From Denny: Well, it's official; Americans see no positive end game in Syria. Americans refuse to go to war yet again in the Middle East. Because people all over the world are in agreement with the American people, suddenly Congress and this President are in a political quandary.
Politicians know going against the majority in America means the end of their careers - and a whole lot of historians writing contemptuous things about them for posterity. Thousands of Americans called and yelled at their national politicians to stop this madness. Yetwhy does President Obama still act like it doesn't matter if Congress votes him downbecause he will move forward and bomb Syria back into the Stone Age?..
Map of the territory and area covered by present-day Saudi Arabia and Arab League countries.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
From Denny: While the American public is polling as against military intervention in Syria, the Pentagon and President Obama are busy planning to do it anyway. They never listen to the will of the people. A good 60 percent of Americans want nothing to do with war in Syria. Only a mere nine percent support going into Syria. Who are these people? Must be the Lobbyist Caucus.
Military intervention should be the business of the 21-member Arab League with Saudi Arabia perfectly capable of the necessary missile strikes (with over 300 combat aircraft) and other Middle East countries as this is their region of the world. Even non-member Turkey which is nearby has over 1500 aircraft capable of intervening. Why not send Israel who would relish the job? They are the leading military might in the Middle East. That certainly would prove nothing if not interesting.
Why should struggling American taxpayers pay $1.2 million per cruise missile to end the Assad regime? Syria is a member of the Arab League and the other members (Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt) should be reigning in Syria that possesses about 450 combat aircraft. To give you perspective as to why the Pentagon loves to flex its military might every chance it gets: America has about 15,000 aircraft. The UK only has about 1400 aircraft. It's all about The Boys and their Big Toys. The ugly reality is these toys kill.
We all know the Pentagon and its war profiteers will not be content to stop at firing off just a few handy cruise missiles. They and Scream For Blood Congress will demand the next step of committing troops into Syria and here we are at yet another Middle East war the American people never wanted but are forced to fight and pay for one more time. President Assad is a dead man any way you look at it because his own people will kill him eventually. We all know that said cruise missiles will also create a huge amount of unintended consequences - like killing more children than the chemical attack did...
From Denny: The NRA and the Republicans might as well give up now while they are still treading water. The public is growing increasingly restless, anxious for the safety of their children, and downright angry that the NRA and members of Congress are pushing back against common sense and decency.
Thirty days after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, American opinion is rising to higher levels to support serious gun control measures never before considered on a national scale. Local cities and various states are not waiting for Congress and are passing their own gun control legislation, like New York state.
In the latest Pew Research poll about gun control released yesterday the numbers are high in favor of many gun restrictions, contrary to the NRA public relations campaign attempting to sell to the contrary.
English: President George W. Bush and President-elect Barack Obama meet in the Oval Office of the White House Monday, November 10, 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
From Denny: Most of America blames President Obama and Congress for having done a really lousy job when it comes to the economy.
According to this The Hill poll, 66 percent say scarce job growth and an anemic economy is because of bad policy. This is not good news for Camp Obama because in June the Gallup poll showed dissatisfaction was at 52 percent. That's quite a steep jump in only 30 days.
Most people are angriest at President Obama, registering at 34 percent in The Hill poll. Another 23 percent accuse Congress as the dirty culprit in this national economic mess.
I make serious coffee so strong it wakes up the neighbors!
* * * Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - helping homeless female military veterans come home. Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - - see what's new!
WASHINGTON - JANUARY 25: U.S. President Barack Obama makes a statement following a meeting of the Middle Class Task Force at the White House January 25, 2010 in Washington, DC. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden announced their support for an expansion of the child- and dependent-care tax credit for families that make less than $85,000 a year as well as other initiatives designed to help the middle class. Obama's State of the Union address will be on January 27. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
From Denny: People like me are walking away from the Democratic Party to join the fast growing third alternative, finding a place in the Independent/Unaffiliated column.
Democrats - and Republicans - are so fed up with Bought Government ruining our lives we are leaving the dominant national political parties in droves. This 2012 election will prove to be a stampede of voters away from the mainstream - and now highly corporate money corrupted - politics. In fact, 52 percent of America wants a third party because the two national parties do such a poor job.
