That's his weekly averaged approval. The latest three-day track has him even lower.

President ObamaÂ’s job approval rating fell to 47% for the week ending April 11, the lowest of his administration so far by one percentage point....

On a short-term basis, Obama’s latest three-day average (Friday through Sunday) is at 45%, with disapproval at 48% — both of which are the worst three-day averages since Obama took office).

He's underwater on the Real Clear Politics average, too.

Rasmussen has support for repealing ObamaCare at 58%.

Marc Thiessen urges Republicans not to lose their nerve on this issue and to forge boldy ahead:

Polls show that supporters of Obamacare are lukewarm, while the opponents are vehement. Many see Obamacare as just one element of a larger campaign by the Democrats to transform our country in the image of Europe by dramatically expanding the size and reach of the federal government. They want Republicans to repeal those efforts, not simply tinker around the edges.

This is why Newt Gingrich -- who led the successful Republican takeover of Congress before -- told the Southern Republican Leadership Conference last week that Republicans should think even bigger, and pledge to repeal not just Obamacare but also the economic stimulus and any other big-government legislation enacted by what he calls Obama's "secular socialist machine." To those Republicans who say repeal is a false promise -- because even if Republicans win both houses of Congress, Obama will still veto any repeal legislation -- Gingrich offered a two-stage solution: Stage one, win control of Congress this fall and promise that the GOP will refuse to fund Obamacare. Stage two, take back the White House in the next election and commit that "a Republican president and a Republican Congress in February and March of 2013 will repeal every radical bill passed by this machine."

Gingrich cautions that the GOP must be the "Party of Yes" and explain how it would replace Democratic legislation with something better. He is right. But without a pledge to repeal Obamacare, that message will fail. If Republican leaders can't commit to repealing a radical health care scheme that the Wall Street Journal correctly called the "worst bill ever," they can hardly expect Americans to say "yes" to a GOP Congress in November.

Posted by: Ace at 04:15 PM | Comments (224)
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Do as we say, not as we do:

The president of a state teachers union left a meeting Monday with Gov. Chris Christie after refusing to fire a local president who wrote a memo that joked about the governor's death, further escalating a rift that began before Christie's election.

Christie spokesman Mike Drewniak said the governor wants Bergen County teachers union head Joe Coppola fired for his "irresponsible" memo. The memo from the Bergen County Education Association to its locals included a closing prayer that read:

"Dear Lord this year you have taken away my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze, my favorite actress, Farrah Fawcett, my favorite singer, Michael Jackson, and my favorite salesman, Billy Mays. I just wanted to let you know that Chris Christie is my favorite governor."

Coppola and New Jersey Education Association President Barbara Keshishian have apologized for the memo. Coppola has said the "prayer" was a joke and was never meant to be made public.

Keshishian left her first face-to-face meeting with the governor after 15 minutes Monday afternoon when she refused to fire Coppola.

"Barbara does not have the authority to fire him," New Jersey Education Association spokesman Steve Baker said. "She doesn't intend to ask for his resignation. He has made an apology to the governor; it is a sincere apology. She considers that to be the end of that issue."

Claiming something is a "joke" is the all-purpose escape for anyone who's said something offensive, hateful, or irresponsible. When people claim they were "just joking," they intend to convey the message "I certainly never meant to say anything of a sort."

That is usually a lie. There are ironic jokes like Sean Hannity's reference to "racist teabaggers" -- in that case, he really didn't mean anything of the sort; his intent was to parody liberals' stereotypes of Tea Partiers.

But most jokes are not ironical. Most jokes do not have the intent, as Hannity's did, of suggesting the absolute opposite expression than the literal, surface meaning of the words.

Most jokes intend to say precisely what they say -- they are, as no lesser light than (groan) Senator Al Franken called them, examples of "kidding on the square" -- yeah, you're kidding, in that you're expressing your views humorously, but you're doing so "on the square" -- that is, honestly. It's what you really mean.

