(Article first published as “The President and the Economy: Lowering the Performance Bar” on Blogcritics.) Fifty percent of the respondents in an AP-GfK poll taken last month believe that the President has little to no effect on the American economy. The poll consisted of telephone and cell phone interviews with 1,007 adults across the Country.
While GfK markets its polling methodology as ‘reliable’, it is not described as drawing from a representative cross section of the nation…
Cavemen come into vogue every now and then. From the silly Geico “so easy” commercials to serious diet choices, Americans don’t mind identifying with the scraggily cave dwellers of millennia ago. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise since, on an evolutionary scale, we aren’t that far removed from them. Oh, we have more highly developed social, economic and governance structures. We dress better, live more grandly and bathe a lot more often. In fact, our…
The much-anticipated vote has finally been tallied. Scott Walker is the first governor in U.S. history to withstand a recall attempt. Actually, only three gubernatorial recalls have been mounted in the nation’s history. Still, winning is better than losing. Just ask the two who were expelled, California Governor Gray Davis, ousted in 2003, and North Dakota Governor Lynn Frazier, sent packing in 1921. Frazier may be beyond querying but Davis can tell you that it’s no…
(Article first published as “The Social Advocacy Lure: Whom will it catch?” on Blogcritics.) Last month, the Obama re-election campaign began an effort in earnest to redefine the major issues in this election year. Treating superficially the still weak economy, the persistently high jobless rate and the skyrocketing national debt, Obama’s main messaging is now on social issues. He addresses the rights of discrete groups, like women. But, he speaks most passionately of, in essence, a national ‘oneness’. It is a social concept he uses to…
(Article first published as “Will Obama Step Aside or be Pushed?” on Blogcritics.) The Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece a few days ago about the need for Obama to step aside. For the good of the country, he must give another Democrat a chance at the White House next year. The most surprising thing about the article is that it wasn’t written by a hardline right-winger. Or even a considered Independent. Two former Democrat pollsters, one for Jimmy…
(First published as “To Flatten or Not to Flatten: Is that Really the Question?” on Blogcritics.) On Monday, the Bloomberg editorial staff came down on the side of making the tax code more “progressive”. The piece was in response to flat income tax proposals from three or four of the current Republican presidential primary candidates. One can only hope that what passes for thinking in that article is not repeated in future Bloomberg work because it’s very…