This presidential election, predicted by all the official prognosticators, will be won by a razor thin margin. The pollsters are beginning to bring home the obvious all the rest of us already know: the voters no longer want to vote this president into a second term.
President Obama's support has dropped steadily since his fast track 2008 election. Perhaps too much was expected of him. Perhaps the country is so irrevocably screwed up by Wall Street and corporate puppet politicians that no one can fix it now. One thing is for sure, President Obama had many forks in the road where he could have defended the Middle Class against the rapacious Republicans and Big Business, choosing to do little or nothing.
From Denny: Americans are fed up with a bad economy, massive job loss, bickering politicians and a weak President who does nothing about it all. The anti-incumbent mood is downright antagonistic toward current office holders, according to the most recent poll released by Gallup. In fact, it's the worst anger against politicians in 19 years.
How many members of Congress deserve to lose their jobs? More than 75 percent of the registered voters said, "Yes, throw the bums out!" By that large margin voters said Congress deserves to be kicked down the road.
What about the all-important Independent voting bloc? They don't think Congress deserves to keep their jobs either, saying so by 80 percent. Republicans weigh in at 75 percent and Democrats at 68 percent.
But here's the kicker on this angry agreement across political party lines against Congress in general, there are still 53 percent that thinks their own representative deserves to be re-elected while 40 percent say they do not.
Back in the 2010 election, when voters were not quite so angry in general at Congress, they were still angry enough to rip the House away from the wimpy do-nothing Democrats and gave it to the scorched Earth destructive Republicans.
That voter fiasco created a 63-seat turnover that has made the past year even worse than before the election because of bizarre Tea Party newbies. This was the largest turnover by either party since 1948. The stingy Republicans have managed to create a whole new class of people: the former middle class now reduced to the working poor and The 99ers - those who have gone unemployed for years and exceeded unemployment benefits.
What about voter attitude towards Obama? It ain't good, folks. Only 43 percent thinks he deserves re-election. At one point that figure had dipped down to 37 percent (measured in October 2010). What is most telling is that a high of 55 percent think Obama does not deserve a second term and it's trending higher as time goes by.
With a low percentage of approval like this for Obama what are the historical views of Presidents winning re-election? Again, not likely. Ever since WWII when these stats have been gathered it bears out that it takes an approval rating of at least 48 percent to win a second term.
Approval for how Obama has handled the economy is only at 33 percent, according to the recent CBS poll. In fact, since 2008 when 75 percent of the country thought the economy was bad it has risen in 2011 to now 86 percent are negative on the economic outlook. There are 42 percent who say it is terrible.
Worse are the numbers delivering the perception that President Obama's policies have favored Wall Street over everyone else comes in at 42 percent. The fact that the pollsters even asked such a question lets you know it is high in the minds of everyday voters. Corporate politicians beware.
What about the perception of whether voters think President Obama shares their priorities? Not good on this front either. They weigh in at 54 percent think he does not share the same priorities for the country. When people go into the voting booth, invariably they go in to vote for someone who will help them. The fact that Obama is seen as someone who will not be good for the average voter says he will not see re-election.
A suggestion to members of Congress and President Obama? Get busy and do something more meaningful than payroll tax cuts and renaming the country's motto. As rocky and unstable as is the economy so too can be your political job prospects. Tick tock.
* * * Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - helping homeless female military veterans come home. Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - - see what's new! (yes, my new charity - why stand on the sidelines when you can actively do something about a problem?)
* Check out Dennys News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food - a place where all my other 20 blogs link so you can choose from among the latest posts all in one place. A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. *
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
From Denny: You can always tell just how bad a job Congress is really doing when the voters want to fire them all, cut out their health care and raid their pension funds. After all, turn about is fair play for it is what Congress and the Obama White House have done to the American worker.
A recent poll from The Hill, which covers Washington politics and lawmaking extensively, reveals some dire predictions for the upcoming 2012 election. No one in Congress or the White House should consider their jobs to be safe. This is an angry electorate.
Since Congress has behaved so badly the past year the public now wants to treat them like a business owner with a bad employee: fire them, scale back their pay, eliminate or reduce their health care benefits and cut out the pension funds.
