Bitcoin price today: subdued below $89k amid risk-off mood; key US data awaited
What an election, eh? According to a CNN/ORC poll, six in ten Republicans continue to wish they had more choices (count me in that group), as the candidates still in it keep swapping places.
So following are some national surveys of Republican voters this past week.
CNN/ORC International
Rick Santorum 34 percent
Mitt Romney 32
Ron Paul 16
Newt Gingrich 15
New York Times/CBS News
Santorum 30
Romney 27
Paul 12
Gingrich 10
Public Policy [week ago]
Santorum 38
Romney 23
Gingrich 17
Paul 13
Pew Research Center
Santorum 30
Romney 28
Gallup
Romney 32
Santorum 30
Romney won the Conservative Political Action Committee straw poll by a 38-31 margin over Santorum (Gingrich 15, Paul 12). In his speech to the group, Romney called himself “severely conservative.” What the heck is that supposed to mean?! Prepared remarks circulated by his campaign had him saying he was simply “a conservative governor.”
Romney barely defeated Ron Paul in Maine’s nonbinding caucuses 39-36, with Santorum at 18, though on Friday word came the vote may have been flawed, perhaps “severely” so. Only 6,000 votes were cast, or about 2 percent of registered Republicans, so the state’s elephants were just thrilled by the process…not.
And, again, as I noted would be the case a few weeks ago, President Obama is now hitting 50% in his approval ratings…but it’s amazing the last four I’ve seen are exactly 50%...including CNN/ORC and New York Times/CBS.
Just as importantly, in the CNN poll, Obama now has a 50% approval rating among independents. The NY Times survey has independents favoring Obama over Romney 49-38. Just a little while ago, it was the reverse. [Overall, Obama defeats Romney 51-46 and both Santorum and Ron Paul 52-45.]
A Rasmussen survey, released last weekend, had President Obama defeating Santorum by only a 46-42 margin. The same survey had Obama crushing Romney 50-40.
Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal
“The Romney campaign is better at dismantling than mantling. They’re better at taking opponents apart than building a compelling candidate of their own. They do not seem capable of deepening his meaning, making his stands and statements more textured and interesting. He comes across like a businessman who studied the data and came up with the formula that will make the deal.
“A particular problem is that he betrays little indignation at any of our problems and their causes. He’s always sunny, pleasant, untouched by anger. This leaves people thinking, ‘Excuse me, but we are in crisis. Financially and culturally we fear our country is going down the drain. This guy doesn’t seem to be feeling it. So why’s he running? Maybe he thinks it’s his personal destiny to be president. But if the animating passion of his candidacy is about him, not us, who needs him?’”
Fred Barnes / The Weekly Standard
“A week ago, Republican capture of the Senate in the 2012 election was regarded as close to a sure thing. The political direction of the country had shifted in favor of Republicans. Democrats faced the unenviable task of defending 23 seats, Republicans only 10. And 8 of the GOP seats were safely in Republican hands.
“Now Republican prospects are not as rosy. The odds on a Republican Senate are no worse than 50-50, maybe better. But the effort to oust Democrats who currently control the Senate 53-47, looks more difficult than it did.
“What has changed? Most significant may be President Obama’s improved chances of reelection. He has enormous liabilities, but he has managed to alter the political environment enough to make Republicans and the rich a live issue in the campaign. Before, his record in the White House, especially on the economy, was the lone issue.”
So it’s pretty simple. If Obama is reelected, Democrats hold the Senate and your editor moves to Yap.
One of the key Senate races in the country this fall is in Virginia: Democratic former Gov. Tim Kaine and Republican former Sen. George Allen. As noted by U.S. News Weekly, not only is the race in a dead heat, since last May, 12 different polls have shown the contest to be effectively tied.
Mike Collins / Baltimore Sun (Star-Ledger)
“Every Republican presidential candidate claims to be the heir to Ronald Reagan’s legacy. For years, Republican partisans have carried Reagan’s memory before them as the ancient Israelites carried the Ark of the Covenant. Just invoking his name proved your ideological purity, and would smite the dreaded RINO – Republican in name only.
“Problem is, those who most fervently claim to adhere to Ronald Reagan’s principles don’t seem to understand Reagan’s greatest principle: decency….
