
Sarah Palin really has the 2010 congressional elections in her cross hairs now.
As President Barack Obama signed healthcare reform into law, the potential 2012 Republican White House wannabe was out on Facebook with her own campaign to unseat 20 House Democrats who voted for the legislation. The page identifies targeted congressional districts via a map of the United States dotted by white and red cross hairs.
“We’re going to fire them and send them back to the private sector, which has been shrinking thanks to their destructive government-growing policies,” she says in a rallying note to supporters that also seeks donations for her political action committee, SarahPAC.
Palin’s aim is to go after House Democrats who voted for Obamacare and represent districts that she and John McCain carried in the 2008 presidential race.
It’s also an opportunity for Palin to demonstrate some of the political nous and muscle she’ll need in two years, if the former Alaska governor intends to make a credible run for president. Since the 2008 election, her biggest rise as been as a media celebrity with a best-selling book, a TV gig as Fox News analyst and a possible reality TV show deal. She has made campaign appearances on behalf of Republican candidates up to now. But her new initiative would be her highest profile effort yet.
Weighing in on the 2010 elections also poses risks for Palin, who could lose credibility if the candidates she backs fail. A USA Today/Gallup poll suggests that 49 percent of Americans think the healthcare reform bill’s passage was a good thing, vs. 40 percent who see it as bad. Forty-eight percent called the legislation “a good first step” that needs to be followed up by more action.
Most Americans want Republican input on healthcare – poll
Most Americans want President Obama and the Democrats to jettison the healthcare bill they almost got together before this week’s political earthquake in Massachusetts and instead look for something Republicans can support.
That’s according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll which says 55 percent of Americans want work stopped on a House-Senate compromise between Democrats, while 39 percent want the Democrats to press on.
In fact, a sizable minority — 46 percent of the 1,010 adults surveyed — say healthcare reform is important but should not be Obama’s top legislative priority. Nineteen percent say healthcare shouldn’t be a major priority at all. The poll was conducted the day after Republican Scott Brown won Ted Kennedy’s dyed-in-the-wool-Democratic-blue Senate seat in Massachusetts. The findings have a 4 percentage point margin of error.
Those who want Republican input on healthcare may get their wish.
Influential New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer says his colleagues are mulling over a handful of options and could choose one within the next few days.
And some of the talk is about reconciling with Republicans.
“That’s one of the options. I wouldn’t say there is a ‘the’ top option right now. There are two or three,” Schumer told a scrum of reporters that congealed around him in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday.
Yes, Yellow105, I was being sarcastic. I was sarcastic about the insurance companies stopping health care.
No, it was the American people. I could care less what story you want to make up in an attempt to paint me as a corporate lackey. I laugh at your total disregard for the intelligence of the American people and their desire to shut down this health care mess. People are angry, speaking loudly and the president and congress got the message. Otherwise, they would still be trying to force their mess down our throats. They aren’t.
It is interesting that less than two weeks ago we were told people were dying in the streets and that we needed to pass health care now…now…now. Well, now the president and congress are saying we should take our time, slow down. it isn’t a priority now. Well, either the situation is dire or it isn’t.
The majority of Americans who “have” health insurance are happy with it. Hmm…that must mean they don’t mind dealing with those horrible insurance companies.
The government run health care would not only have “forced” everyone to purchase health care, but it would also have led to rationing of health care. Our financial situation in this country would have made this a harsh reality. People knew this and stood up to it in the most recent elections.
I just don’t get you on the left always blaming everything but the American people who were finally able to speak with their vote.
I hold no hard feelings for the wayward souls who voted for Obama and the progressives in congress. They made a mistake and it was their mistake and only their mistake. Besides, who can blame them. Obama told a different story during the election and then governed as a progressive. Basically, he lied about everything he said. He even ridiculed McCain and now is using some of the ideas McCain brought up during the campaign.
it’s no wonder everything Obama has tried to do has failed. That’s what happens when a person has no integrity.
Everything I said has come true….
Gallup poll gives Obama some good news on terrorism issue
President Barack Obama’s approval ratings may have slipped in some polling data. But there’s a tiny bit of good news for him on an issue that his Republican critics have been whacking away at for weeks now: terrorism.
A USA Today/Gallup poll says public approval for Obama’s handling of terrorism has risen since the Christmas Day bomb attempt, with more Americans than not giving him their approval on a political issue likely to rank high in this year’s congressional election campaign.