America's view of national lawmakers is dark and gloomy, not holding out much hope for a better government. The approval rating of Congress hovers around 9 percent - on a good day.
The reason this poll was more significant is because it included questions about how people felt about the prospects of their personal finances improving next year. Eighty percent did not predict much good on that front: 40 percent expect their finances to get worse in 2012 and 40 percent expect no growth and stuck at the same level.
Remember those high salaries that Congress voted for themselves during the Bush years? Well, under Obama they did nothing to lower those excessive pay hikes - and at a time when most Americans see their pay checks dwindling. Underemployment is the new work place buzz word and that soon translates into the inability to continue paying house mortgages, escalating foreclosures to new heights.
In this poll, it was 67 percent that said the congressional pay of a $174,000 base salary should be lowered - instead of raised or left as it is. When it comes to pensions, it was 69 percent who think those pensions should be retired along with the ineffective lawmakers.
Should Congress work more days than it currently does to finally get something done? Sixty-four percent want Congress to work more days than on their current calendar, dissatisfied with the snail's pace of passing legislation and the intractable attitude about solving important issues.
How was the new Republican majority in the House viewed? Well, not well at all. It was 38 percent who say it changed Washington for the worse. Only 28 percent claimed it improved Washington while another 28 percent saw it as no difference. After all, if nothing significant gets done then there really is no difference. The voters pay a lot of money to people who get nothing done, sabotaging the government's effectiveness.
Check out the gender differences in opinion:
How is the Republican takeover of the House perceived?
Men:
a good thing: 33 percent
changed Washington for the worse: 31 percent
made no difference: 28 percent
Women:
a good thing: 24 percent
changed Washington for the worse: 44 percent
Should Congress work more days?
Men:
yes - 56 percent
Women:
yes - 72 percent
Should the members' base salary be lowered?
Men:
yes - 69 percent
Women:
yes - 66 percent
Should congressional pensions be discontinued?
Men:
yes - 71 percent
Women:
yes - 66 percent
Note: Under the current pension system, members are eligible at age 62 if they have completed at least five years of service. They get the pension at age 50 if they have completed 20 years of service.
It's evident the only reason people run for political office these days is to get rich and do no serious work for the American people. They only work half days and half a year, yet whine about how they can't get out to the golf course more often. Somehow, GOP Speaker Boehner manages to keep his tan from his time on the links while his sidekick, Eric Cantor, uses insider trading to make his fortune off the backs of the American people.
Worse, Congress had the nerve to secretly vote themselves a bill a couple of years ago where they declared it legal to use insider trading information to basically lay bets on the stock market. Now, if you or I did such a thing we would get slammed in jail and fined up to our eyeballs.
It's no surprise as to how Congress is getting rich at our expense. They give the national Treasury to foreign countries and Big Banks in the form of foreign aid bribe money and We Made Crooked Bets bailouts while American jobs continue to travel overseas and out of sight. The politicians get rewarded from their benefactors by money coming into their various slush funds they have declared legal.
Is it any wonder that the public is disgusted with Congress and the Obama White House? With corruption this rampant the people no longer have confidence in their government: a bought government.
So, listen up, Washington politicians, your days are numbered in office. Either learn to work more hours for less pay and no benefits like the rest of America - or get fired.
* * * Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - helping homeless female military veterans come home. Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - - see what's new! (yes, my new charity - why stand on the sidelines when you can actively do something about a problem?)
* Check out Dennys News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food - a place where all my other 20 blogs link so you can choose from among the latest posts all in one place. A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. *
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
From Denny:President Obama's numbers are sinking fast with an American public tired of him nibbling around the edges of a disastrous economy with small incremental gestures going nowhere. What Americans expect is bold action to reinvigorate the economy with millions of jobs.
The newest poll to come out measuring the public anger with Congress in general and frustration with a timid president is from the NBC News/Wall Street Journal. They used both Republican and Democratic pollsters and it was conducted from 27 to 31 August 2011.
Americans are in a pessimistic mood when it comes to all the happy talk trying to convince people there is no recession - technically - when they witness millions of people out of work across the country and millions of homes in foreclosure.