“As a man, Reagan had a sunny optimism and faith in the goodness of his fellow Americans. While his political opponents disagreed with him over policy, he did not consider them his enemies. He viewed them as his fellow citizens, and right or wrong, he valued them. He was a true gentleman.
“If Republicans want to honor his legacy, we should remember the man he really was – not the myth we’ve created to advance our personal interests. If we can emulate the decency, civility, good will and patriotism that was Ronald Reagan – and live the 11th Commandment – we can truly honor him in the second century after his birth and make America the gleaming city on the hill he dreamed of.”
In a Rasmussen poll, 59% of Catholics disapprove of the president’s job performance after he imposed a new birth control mandate on employers, including Catholic agencies. A CNN/ORC International poll reveals “Half of all Americans say they oppose the Obama administration’s new policy concerning employer-provided health insurance plans and their coverage of contraceptive services for female employees including those at religiously affiliated institutions.”
PBS is premiering a four-hour “American Experience” documentary on Bill Clinton on Monday and Tuesday, one that chronicles his “unruly libido” as an Irish newspaper put it. Former adviser Dick Morris relates the moment Clinton rang him just before evidence of his affair with Monica Lewinssky was about to be made public.
“Bill said to me: ‘Ever since I got to the White House I have had to shut down my body.”
Clinton then asked Morris to conduct political polls on how he should handle the crisis.
Another adviser speaks of “sparks flying between (Clinton and Lewinsky) from the first moment when they saw each other.”
But otherwise, after reading a poor review in the Washington Post, I’m passing on this one.
New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie caught heat for his decision to have flags lowered to half-staff on Saturday for Whitney Houston’s funeral, saying he rejects criticism that she “forfeited the good things that she did” because of her struggles with substance abuse.
“What I would say to everybody is there but for the grace of God go I,” he said.
Detractors say that the honor should be reserved for members of the military, for one example, and not to honor a drug addict.
Christie says Houston deserves the honor because of her cultural impact and as “a daughter of New Jersey.”
“I am disturbed by people who believe that because her ultimate demise – and we don’t know what is the cause of her death yet – but because of her history of substance abuse that somehow she’s forfeited the good things that she did in her life. I just reject that on a human level.”
I agree with the governor. He did the same thing last year with the death of Clarence Clemons, Bruce Springsteen’s saxophonist.
Said a Newark resident, Anna Simpson, “She never forgot where she came from. She was real. We would see her and be like, ‘She’s one of ours,’ and she always made us proud, no matter what happened.”
As to the governor’s move, Simpson said, “I don’t agree with a lot of things that he does, but I admire him for that. Whoever don’t agree, they will get over it.”
Personally, I also felt the same way about some of the criticism Clint Eastwood received for his Super Bowl commercial, “Halftime in America.” It was a great spot. If you thought it was blatantly pro-Obama, so what…get over it.
The incident concerning U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and his wife where they were robbed by a machete-wielding intruder at their vacation home on the island of Nevis is but another example of how you better have your guard up when you’re traveling in the Caribbean, as I’ve written from time to time. Crime rates on many of the islands have been soaring for years.
[Paid for by BP…and the Gulf Tourism Bureau.]
Homicides in New York City in 2011 were under 600 for a 10th straight year and some of the credit has to go to the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy. Last year, 684,330 people were stopped and questioned, a record number. Of that number, 12% were arrested or received summonses. The remainder, including Mets fans, weren’t charged.
Civil libertarians bitch and moan when they see all these stop-and-frisk figures. Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, points to the fact that blacks make up 25% of the city’s population, Hispanics 29% and whites 33%, according to the 2010 census. In 2011, 53% of those stopped were black, 34% Hispanic and 9% were white.
But an NYPD spokesman maintained the stop numbers “comport by race with victim-crime reports.” In 2011, 66% of violent-crime suspects were black, 34% were Hispanics and 9% white. [Sean Gardiner / Wall Street Journal]
Finally, Feb. 20 marks the 50th anniversary of John Glenn’s flight on Friendship 7. The 90-year-old Glenn, along with 86-year-old Scott Carpenter, the only other survivor of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, appeared at Cape Canaveral on Friday to begin the celebrations.
