The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

As seems to so often be the case, the 24-hour news media seems to be obsessing over a couple of components of the new ABC/Washington Post poll, and I'm here to say, unless this becomes a trend, it's being blown out of proportion. The two components I'm talking about are with regard to President Obama's approval rating and also whether or not voters want to see Democrats or Republicans in charge of Congress following the upcoming midterms. According to this poll, President Obama is at a net -11 approval rating (41% approving, 52% disapproving). Also, according to this poll, Republicans are at a +14 (53-39) when asked if voters would rather see them or Democrats be in control of Congress after the midterm elections. However, like I said, unless these numbers become a trend, I think they're getting blown out of proportion - due to other recent polls, as well as some other numbers within the same ABC/Washington Post poll. According to Real Clear Politics, Democr...

Upon seeing self-described liberal Andy Ostroy's recent article, entitled, "Are Liberals Just as Bad as Republicans When it Comes to Rhetoric and Spin on the Affordable Care Act?," I admit it caught my attention enough to give it a gander. However, I had a gut feeling the article would leave me shaking my head, and as usual, my gut was right. Ostroy started his article by saying this: "No one's ever accused me of being a patsy for the Republican Party. To the contrary, I've been a staunch supporter of President Obama, Democrats and the liberal agenda. I've also loudly, vociferously and consistently criticized the GOP for driving a wedge into our political system with its self-serving, obstructionist tactics..." As I've learned through the years, whenever a person - particularly a writer, begins an article or a speech by saying, "As you all know, I've been an ardent supporter of X, Y, and Z through the years," expect a "bu...

It's been about three years since President Obama's healthcare law passed Congress and was signed by the president himself. Sadly, three years later, the public is just about as uninformed now on the healthcare law as it was right when it passed. A Kaiser poll was just released regarding the public's knowledge on the healthcare reform law, and the numbers were quite disturbing. When poll participants were asked if the healthcare law included the following components, more answered the questions incorrectly than correctly: - "Cut benefits for people in Medicare" - 43% correctly answered that the law does not do this and 44% incorrectly answered that it does do this, with 14% responding that they aren't sure. - "Establish a government panel to make decisions about end-of-life care for people on Medicare" - 39% correctly answered that the law does not do this and 40% incorrectly answered that it does do this, with 21% responding that they aren...