When asked about the current economy and did they think we have hit bottom yet?
* 72 percent think not yet
* 49 percent think we are headed for another recession
Do voters thinks the country is headed in the right direction?
* right - 19 percent (who are these people?)
* wrong - 73 percent
In the Washington Post-ABC News Poll the numbers ran about the same. About the only area where Obama did well was on terrorism coming in at 62 percent approval. His numbers were just lousy on jobs and the economy.
Obama's approval rating see-saws in the 44 percent range, up and down a few points, depending upon what is in the news. Expect his numbers to go down more as a result of the jobs report this week, revealing absolutely no jobs growth in August. Unemployment supposedly is still considered at 9.1 percent. We all know that number is pure fiction.
How does Obama do with the 18 - 29 age group that helped propel him into the White House?
* only 47 percent still approve of his handling of the job
Clearly, they are disenchanted with his performance. That age group also suffers from excessively high unemployment in the range of 25 percent.
Obama's chances at reelection in 2012 are dimming fast. Compared to a weak GOPMitt Romney Obama is in a statistical dead heat. Obama lost five points against Romney since June.
Obama compared to GOP Rick Perry, that Texas braggart of a conservative stripe and darling of the Tea Party, Obama barely inches ahead by five points at this juncture. Perry looks bold compared to a timid Obama. The country could easily turn in favor of Perry just because he looks like he has a spine.
How will they vote comparing Obama to a generic Republican?
* 44 percent said they will likely vote for a Republican
* only 40 percent now say they will likely consider voting for Obama
From Democratic pollster Peter Hart who helped conduct the NBC/WSJ poll with Republican pollster Bill McInturff: "Obama is no longer the favorite to win re-election."
* 70 percent say they like Obama as a person
The old adage of how "nice guys finish last" may apply here in the 2012 election if the Democratic Party does not run a competitor against Obama for the nomination. He could sail into the Democratic nomination if unopposed but easily lose the national election for a second term. It would be a repeat of the Jimmy Carter disaster.
How closely are people following the 2012 election?
* 66 percent are following very closely
Let's see just how much the political strategists can blow smoke up the voters' skirts this year. Good luck on that one.
How do voters rate Congress?
* over 82 percent disapprove
That's the highest disapproval for Congress ever recorded. That number has increased by 12 percent since May. In fact, when asked if they could vote out every member of Congress it was 54 percent who wanted to do it compared to 41 percent against.
From other recent polls mentioned in the video clip:
How many people have given up on Obama?
* 54 percent don't believe he will get anything significant done for the country
This figure is the most significant for two reasons. One, when President Bush 43 saw this same lack of confidence number shoot up past 50 percent after his bungling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster it was the beginning of the end of his presidency. He was considered "dead in the water."
Two, the most significant reason the pollsters most likely asked this question was to measure for the Democratic super delegates if they should consider replacing Obama on the 2012 ticket, raising up a challenger to him. Clearly, the public is not inclined to give Obama a second term.
The Democrats have a tremendous amount to lose if they bet on Obama for 2012 and he stalls like he does on everything else he has failed to do. The middle class and the poor stand to lose the most, especially on Social Security and Medicare. The Republicans are poised to take back the White House if the Democrats don't get serious and raise up a 2012 challenger.
* * * Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - helping homeless female military veterans come home. Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - see what's new! And a special thanks to those of you supporting this effort! You rock!
* Check out Dennys News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food - a place where all my other 20 blogs link so you can choose from among the latest posts all in one place. A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. *
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
From Denny: Three different polls declare theTea Party's popularity is rapidly running downhill. There is a backlash against this ultra conservative self-serving political movement.
CNN, The New York Times and CBS recorded an all time high unfavorable rating this past month for the Tea Party and its goals.
What the Tea Party did achieve is to wake up the Independent voters who rarely pay close attention to politics compared to loyalist Republicans and Democrats.
Independents are furious at the hard line against bipartisan compromise in Washington that conservative lawmakers have stubbornly held, without reason or sanity. Independents are considered the swing bloc of the electorate and when this bloc moves one direction or the other the politicians start paying attention to the winds of change.