As reported by Marcia Dunn of the AP:
“Glenn recalled how he and his fellow Mercury astronauts traveled during their training to Cape Canaveral to watch a missile blast off. It was a night launch, and the rocket blew apart over their heads.
“ ‘That wasn’t a very good confidence-builder for our first trip to the cape,’ Glenn said. Improvements were made, and Glenn said he gained confidence in his Mercury-Atlas rocket, a converted nuclear missile. Otherwise, he said, he would not have climbed aboard.”
By the way, it was Carpenter who called out “Godspeed John Glenn” moments before Glenn’s launch. Carpenter would follow on Aurora 7 on May 24, 1962. Alan Shepard and Gus Grisson preceded the two with suborbital missions in 1961.
This is cool. Today, Saturday, Glenn and Carpenter are reuniting with more than 100 retirees who worked on Project Mercury. On Monday, Glenn is being feted at Ohio State University, where its school of public affairs bears his name.
A reminder…the other five original Mercury 7 astronauts were Shepard, Grissom, Wally Schirra, Gordon Cooper and Deke Slayton.
We used to dream of big things. We then did them.
Today, the biggest thing we have going is Facebook.
Lord help us. We’ve become so small. We bitch about the stupidest things, and then don’t take the time to learn about the important issues, relying on just one source, right or left.
Basically, we’re kind of pathetic. Case in point, the presidency. As we celebrate the greatness of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, look at our recent lineup of presidents…and the lineup of those seeking the office now.
This is the best we can do?
-
Pray for the men and women of our armed forces…and all the fallen.
God bless America.
-
Gold closed at $1723
Oil, $103.57
Returns for the week 2/13-2/17
Dow Jones +1.2% [12949]
S&P 500 +1.4% [1361]
S&P MidCap +2.1%
Russell 2000 +1.9%
Nasdaq +1.6% [2951]
Returns for the period 1/1/12-2/17/12
Dow Jones +6.0%
S&P 500 +8.2%
S&P MidCap +12.0%
Russell 2000 +11.8%
Nasdaq +13.3%
Bulls 54.8
Bears 25.8 [Source: Investors Intelligence]
So following are some national surveys of Republican voters this past week.
CNN/ORC International
Rick Santorum 34 percent
Mitt Romney 32
Ron Paul 16
Newt Gingrich 15
New York Times/CBS News
Santorum 30
Romney 27
Paul 12
Gingrich 10
Public Policy [week ago]
Santorum 38
Romney 23
Gingrich 17
Paul 13
Pew Research Center
Santorum 30
Romney 28
Gallup
Romney 32
Santorum 30
Romney won the Conservative Political Action Committee straw poll by a 38-31 margin over Santorum (Gingrich 15, Paul 12). In his speech to the group, Romney called himself “severely conservative.” What the heck is that supposed to mean?! Prepared remarks circulated by his campaign had him saying he was simply “a conservative governor.”
Romney barely defeated Ron Paul in Maine’s nonbinding caucuses 39-36, with Santorum at 18, though on Friday word came the vote may have been flawed, perhaps “severely” so. Only 6,000 votes were cast, or about 2 percent of registered Republicans, so the state’s elephants were just thrilled by the process…not.
And, again, as I noted would be the case a few weeks ago, President Obama is now hitting 50% in his approval ratings…but it’s amazing the last four I’ve seen are exactly 50%...including CNN/ORC and New York Times/CBS.
Just as importantly, in the CNN poll, Obama now has a 50% approval rating among independents. The NY Times survey has independents favoring Obama over Romney 49-38. Just a little while ago, it was the reverse. [Overall, Obama defeats Romney 51-46 and both Santorum and Ron Paul 52-45.]
A Rasmussen survey, released last weekend, had President Obama defeating Santorum by only a 46-42 margin. The same survey had Obama crushing Romney 50-40.
Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal
“The Romney campaign is better at dismantling than mantling. They’re better at taking opponents apart than building a compelling candidate of their own. They do not seem capable of deepening his meaning, making his stands and statements more textured and interesting. He comes across like a businessman who studied the data and came up with the formula that will make the deal.
