By Gary L. Bauer
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. The latest
New York Times/CBS poll suggests Americans are not happy with the state of our union. According to the poll
just 29 of those surveyed said America was headed on the right track. Not surprisingly the economy was the most important issue to those surveyed and they arent happy about it either.
Only 22 rated current economic conditions as good while 75 said they were bad. And they are not very hopeful. Thirty percent felt the economy was improving but 24 said it was getting worse and 44 said it was about the same.
Just 20 said they were better off today than they were four years ago. But 37 said they were worse off today and 43 said they were about the same. Thats 80 of the country saying they are no better or worse off since the 2008 financial collapse. But Washington has added $5 trillion to our debt to spend us out of it. How can 80 of the public think they are no better and in some cases worse off?
About That Mandate
Liberal politicians and their media allies are convinced that they have found a wedge issue in the contraception mandate. They are hoping they can buy off female voters with the promise of free contraception no matter what the damage may be to religious liberty and the First Amendment from forcing religious institutions to pay for abortion-inducing drugs.
But is the left really winning this fight? The pollsters at the
New York Times and
CBS wanted to know so they asked a few questions about the contraception mandate in their latest poll. Heres what they found:
- ·Only 40 of those surveyed supported a mandate forcing employers to cover contraception in their health care plans while 51 said employers should be allowed to opt out of such coverage.
- ·When asked whether religious employers like Catholic hospitals or universities should be forced to provide contraception coverage only 36 said yes while 57 said they should be allowed to opt out.
Just 36 of Americans support the position that would have Big Government forcing religious institutions to violate their core values. Unfortunately two weeks ago a majority of United States senators voted against 57 of the country and for this extreme position.
Red Tape Rising
A new report from the Heritage Foundation underscores complaints from the Chamber of Commerce and small business owners that Washington is choking economic growth with reams of red tape. According to Heritage in the past three years a total of 106 new major regulations have been imposed at a cost of more than $46 billion annually and nearly $11 billion in one-time implementation costs. This amount is about five times the cost imposed by the prior Administration of George W. Bush.
And despite promises to roll back regulations that have a chilling effect on jobs and growth Heritage warns that the regulatory tsunami is just getting started. ObamaCare doesnt kick in until 2014 Dodd-Frank has yet to be fully implemented and the EPA is on a jihad against carbon emissions attempting to enforce cap and trade by regulation.
The Latest Mortgage Mess
A month ago I wrote that the much-hyped mortgage deal with the big banks would likely backfire. Today
CNNMoney featured a story headlined: Rage Grows Over Mortgage Deal. Consider this excerpt:
As more details emerge about the massive $26 billion foreclosure settlement between the five biggest mortgage lenders and the states attorneys general a growing number of borrowers are realizing that the deal will do little if anything to help them out. …
For the homeowners who bought responsibly and made their payments faithfully the real inequity comes in the fact that their tax dollars are paying for government-funded programs to prevent foreclosures while irresponsible borrowers accrue the benefits like the ones offered in the settlement.