The recent debt ceiling debacle brought the Independents into focus to pay attention to Washington contentiousness. They did not like what they saw.
Independents were unhappy with several items just like the rest of the country:
* How the conservatives threatened to force a national debt default, contentiously refusing to compromise on a common sense deal.
* Failure of President Obama and House SpeakerJohn Boehner (R-Ohio) to reach a deal to reduce the deficit.
* Seriously unhappy with how Standard & Poor's thought sharply rebuking the political system by lowering the country's risk rating was the answer, only to end up causing outrageous havoc in the financial markets around the world.
* Unpopular rating back in October 2010 was 26 percent. Now? In August 2011 it's shot up to 40 percent unpopular.
From Charles Franklin, professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin and polling specialist: “If you were paying attention to the coverage, the characterization of people resistant to raising the debt ceiling was they were Tea Party supporters or members of the Tea Party caucus. That characterization is an element in the current apparent decline in Tea party popularity."
Independents are a fast-growing segment of the voting population as both mainstream parties continue to lose support.
What do Independents want? * They want the political parties to bridge their differences to solve the nation's problems. Independents did not see that happen on the debt ceiling mess. What they observed was a last minute unpopular compromise to avoid a national default that basically did not solve the long term problem.
From Charles Franklin: “What we saw in all the polling, and it’s very consistent, is people favored some sort of compromise and did not know why the deadlock was there. The Tea Party, in some eyes, was blamed for the deadlock.”
* They generally agree that federal deficits need to shrink.
* They want government to be more accountable to the voter.
* Independent voters are turned off by brinkmanship, instead, favoring immediate and sensible solutions to the nation's pressing issues.
From Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College: “They want a government that works together, a government that gets along. What they’re upset about is intransigence toward compromise. What came through to voters is they saw the Tea Party as a hindrance to compromise.”
* * * Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - helping homeless female military veterans come home. Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - see what's new! And a special thanks to those of you supporting this effort! You rock!
* Check out Dennys News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food - a place where all my other 20 blogs link so you can choose from among the latest posts all in one place. A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. *
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
From Denny: Gallup pollsters discovered this week that 78 percent of Americans are unhappy about the way things are going in this country. That's a six point increase in dissatisfaction in only 30 days.
In another Gallup poll this week as well, the U.S. Economic Confidence, only 30 percent of Americans believe the economy is getting better. That's down another seven points since last month.
Six straight weeks of Wall Street declines and bleak jobs outlook are the major factors for dissatisfaction. The crippling third reason is the very high price of gasoline at the pump. It's over $1 dollar higher per gallon than a year ago and that was too high for the economy to thrive back then.
Who can afford to drive to their job when it now costs as much as an additional $500 or more a month? People are choosing between paying their house mortgage or driving to work.
Another opinion of over half of Americans is that they rate the economy as "poor," down three points from last week as well as down three points from this time last year. People also fear a global economic slowdown. Two thirds say the economy is "getting worse."
Perhaps President Obama should quit bragging on how much money he is demanding from donors and get serious about fixing the jobs situation if he wants to get reelected. Clearly, the American public is in a foul mood, no longer easily mollified by inspirational speeches that get no serious follow up coupled with great deeds.
* * * Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - helping homeless female military veterans come home. Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - see what's new! And a special thanks to those of you supporting this effort! You rock!
* Check out Dennys News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food - a place where all my other 20 blogs link so you can choose from among the latest posts all in one place. A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. *
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
From Denny: Jon Stewart is always up to the minute with his awareness of how ridiculous our presidential elections can be in the early months before voting. OK, an entire year before walking into that voting booth where we sigh a depressed sigh, hold our collective noses and push the button for our "sort of, well, maybe, don't have a lot of confidence in the guy" choice.
Stewart points out just how silly the national political discourse can get a year out from the election. Case in point? The Donald aka Donald Trump The Ridiculous. Lately, The Donald's Hair has been vociferously claiming President Obama is not a real person - and, even if he was - he is a foreigner born outside of America. Of course, Donald's Hair has succeeded in frustrating the White House to the point they finally released the president's very personal information on the long form version of the birth certificate.
