Temperament: A+

Foreign Policy: Incomplete

Domestic Policy: D

Why?

Not because of unemployment, not because of the economy, not because of the war in Afghanistan.

No. They’re meeting to discuss the one agenda item that’s lowest on the list of most Americans…

ObamaCare!

“WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will huddle with Senate Democrats on Sunday in a special meeting to discuss health-care legislation.”

“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) has kept the Senate in a rare weekend session as senators try to complete work on a health-care bill before Christmas.”

“President Obama will meet with the full Democratic caucus at 2 p.m. EST Sunday, a spokesman for Sen. Reid said.”

“On Saturday evening, Senate Republicans forced Democrats to vote in favor of cutting billions from providers of home care for older people as partisan debate flared.”

“Democrats were meeting behind closed doors to try to reach agreement on how to structure a government-sponsored insurance option, one of the most controversial issues for Democrats in the debate. Mr. Reid has asked a group of 10 Senate Democrats to try to strike a compromise on the issue. The group includes proponents of a strong public plan like Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D., W.Va.) and Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio), and senators pushing for a more limited version including Sens. Tom Carper (D., Del.) and Mark Pryor (D., Ark.).”

“Several centrist Democrats have said they will not support the version that is in the bill now pending before the Senate. That public plan reimburses based on rates negotiated with health-care providers, and allows states that do not want to participate to opt out.”

Let the free market be free.

The vast majority of the people in the Obama Administration who are trying to fix it have never had a private sector job. If you needed surgery, would you want the operation to be done by someone who specializes in writing academic medical textbooks?

“A friend sends along the following chart from a J.P. Morgan research report. It examines the prior private sector experience of the cabinet officials since 1900 that one might expect a president to turn to in seeking advice about helping the economy. It includes secretaries of State, Commerce, Treasury, Agriculture, Interior, Labor, Transportation, Energy, and Housing & Urban Development, and excludes Postmaster General, Navy, War, Health, Education & Welfare, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security—432 cabinet members in all.”

Yesterday, Rasmussen Reports sent out the grim word on Obama’s lowest approval index so far. -15

“The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 27% of the nation’s voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-two percent (42%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -15. This is the lowest Approval Index rating yet measured for President Obama.”

Now USA Today is noting Obama’s fall in the polls based on his dithering over Afghanistan.

“WASHINGTON — Public approval of President Obama’s handling of the war in Afghanistan has plummeted, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, amid rising pessimism about the course of the conflict.”

“The nation is divided over what to do next: Nearly half of those surveyed endorse deploying thousands of additional U.S. troops, while four in 10 say it’s time to begin withdrawing forces.”

“The mixed picture comes as the president weighs a request from the top U.S. commander for about 40,000 more troops. Obama said Tuesday he would announce his decision after Thanksgiving.”

Below is the picture that accompanies the USA Today article. Notice Obama is no longer positioned to look like he has a halo. Coincidence?

The German paper Der Spiegel took the opportunity to smack Obama around a little bit today noting that “His Nice Guy Act is Getting Him Nowhere.”

“When he entered office, US President Barack Obama promised to inject US foreign policy with a new tone of respect and diplomacy. His recent trip to Asia, however, showed that it’s not working. A shift to Bush-style bluntness may be coming.”

“Barack Obama looked tired on Thursday, as he stood in the Blue House in Seoul, the official residence of the South Korean president. He also seemed irritable and even slightly forlorn. The CNN cameras had already been set up. But then Obama decided not to play along, and not to answer the question he had already been asked several times on his trip: what did he plan to take home with him? Instead, he simply said “thank you, guys,” and disappeared. David Axelrod, senior advisor to the president, fielded the journalists’ questions in the hallway of the Blue House instead, telling them that the public’s expectations had been “too high.”

“Upon taking office, Obama said that he wanted to listen to the world, promising respect instead of arrogance. But Obama’s currency isn’t as strong as he had believed. Everyone wants respect, but hardly anyone is willing to pay for it. Interests, not emotions, dominate the world of realpolitik. The Asia trip revealed the limits of Washington’s new foreign policy: Although Obama did not lose face in China and Japan, he did appear to have lost some of his initial stature.”