“A particular problem is that he betrays little indignation at any of our problems and their causes. He’s always sunny, pleasant, untouched by anger. This leaves people thinking, ‘Excuse me, but we are in crisis. Financially and culturally we fear our country is going down the drain. This guy doesn’t seem to be feeling it. So why’s he running? Maybe he thinks it’s his personal destiny to be president. But if the animating passion of his candidacy is about him, not us, who needs him?’”
Fred Barnes / The Weekly Standard
“A week ago, Republican capture of the Senate in the 2012 election was regarded as close to a sure thing. The political direction of the country had shifted in favor of Republicans. Democrats faced the unenviable task of defending 23 seats, Republicans only 10. And 8 of the GOP seats were safely in Republican hands.
“Now Republican prospects are not as rosy. The odds on a Republican Senate are no worse than 50-50, maybe better. But the effort to oust Democrats who currently control the Senate 53-47, looks more difficult than it did.
“What has changed? Most significant may be President Obama’s improved chances of reelection. He has enormous liabilities, but he has managed to alter the political environment enough to make Republicans and the rich a live issue in the campaign. Before, his record in the White House, especially on the economy, was the lone issue.”
So it’s pretty simple. If Obama is reelected, Democrats hold the Senate and your editor moves to Yap.
One of the key Senate races in the country this fall is in Virginia: Democratic former Gov. Tim Kaine and Republican former Sen. George Allen. As noted by U.S. News Weekly, not only is the race in a dead heat, since last May, 12 different polls have shown the contest to be effectively tied.
Mike Collins / Baltimore Sun (Star-Ledger)
“Every Republican presidential candidate claims to be the heir to Ronald Reagan’s legacy. For years, Republican partisans have carried Reagan’s memory before them as the ancient Israelites carried the Ark of the Covenant. Just invoking his name proved your ideological purity, and would smite the dreaded RINO – Republican in name only.
“Problem is, those who most fervently claim to adhere to Ronald Reagan’s principles don’t seem to understand Reagan’s greatest principle: decency….
“As a man, Reagan had a sunny optimism and faith in the goodness of his fellow Americans. While his political opponents disagreed with him over policy, he did not consider them his enemies. He viewed them as his fellow citizens, and right or wrong, he valued them. He was a true gentleman.
“If Republicans want to honor his legacy, we should remember the man he really was – not the myth we’ve created to advance our personal interests. If we can emulate the decency, civility, good will and patriotism that was Ronald Reagan – and live the 11th Commandment – we can truly honor him in the second century after his birth and make America the gleaming city on the hill he dreamed of.”
In a Rasmussen poll, 59% of Catholics disapprove of the president’s job performance after he imposed a new birth control mandate on employers, including Catholic agencies. A CNN/ORC International poll reveals “Half of all Americans say they oppose the Obama administration’s new policy concerning employer-provided health insurance plans and their coverage of contraceptive services for female employees including those at religiously affiliated institutions.”
PBS is premiering a four-hour “American Experience” documentary on Bill Clinton on Monday and Tuesday, one that chronicles his “unruly libido” as an Irish newspaper put it. Former adviser Dick Morris relates the moment Clinton rang him just before evidence of his affair with Monica Lewinssky was about to be made public.
“Bill said to me: ‘Ever since I got to the White House I have had to shut down my body.”
Clinton then asked Morris to conduct political polls on how he should handle the crisis.
Another adviser speaks of “sparks flying between (Clinton and Lewinsky) from the first moment when they saw each other.”
But otherwise, after reading a poor review in the Washington Post, I’m passing on this one.
New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie caught heat for his decision to have flags lowered to half-staff on Saturday for Whitney Houston’s funeral, saying he rejects criticism that she “forfeited the good things that she did” because of her struggles with substance abuse.
“What I would say to everybody is there but for the grace of God go I,” he said.
Detractors say that the honor should be reserved for members of the military, for one example, and not to honor a drug addict.
Christie says Houston deserves the honor because of her cultural impact and as “a daughter of New Jersey.”
“I am disturbed by people who believe that because her ultimate demise – and we don’t know what is the cause of her death yet – but because of her history of substance abuse that somehow she’s forfeited the good things that she did in her life. I just reject that on a human level.”