The reality strategy is that the very reason the GOP nut jobs were so high profile about this nonsense Birther idea is because they were keenly aware of one fact. It turns out the state of Hawaii just doesn't release the long form version of the birth certificate to anyone, including the very person who was born there.
For the president to get a hold of his own long form birth certificate entailed jumping through hoops and a whole lot of discussing to get a copy. Well, at least the president of the United States can get his own birth certificate - finally. They need to change that law in Hawaii and I sure am glad I wasn't born there.
Oh, yeah, back to the funny video clip from Jon Stewart... Stewart pulled a lot of news clips from previous presidential election cycles just to prove how the early front runners are the same guys we all have forgotten a year after the election. Most of the candidates that peak early are swept aside by the time we get into the last six months of the campaign. This year will be no exception.
I doubt anyone will remember the unmemorable GOP candidates like Haley Barbour who endorsed a "former" KKK member, saying glowing things about the guy. What a gaffe. Then there's Gingrich who has actually found at least three women in his life time who were willing to sleep with him. Amazing, isn't it? Other than these guys - and the screeching Palin - people will forget them. What we remember are their clownish antics and outrageous stunts - not their political platforms.
Take a look at how Jon Stewart frames the early presidential season. As far as Stewart is concerned it's Open Happy Hunting Season for the comedians.
Daily Show: Indecision 2012 - Premature E-calculation
Donald Trump may be leading the GOP field in the polls, but early numbers are completely and totally meaningless.
* * * Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - helping homeless female military veterans come home. Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - - see what's new! (yes, my new charity - why stand on the sidelines when you can actively do something about a problem?)
* Check out Dennys News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food - a place where all my other 20 blogs link so you can choose from among the latest posts all in one place. A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. *
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:
From Denny: Talk about bad. Gov. Walker does not fare well in the very Republican-leaning Rasmussen polling. So, you know that polling is really about five to seven points worse than these guys want to tell you since they spin it in favor of Republicans.
Clearly, the Wisconsin protests have taken their toll politically on this governor. People are furious nationwide and protesting in support of the teachers in Wisconsin. It's just plain un-American to take away a worker's right to negotiate about his wages. It's un-American to take away Free Speech.
Oh, did I mention how Gov. Walker has stopped payment of the paychecks to Democrats who fled the state? Seems like those politicians have a lawsuit against him. Walker is still paying the Republicans. What's wrong with that picture? It doesn't take much imagination to see what he will do if he succeeds in denying collective bargaining rights to the teachers.
Recall petitions are finally circulating. Some claim they have up to 50 percent of the signatures necessary to recall the Republican lawmakers. Gov. Walker is safe from recall until his first year in office is finished. Guarantee it he will be tossed out when the time comes. He has left a bad taste in the mouth of the Wisconsin voter.
From Denny: According to the usually accurate Gallup poll, President Obama's popularity is not doing well at all at the end of the year 2010. In fact, his popularity fell in as many as 50 states.
Where does Obama do exceptionally well?
As expected in his native state of Hawaii, he is ranked with a 66 percent favorable rating. In the District of Columbia he is ranked higher with and 84 percent favorable rating.
His worst rating?
In the small state of Wyoming, notoriously very conservative and Republican they rank him as only a 28 percent favorable rating. No surprises there. Yet Obama continues to court the conservative strongholds to no avail - while stiff-arming the more traditionally Democratic strongholds. Obama has watched his support slowly evaporate in just two short years, mainly for rejecting the progressive agenda to curtail the outrageous influence of Big Business lobbyists in our government who are hell bent on destroying the middle class and driving the poor deeper into poverty.
From Denny: "Got Palin fatigue?" You have plenty of company, like 56 percent of the rest of America, according to a new CNN poll. How is Palin's unpopularity among women? It's gone up 10 points.
How does she poll among Independents? They sure don't like her either. That score has risen rapidly in the past few months a stunning 14 points to 59 percent against Palin. Independents tend to prefer civility and bipartisanship of which Palin does not subscribe.
Her unfavorable rating is up three points among men. Her overall unfavorable rating is up seven points since the last poll two weeks before the midterms.