Meanwhile, Andrew Malcolm at the Los Angeles Times notes that the approval gap between Obama and Palin continues to shrink…

“Not that it matters politically because obviously she’s a female Republican dunce and he’s obviously a male Democrat genius.”

“But Sarah Palin’s poll numbers are strengthening.”

“And President Obama’s are sliding.”

“Guess what? They’re about to meet in the 40s.”

“Depending, of course, on which recent set of numbers you peruse and how the questions are phrased, 307 days into his allotted 1,461 the 44th president’s approval rating among Americans has slid to 49% or 48%, showing no popularity bounce from his many happy trips, foreign and domestic.”

“Riding the wave of immense publicity and symbiotic media interest over her new book, “Going Rogue,” and the accompanying promotional tour, Palin’s favorable ratings are now at 43%, according to ABC. That’s up from 40% in July.”

“One poll even gives her a 47% favorable.”

Governor Phil McCrackin (D) of the great state of New Dakota, says President Obama’s stimulus plan is working and has created thousands of new jobs for his state, particularly in the capital city of Fantasia which sits on the border of neighbor state, Old Hampshire.

ABC Reports similar findings in other areas:

“Here’s a stimulus success story: In Arizona’s 15th congressional district, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. At least that’s what the Web site set up by the Obama administration to track the $787 billion stimulus says.”

“There’s one problem, though: There is no 15th congressional district in Arizona; the state has only eight districts.”

“And ABC News has found many more entries for projects like this in places that are incorrectly identified.”

“Late Monday, officials with the Recovery Board created to track the stimulus spending, said the mistakes in crediting nonexistent congressional districts were caused by human error.”

Positive reports on job creation through the stimulus bill are expected later this week from the states of Noregon, New Connecticut, South Wyoming and Westconsin.

Hopefully, everyone’s up for it because that’s exactly what we’ve got…

“It’s another record-high for the U.S. National Debt which today topped the $12-trillion mark. Divided evenly among the U.S. population, it amounts to $38,974.34 for every man, woman and child.”

“Technically, the debt hit the new high yesterday, but it was posted on the Treasury Department website just after 3:00 p.m. ET today. The exact calculation of the debt is a 16-digit tongue-twister and red-ink tsunami: $12,031,299,186,290.07″

Anyone care to explain to me how we can afford ObamaCare?

Anyone?

(crickets)

I’m just asking…

S.E. Cupp and Kimberly Guilfoyle appeared on Hannity last night to discuss Obama, unemployment, bailouts and more.

The economy is tanking, unemployment has reached 10.2 percent and General McChrystal continues to wait for an answer on his request for additional troops in Afghanistan, yet the House Democrats convened a special Saturday night session to pass ObamaCare.

All of this is outrageous enough on its own. What’s worse? President Obama used the murder of American soldiers at Fort Hood to rally Democrats to vote for ObamaCare.

“President Obama invoked the Fort Hood shootings in an emotional appeal to Democrats to pass health care reform today, contrasting the sacrifices of soldiers with political positioning.”

“The impassioned pitch to the entire Democratic caucus came hours before the House vote tonight on the signature issue of Obama’s presidency, with Democratic leaders struggling to keep members from conservative districts on board.”

“He was absolutely inspiring. In a very moving way, he reminded us what sacrifice really is,” said New Jersey Rep. Rob Andrews, estimating the persuader-in-chief turned several votes.”

“Sacrifice is not casting a vote that might lose an election for you; it is the sacrifice that someone makes when they wear the uniform of this country and that unfortunately a number of people made this week,” said Andrews.”

Ann Althouse summarizes this perfectly:

“I’m trying to imagine the political environment that Washington Democrats occupy. A President glibly lays out that analogy, and it is received — without any wincing or taint of disgust — as awesome inspiration. These are the minds that will be making decisions for us for quite a while.”

Big hat tip to Dan Riehl.