I agree with the governor. He did the same thing last year with the death of Clarence Clemons, Bruce Springsteen’s saxophonist.
Said a Newark resident, Anna Simpson, “She never forgot where she came from. She was real. We would see her and be like, ‘She’s one of ours,’ and she always made us proud, no matter what happened.”
As to the governor’s move, Simpson said, “I don’t agree with a lot of things that he does, but I admire him for that. Whoever don’t agree, they will get over it.”
Personally, I also felt the same way about some of the criticism Clint Eastwood received for his Super Bowl commercial, “Halftime in America.” It was a great spot. If you thought it was blatantly pro-Obama, so what…get over it.
The incident concerning U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and his wife where they were robbed by a machete-wielding intruder at their vacation home on the island of Nevis is but another example of how you better have your guard up when you’re traveling in the Caribbean, as I’ve written from time to time. Crime rates on many of the islands have been soaring for years.
[Paid for by BP…and the Gulf Tourism Bureau.]
Homicides in New York City in 2011 were under 600 for a 10th straight year and some of the credit has to go to the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy. Last year, 684,330 people were stopped and questioned, a record number. Of that number, 12% were arrested or received summonses. The remainder, including Mets fans, weren’t charged.
Civil libertarians bitch and moan when they see all these stop-and-frisk figures. Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, points to the fact that blacks make up 25% of the city’s population, Hispanics 29% and whites 33%, according to the 2010 census. In 2011, 53% of those stopped were black, 34% Hispanic and 9% were white.
But an NYPD spokesman maintained the stop numbers “comport by race with victim-crime reports.” In 2011, 66% of violent-crime suspects were black, 34% were Hispanics and 9% white. [Sean Gardiner / Wall Street Journal]
Finally, Feb. 20 marks the 50th anniversary of John Glenn’s flight on Friendship 7. The 90-year-old Glenn, along with 86-year-old Scott Carpenter, the only other survivor of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, appeared at Cape Canaveral on Friday to begin the celebrations.
As reported by Marcia Dunn of the AP:
“Glenn recalled how he and his fellow Mercury astronauts traveled during their training to Cape Canaveral to watch a missile blast off. It was a night launch, and the rocket blew apart over their heads.
“ ‘That wasn’t a very good confidence-builder for our first trip to the cape,’ Glenn said. Improvements were made, and Glenn said he gained confidence in his Mercury-Atlas rocket, a converted nuclear missile. Otherwise, he said, he would not have climbed aboard.”
By the way, it was Carpenter who called out “Godspeed John Glenn” moments before Glenn’s launch. Carpenter would follow on Aurora 7 on May 24, 1962. Alan Shepard and Gus Grisson preceded the two with suborbital missions in 1961.
This is cool. Today, Saturday, Glenn and Carpenter are reuniting with more than 100 retirees who worked on Project Mercury. On Monday, Glenn is being feted at Ohio State University, where its school of public affairs bears his name.
A reminder…the other five original Mercury 7 astronauts were Shepard, Grissom, Wally Schirra, Gordon Cooper and Deke Slayton.
We used to dream of big things. We then did them.
Today, the biggest thing we have going is Facebook.
Lord help us. We’ve become so small. We bitch about the stupidest things, and then don’t take the time to learn about the important issues, relying on just one source, right or left.
Basically, we’re kind of pathetic. Case in point, the presidency. As we celebrate the greatness of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, look at our recent lineup of presidents…and the lineup of those seeking the office now.
This is the best we can do?
-
Pray for the men and women of our armed forces…and all the fallen.
God bless America.
-
Gold closed at $1723
Oil, $103.57
Returns for the week 2/13-2/17
Dow Jones +1.2% [12949]
S&P 500 +1.4% [1361]
S&P MidCap +2.1%
Russell 2000 +1.9%
Nasdaq +1.6% [2951]
Returns for the period 1/1/12-2/17/12
Dow Jones +6.0%
S&P 500 +8.2%
S&P MidCap +12.0%
Russell 2000 +11.8%
Nasdaq +13.3%
Bulls 54.8
Bears 25.8 [Source: Investors Intelligence]