Reasons for her upticked unfavorable rating
What has contributed to her increased negative rating in America? Palin handed her fellow Americans a long laundry list of reasons: her tone deaf attitude after the Tucson shooting when people cited her for placing bullseye targets on Democratic politicians and telling fellow GOP to "reload." People are most turned off by her reaction to her cross-hairs website she had up last year during the health care debate where she targeted Democrats, notably Rep. Gabrielle Giffords who was shot in Tucson two weeks ago.
She's hawked ghost-written books as if they were her own, stiffing her fans who waited for hours at book signings. Her reality TV is just TMI (Too Much Information - for our second language friends outside of the USA).
Then there's the constant family psycho-dramas that play out incessantly, giving fodder to the tabloids. Mindless tweeting on Twitter. She tweets without much consideration that millions of people read it - and maybe some things should not be said publicly - because of those persons who are not mentally stable enough to realize she was just being outrageous and obnoxious.
Obnoxious is the word to accurately describe Sarah Palin. She started out as this cute hockey mom with a love of family, children and her conservative values. Then she morphed into this greedy multi-media extravaganza whirlwind, picking up $100,000 fees just to "speak" at this conservative event or that. Her speeches often ramble and make little sense, sprinkled with "You betcha!" and "reload" and other catchy phrases, tossed out with a wink and a nod.
Palin is now this pushy annoying snake oil saleswoman constantly knocking on your door no matter how many times you yell through the door, "Go away!" Yet she continues to accost us without ever being invited into our living rooms. Gee, "do ya think?" she has overstayed her welcome in the public eye?
GOP worries about 2012 election
Most Republicans are getting nervous about her indecent exposure in the public eye. In fact, the GOP circles are now talking about how toxic she could be in any presidential race. Well, they created this monster it's up to them to solve the problem. Be careful what you wish for, GOP.
Of course, GOP hopefuls in the 2012 election are already circling like vultures over the Palin carcass. They see those unfavorable poll numbers over 50 percent and know it's virtually impossible to come back from that toxic level.
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich, known for his outrageous rhetoric of the "Don't do as I do, do as I say" hypocrisy - and several wives later - tells Palin to dial it back and be more careful about what she is saying. While that may be true consider the source. Gingrich, a former history professor, also has compared himself to Emperor Napoleon. Strange but true. I told you that politics should be classified as a sport.
These GOP wannabees know they cannot directly attack Palin because of her weirdly loyal followers. Talk about strange. When she gets criticized her followers actually believe she is more right. Other Republicans who have tried to sideline her were demonized savagely. The new guys vying for the GOP nomination in 2012 are treading lightly for the moment. Even the GOP is getting the message to quit going so negative as evidenced by the Palin example. What the entire GOP is hoping is that Palin will tweet herself right out of existence. Now there's some bipartisanship to which maybe we all can agree.
On a more positive note: Today is the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's inaugural address. This president was one of our most inspiring among us. That day he called for national service and civility. He believed in a dedication to human rights. He wanted our country to make a commitment to arms control. "Eloquent" is the one word to describe President Kennedy for he defined the aspirations of a generation of Americans.
We prefer our leaders inspire us to show us the way to what we are capable of becoming. President Obama was elected with this kind of Kennedy speech-making. He should not allow the toxic atmosphere of those who would tear down this country to deter him from following his original course he set in the 2008 election. President Obama has been feeling his way through this tough times presidency, with many a misstep - and wrong alliances - with coddling Big Business over meeting the needs of the middle class.
He still has a small amount of time to recapture American confidence as a positive and inspiring leader for there is no guarantee that his GOP opposition will be so obviously easy to beat like a Palin. At this snapshot in time, two years out, President Obama is six points higher than GOP Mitt Romney, the only real contender among the Republicans. That isn't enough of a gap to produce favorable results for a reelection and is too close to call.
**** The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted Jan. 14-16, with 1,014 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:
* * * Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - helping homeless female military veterans come home. Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - - see what's new! (yes, my new charity - why stand on the sidelines when you can actively do something about a problem?)
* Check out Dennys News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food - a place where all my other 20 blogs link so you can choose from among the latest posts all in one place. A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. *
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
* Check out 