Joking is a time-honored method of expressing forbidden/taboo/socially-disapproved thought through a more socially-acceptable manner of expression.

This is news to anyone? No, it's not. Everyone knows this. And everyone knows that in political humor especially, 95% of what is stated as a "joke" is kidding on the square and not ironical at all.

Yeah, if I call Obama "Captain Wonderful" I'm being ironic and I mean the opposite. But if I call him "The Jugeared Jackass," yeah, I'm quote-unquote "joking," but obviously I mean it, or at the very least I mean something very close to that. Maybe I've overstated something for comic effect, but an overstatement is still meant seriously on some level, isn't it?

So why is it that these idiots on the left continue claiming "it was just a joke" as if it's an all-purpose defense against criticizing their words? more...

Posted by: Ace at 03:21 PM | Comments (133)
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Djou, an Army Reserve officer and Honolulu city councilman, might wind up winning this district in a reverse Scozzoflava scenario: There are two Democrats running and splitting the vote with each other.

A Democratic poll puts Djou tied with one Democrat (Case) at 32%, and ahead of the other one (Hanabusa) at 27%.

Further, there's a nice schism here: The AFL-CIO supports Hanabusa. as do both of the state's Democratic Senators, and the DCCC supports Case. And with both very much in the running and virtually tied themselves, neither has a very compelling case to withdraw in order to keep the seat Democratic.

Posted by: Ace at 12:38 PM | Comments (203)
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Your government at waste. Washington is spending the equivalent of an additional low-ish income on every single household in America.

Taxpayers filing their 1040s are likely wondering just where all their hard-earned tax dollars are going, anyway.

• Washington will spend $31,406 per household in 2010 — the highest level in American history (adjusted for inflation). It will collect $18,276 per household in taxes. The remaining $13,130 represents this year's staggering budget deficit per household, which, along with all prior government debt, will be dumped in the laps of our children.

• Government spending has increased by $5,000 per household since 2008, and nearly $10,000 per household over the past decade.

Yet there is no free lunch: If spending is not reined in, then eventually taxes must also rise by $10,000 per household.

Social Security and Medicare cost just under $10,000 per household and then follows defense at $6,700. And then come the more cuttable costs.

Posted by: Ace at 12:23 PM | Comments (111)
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Obama has a plan for the third year of his presidency, of course: Blaming Bush.

The pillars of Americans' financial security — jobs and home values — will stay shaky well into 2011, according to an Associated Press survey of leading economists.

...

The new AP survey, which will be conducted quarterly, compiles forecasts of leading private, corporate and academic economists on a range of indicators, including employment, home prices and inflation. Among the first survey's key findings:

• The unemployment rate will stay stubbornly high the next two years. It will inch down to 9.3 percent by the end of this year and to 8.4 percent by the end of 2011. The rate has been 9.7 percent since January. When the recession started in December 2007, unemployment was 5 percent.

• Home prices will remain almost flat for the next two years, even after plunging an average 30 percent nationally since their peak in 2006. The economists forecast no rise this year and a 2.3 percent gain next year.

• The economy will grow 3 percent this year, which is less than usual during the early phase of a recovery and the reason unemployment will stay high. It takes growth of 5 percent for a year to lower the jobless rate by 1 percentage point, economists say.

I don't think it will be even that good. By imposing additional costs on creating wealth, including a big Uncertainty Deadweight as employers and entrepreneurs wonder when Obama's Grand Experiment will end and what damage it will wind up doing and so delay any new plans for hiring.

Posted by: Ace at 11:31 AM | Comments (142)
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It's pretty clear that at best, Obama thinks the United States is just another country on the UN roll call, right between United Republic of Tanzania and Uruguay. At worst, he thinks the United States has done far more evil than good in the world.

While talking to the President of Kazakhstan (a country which the State Department says is a human rights violator), Obama seems to indicate there are some similarities between the countries.