The numbers still aren’t great for the president, however. The thumbs up comes from less than half of the public — 49 percent – and those expressing disapproval are close behind at 46 percent. That three-point gap is well within the Jan. 8-10 survey’s 4 percentage point sampling error. Approval is also way down from May, when 55 percent of Americans endorsed his handling of terrorism.
But the latest numbers are up from the days before Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to blow up a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight. Back then, only 45 percent of the public approved of Obama on terrorism, vs. 47 percent who disapproved.
That’s interesting because Republicans have been doing their level best since Christmas to criticize Obama’s response to the failed attack, in hopes of making voters think the president and the Democrats are soft on national security.
Bottom line? “President Obama’s response to the Christmas Day bombing attempt — including a review of the incident and the government’s inability to prevent it, and the outlining of new steps designed to prevent a similar occurrence — seems to have had a marginally positive effect on Americans’ views of how he is handling the terrorism issue,” Gallup said.
However, the poll has some not-so-good news for Obama’s approval ratings on two key domestic issues — the economy (40 percent) and healthcare (37 percent). The president is usually stronger on domestic issues than he is on the international front. But Gallup called his current ratings on the economy and healthcare the lowest of his presidency to date. Those issues tend to have a more direct impact on the lives of Americans than national security and could be most important to voters come November.
The First Draft: Poll shows growing U.S. support for Afghan troop increase
If President Barack Obama opts to increase the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan next week, the decision could be underscored by something a bit unusual for his policies: growing U.S. public support. Polling data have shown for a while now that most Americans don’t favor many of Obama’s policy positions, despite his enduring personal popularity. A USA Today/Gallup poll depicts Obama battling headwinds on a number of fronts: Americans oppose the closing of Gitmo by more than a 2-to-1 margin; those against healthcare reform edge out those in favor by 5 percentage points; and most don’t want accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed tried in civilian court in New York City. Afghanistan is no cakewalk, either. Public opinion is divided over the question of more troops and 55 percent of Americans disapprove of the president’s handling of the war up to now — a reversal of his 56 percent approval rating four months ago. But the polling data, compiled Nov. 20-22, might also suggest a silver lining for the president as he nears an announcement that could send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. Less than half of Americans — 47 percent — favor a troop increase. But that’s up from 42 percent in a Nov. 5-8 survey. Plus, the opposition is down: 39 percent of Americans now want the president to reduce the U.S. military footprint, vs. 44 percent earlier. What hasn’t changed for Obama is that Republicans, not fellow Democrats, are his best buddies when it comes to increasing troops. Seventy-two percent of Republicans back a bigger U.S. force in Afghanistan, while 57 percent of Democrats say it’s time to start pulling out.
That could be important for Obama’s agenda in Congress as the 2010 election approaches and Democratic incumbents in tight races consider how they might fare with Democratic voters.
The USA Today/Gallup findings are based on telephone interviews with 1,017 adults. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.
Photo credits: Reuters/Jason Reed (Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates); Reuters/Mathieu Belanger (U.S. soldier departs for Afghanistan); Reuters/Lucas Jackson (NYC crowd watches Obama)
Lincoln raised taxes to pay for the Civil War. McKinley raised taxes to finance the Spanish-American War. Wilson raised the top income tax rate to 77% to afford WWI. Taxes were raised, multiple times, to help the nation pay for WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Even the first President Bush raised taxes after the first war with Iraq to keep the deficit from spiraling out of control. It was simply understood — responsible leaders from both parties realized that wars were expensive, and had to be paid for.What we saw from George W. Bush and Republican lawmakers during his two terms was without precedent in American history — policymakers cut taxes during a war, ran huge deficits, and effectively asked future generations to pay for our current national security agenda. The two current ongoing conflicts have cost $1 trillion and counting. If the Obama administration sends an additional 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, it would cost about $30 billion per year over existing spending on the wars.The question I have for our two resident right wing clowns is very straightforward — do they expect future generations to pick up the tab, or do they support higher taxes now to pay for the conflict?
Oops, I think I am on the wrong page. On the one hand, this person wants immediate and free abortion and on the other tells us that Sarah is ignorant, etc. (by the way, shey didn’t have one (abottion, that is.) But, after all is said an done, just who is in charge??? Dems or what? Aren’t they just a bunch of whiners about the mess we are in? And don’t they just want to blame the Repubs for everything? Just so absentminded about the last 2 years. They asked for what they wanted and now they don’t want what they asked for. What a mess! Let’s start over and dump the bumbs!