cbs news

A majority of people are against the handling of the debt crisis on the part of every party, but the vast majority disapprove of the way the Republicans are handling the issue than anyone else a CBS News poll finds.

This really comes as no surprise given the melodramatic way GOP leaders like Eric Cantor have acted during the talks. On top of that, the GOP has constantly changed their goal posts. It's becoming more and more obvious that the right is playing politics with this issue while ignoring the financial security of our nation.

So what will happen if the negotiations fail and we don't raise the debt limit? My guess is that the GOP will way dearly for it and the best way to make sure of that is for the Democrats to pounce on it. They don't need to spin or stretch the truth. Just remind the American people of some simple facts:

CBS News hired an outside expert group to estimate the size of the crowd at yesterday’s ‘Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear’. Using aerial photos, the company has estimated the crowd at around 215,000.

CBS also used the same company to estimate the size of Beck’s rally in August. Using the same techniques, the company estimated the size of that crowd at 87,000.

So the answer to the question; How many Beck Rallies can you fit in a Sanity Rally? Almost 2.5.

From CBS:

It may be the most disturbing site yet: the first heavy sludge now oozing into the marshes of Louisiana as the slick continues to grow in size out in the gulf.

CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella reports it's an ominous sight. The oil is thick and black and stretches about a quarter mile down a beach. It goes beyond the booms into the sensitive marsh lands which are home to migratory birds.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal flew over it Tuesday.

"This wasn't just sheen, we were seeing heavy oil out there," Jindal said. "This wasn't just tar balls. It shows you how quick the oil showed up."

These are the same marshes that provide a barrier of protection against hurricanes.

Then there is this little tidbit:

Also on Tuesday, nearly two dozen tar balls were found off Key West, Fla., the U.S. Coast Guard said, but the agency stopped short of saying whether they came from the massive oil spill.

Isn’t BP just the greatest?

Yesterday morning Joe Scarborough was providing us with his infinite wisdom by declaring that Americans are mad because their taxes have gone up so much under Obama. Imagine how shocked I am to find out Scarborough is wrong about the tax issue:

According to a recent CBS News/New York Times poll, the vast majority of Americans do not perceive that they have received a tax cut from President Obama. Asked if the President “has already raised taxes this past year,” 53 percent of those polled said that the President has “kept taxes the same,” and 24 percent think that the President has “raised taxes.” A mere 12 percent believe that the President has cut their taxes.

This is an astonishing level of misunderstanding. The truth is that the major tax cuts enacted in the 2009 economic stimulus bill actually reduced federal income taxes for tax year 2009 for 98 percent of all working families and individuals. These tax cuts saved working families and individuals an average of $1,158 on the tax returns they will file by April 15. (The median tax cut was approximately $600.) [emphasis in original]

First off only 24% of Americans actually thought their taxes went up. Kind of hard to declare that as all Americans – isn’t it Joe? But more importantly is the fact that 98% of Americans have seen their tax burden reduced. So does that mean that Joe Scarborough only considers the top 2% all Americans, or is he just simply trying to repeat failed GOP/Tea Party lies? Let me know what you think.

It looks like action is starting to happen in regards to AIG. Of course Cuomo is leading the way:

New York state's attorney general joined the growing list of those angered by news of American International Group's bonuses, and wants to have details on his desk this afternoon about who is getting it rewarded.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo says his office will investigate whether recipients of the payments were involved in the insurance giant's decline and whether the payments are fraudulent under state law.

In a letter to CEO Edward Liddy, Cuomo said he's been investigating AIG compensation arrangements since last fall and would issue subpoenas at 4 p.m. EST Monday if he didn't get the names of employees scheduled for bonuses plus information about their work and contracts.

Yes! And our President is also pissed about it:

Earlier Monday, President Barack Obama said he's asked Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to pursue "every single legal avenue" to block the payouts.

"Under these circumstances, it's hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165 million in extra pay," the president said. "How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?"

The Obama administration is looking for ways to recoup at least some of the money reports CBS News correspondent Peter Maer.

Now that is action – start getting money back from these crooks.

The schedule for debates has been released, along with the moderators:

First presidential debate
Friday, September 26
The University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss.
Jim Lehrer
Executive Editor and Anchor, The NewsHour, PBS

Vice presidential debate
Thursday, October 2
Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.
Gwen Ifill
Senior Correspondent, The NewsHour, and Moderator and Managing Editor, Washington Week, PBS

Second presidential debate (town meeting)
Tuesday, October 7
Belmont University, Nashville, Tenn.
Tom Brokaw
Special Correspondent, NBC News

Third presidential debate
Wednesday, October 15
Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y.
Bob Schieffer
CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent, and Host, Face the Nation

I don't see any moderator there to really get excited about. What I do find interesting is that every debate is this side of the Mississippi (well the VP debate could be the other side, but by only a mile or two). Also 75% of the debates are in the south. Wouldn't it be nice if the rest of the country could have debates closer to home? We are looking at three of these debates being held in red states. That should help slant the crowd towards McCain.

Here's a map showing the location of the three southern debates. They aren't even spread that far out in the south:

I do have all the dates located on the events page and located in the sidebar.

Lanny Davis posted a blog on The Hill today entitled:

Recent Polling Data Show Serious Concerns About Sen. Obama’s ‘Electability’ Over Sen. McCain vs. Sen. Clinton’s (Lanny Davis)

Very interesting. I saw that and thought there was a bunch of polls I missed. Quickly I went to Real Clear Politics and looked at the recent head to head polls:

That is Bush's latest approval rating according to a new New York Times/CBS poll. Most damage is also coming from within his own party now:

In the months since the Congressional elections, President Bush has lost substantial support among members of his own party, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.

Mr. Bush’s approval rating dropped 13 percentage points since last fall among Republicans, 65 percent of whom now say they approve of the way he is handling his job as president, compared with 78 percent last October.

OUCH. It took them awhile to wake up to the fact that Bush has been a lame duck since he took office in 2001. He had that bump during 9/11, but even Charles Manson could have had a decent approval rating then.

Lately Bush has been pushing healthcare in his radio addresses. Funny that his least exposed form of speaking gets this push, but the American people still aren't buying his spin.

Only 24 percent said they were satisfied with President Bush’s handling of the health insurance issue, despite his recent initiatives, and 62 percent said the Democrats were more likely to improve the health care system.

Americans showed a striking willingness in the poll to make tradeoffs to guarantee health insurance for all, including paying as much as $500 more in taxes a year and forgoing future tax cuts.