Another revealing poll is out suggesting that Obama hasn’t yet turned the corner on health care or revived his own political popularity. The Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll shows Obama’s approval at 49 percent, down a point from last month. Independents disapprove by a 46 to 41 percent margin. By a 50 to 42 percent margin, voters disapprove of his handling of health care. Independents disapprove on this issue by a 53 to 36 percent margin.
Congress gets only a 24 percent approval, down 3 points from the last poll. That’s better than the UN, which gets a 35 percent approval. By a 42 to 38 percent margin, Americans say they’d rather vote for Republicans for Congress to check Obama than for Democrats to push his agenda through.
Most shocking, perhaps, is that if the 2012 election were held today, 43 percent would vote for Obama, and 48 percent for someone else. Sixty-four percent of the voters think we are more divided than we were last year. Forty percent think the federal government should be working on creating jobs, but only 13 percent think it should be involved in health care. Sixty-five percent think Obama didn’t deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.
All in all, there isn’t much good news for the president. It seems as though Americans are largely over his spell and are starting to evaluate him on what he is doing. So far, they aren’t all that impressed.
Isn’t ironic that the U.S. and U.K. are both abandoning free market principles so that they can play catch up to the other European states? It’s almost as if the Left in both countries were perplexed and mad that Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher almost destroyed their ideas in one fell swoop and they have to make up for lost time in implementing their socialist utopia. Well, it’s not really “almost as if”, but more of a reflection of reality.
I guess this would make for the second rule of holes: Just because you’re not in one already, doesn’t mean it’s too late to start.
“Alliance points out” your link doesn’t work here.
Well, in “the Economist” it is said that we still practice Colbertism, and I find this referrence true, we never left state dirigism, it could also be defined as “state capitalism”, ie China nowadays, except that our rules are more draconian as far as the workers conditions are concerned. It’s right that the high pressure of taxes empech the small and middle enterprises to expend and to hire more employees. Big enterprises and state enterprises have not such a problem, they are supported by a wealthy and or a necessary market, such as banks, insurances, supermarkets, planes and nuclear industry… so, we never really experiment a free market regim, and many French are pleased with our system.
Unemployment rates have been exagerated, they depend on how calculation basis are chosen, while our students are counted as unmployed, in the US, they have a part time job, etc…
I still remember the beginning of healthcare and the elaboration of the whole taxes system, in the seventies. The 30 glorious years made that we didn’t feel the rempant greediness of the state. It’s not the case anymore, especially when we could hire a low paid manoeuver before,
My family had a few employees just to help in the house work and in the fields, therefore these persons had a revenue, now, it’s impossible, and they are counted as “unemployeds” ; too expensive for a familial enterprise, but it was likely compensated by the “progress”, machines replaced humans for many tasks.
Though, while our health insurance was progressively settling, UK had hers for quite a while, people weren’t allowed to choose their praticians, and not their medecine too, while we kept freedom of choosing them, but their fees were/are defined, so we had no surprises on the prices. Some specialists that didn’t sign the state convention can practice whatever price they want, still they have customers. Also such a half freedom made necessary that we took a second insurance, generally called “mutuelle”, but it could be any insurance.
The abuses are more of the “poors” that have nothing to pay, and would likely to squat scientists cabinets, just to get some attention, and of the administrations employees, that take profit of an adventage : they are allowed to have 30 extra days on vacation for illness in a year.
Though I don’t see that our population would renounce to this system, some controls must be seriously undertaken if we want that it gets a long life.
“In the fifteen years after they won the Cold War, the U.S. and Britain have done something curious: amidst the hubbub about the end of history and the triumph of capitalism, they retreated from the MODEL that helped them win.”
The “model” unfortunately had elements that made possible our econolypse. The model that we should have stuck to was the post WW2 model that lasted from 1945-1971. The Model of 1971-present is the one that bankrupted us. If you study the metrics of both models;there is no shadow of a doubt what happened. Debt,Deficits,Derivatives,and Currency Degradation are the elements of the later model whose consequences we are feeling at the moment. Irony,Opecdid more damage to our nation than the USSR from 1971-1992,and OPEC has done more damage to our nation from 1992 to the present than all the terrorists on this planet,combined.
A friendly correction. Taking as given the percentages reported here, the increase in the UK government’s share of GDP is not 3.5%; it’s (38.4-41.9)/38.4 = 9.1%. That is (9.1-3.5)/3.5 = 160% more.
Similarly, the decrease in the German government’s share of GDP is not 2.3%; it’s (45.7-43.4)/45.7 = 5.0%. That is (5.0-2.3)/2.3 = 117% more.
Percentage points are different than percentages, and percentages usually are more meaningful–as in this case.
To paraphrase Gandhi – What do I think of the “anglo-Saxon model”? I think it would be a good idea.
America will never be France. Our neighbors are Canada and Mexico, not Germany and England. Trade is our life, always has been. We’re in a different hemisphere from Russia. We assimilate our immigrants — even today, much better than France does (or most of Europe other than the UK, except that we assimilate them measurably better than the Mother Country as well).
England needs to get people off the dole. All the European nations that cap work weeks need to uncap them.
What else, what else. I don’t know. This is interesting and all, but why would we want to be like Europe, economically, governmentally, or bueaucratically? As bad as the iconic American DMV is, it’s a model of efficiency and good cheer compared to government offices in most of Europe.
Don’t get me wrong, Europe is great. I love Europe. When I was stationed in Naples, we used to entertain ourselves thinking about how marvelous southern Italy would be if the Germans ran it. Another thought is how amazing Europe could be if the Yanks ran it. I still haven’t given up the idea of a counter-migration to repopulate Europe for the West. All the place needs is some Yankification.
“even today, much better than France does”
doesn’t look so with your blacks and latins, umm Cair anyone ?
“Europe could be if the Yanks ran it.”
ouch, glad you don’t !