NSC senior director Mike McFaul said on a conference call with reporters Sunday. "Both presidents agreed that you don't ever reach democracy; you always have to work at it. And in particular, President Obama reminded his Kazakh counterpart that we, too, are working to improve our democracy."

The Wall Street Journal's Jonathan Weisman asked McFaul to clarify.

"You seemed to be suggesting there was some equivalence between their issues of democracy and the United States' issues, when you said that President Obama assured him that we, too, are working on our democracy," Weisman said. "Is there equivalence between the problems that President Nazarbayev is confronting and the state of democracy in the United States?"

"Absolutely not ... There was no equivalence meant whatsoever," McFaul said. "[Obama's] taken, I think, rather historic steps to improve our own democracy since coming to office here in the United States."

I'd be curious to know in what way, beyond say allowing armed thugs to intimidate voters, the US is working on democracy or what historic steps Obama has taken on the matter.

Now, Kazakhstan may not be a nice place but it is in a rather important part of the world and does allow some supplies through to Afghanistan so blasting the guy wasn't going to be a good idea either. Still, there's a way to politely deal with uncomfortable allies that don't include lowering the United States. It just seems that lowering the United States is the default position of this administration.

On the upside, given the help Kazakhstan is giving us, one might call them an ally. This might be the first time Obama hasn't blasted one of them, so there's some good news. I guess Obama's desires to insult America and cozy up to strongmen outweighed his natural inclination to attack those helping us.

Posted by: DrewM at 10:22 AM | Comments (159)
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Government! There's nothing it can't do.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand proposed $1 billion in loans and grants Monday to help build 2,100 grocery stores in areas around the nation that lack access to fresh food.

Gillibrand said the measure would help about four million New York residents living in so-called food deserts by providing the funding for more than 350 stores statewide, many in low-income areas. Modeled on a similar program in Pennsylvania, the legislation would provide startup grants and loans in rural and urban areas to expand access to fresh food and to create jobs.

..."By building new grocery stores in underserved areas across the state we can give people the opportunity to live longer, healthier lives, save billions in health care costs, and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs," she said

As long as these new government underwritten stores sell Unicorn chow, I'm in.

I get that a billion dollars isn't even tip money in D.C. and this is just a proposal at this point but given the attention Michelle Obama has brought to these kinds of issues, I have no doubt it will be added on to some bill.

The idea that we should be subsidizing private companies to build stores is a wonderful illustration during tax week that those in government simply see no limits on their powers.

Here's a little information for Gillibrand, the reason there are no stores in these area is not because grocers hate poor people but because...there's no money to be made there. If this passes, rent seekers will grab their share of this government largess, open some stores (with plenty of smiling politicians on hand) and then with in a year or two, they will go out of business. Of course that will lead to a call for a bailout and continuing subsidies.

At some point we have to simply say no. This seems like as good a place as any to start.

Posted by: DrewM at 09:27 AM | Comments (271)
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Wow. 57/28

Its Game Over Charlie. Game. Fracking. Over. Party switch in 5...4...3...2...

Continuing recent trends, Ogabe's job approval has also sunk to a new low of 45% per the racist counter-revolutionary underground faux-pollster Gallup. I've been tipped that an assault team has been prep'ed and arrests are expected at the Gallup bunker any moment now.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 06:10 AM | Comments (312)
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Monday. Blargh.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:06 AM | Comments (80)
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Hi, Morons- many of you kept me company in the wee hours of the morning a couple of nights ago as Mrs. Tmi3rd was in labor. I'm proud to announce that tmi4th was born on April 10 at 5:04 CDT, and Mommy and Little Guy are doing quite well. At birth, he was 9 pounds 10 ounces (the sonograms were estimating 10 pounds 11 ounces) and 21 3/4 inches long (insert obvious length jokes here- Daddy's pretty proud of his little man). Attempted pics below the fold, as well as a somewhat extended thank-you note to the Morons... more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:54 PM | Comments (206)
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