Newest Poll: Biden Approvals Plunge Yet Again!

The latest Reuters/Ipsos Poll has Biden's popularity falling yet again -- this time to a low of 38 percent. That's another three-point drop over last week.

This does not bode well for the Democrats. And there's more: when poll respondents this week were asked to rank the nation's biggest problems, the economy topped concerns, with a third of Republicans and a quarter of Democrats pointing to it as the top issue.

The economy is the one issue the Dems are trying to avoid at all costs as the Biden economy has been a veritable disaster with record high inflation, negative growth and a sluggish stock market. Yet, it remains far and above the biggest issue for likely voters.

'Shut It Down,' They Say, 'Shut It Down!'

Still don't believe Big Media are biased?
Watch this and pay close attention.
Because anti-Trump media censorship was caught on tape when Reuters ordered its cameraman to cut live footage of Trump receiving praise from African-American Bishop Wayne T. Jackson in Detroit.

China Laughs At Geithner

From James Pethokoukis at Reuters:
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday reassured the Chinese government that its huge holdings of dollar assets are safe and reaffirmed his faith in a strong U.S. currency. A major goal of Geithner's maiden visit to China as Treasury chief is to allay concerns that Washington's bulging budget deficit and ultra-loose monetary policy will fan inflation, undermining both the dollar and U.S. bonds. China is the biggest foreign owner of U.S. Treasury bonds. U.S. data shows that it held $768 billion in Treasuries as of March, but some analysts believe China's total U.S. dollar-denominated investments could be twice as high. "Chinese assets are very safe," Geithner said in response to a question after a speech at Peking University, where he studied Chinese as a student in the 1980s. His answer drew loud laughter from his student audience, reflecting scepticism in China about the wisdom of a developing country accumulating a vast stockpile of foreign reserves instead of spending the money to raise living standards at home.

'Cash For Clunkers' Advances

From Reuters:
President Barack Obama and Democratic lawmakers reached agreement on Tuesday on a legislative proposal designed to stimulate U.S. auto sales, which have fallen to near 30-year lows.
The one-year plan crafted by members of the U.S. House of Representatives would offer vouchers worth up to $4,500 for owners to replace their less fuel efficient vehicles for models that get better gas mileage.
The goal of the "cash for clunkers" legislation is to sell 1 million vehicles.
"By stimulating consumer demand for new vehicles, this proposal will directly benefit domestic autoworkers and automotive manufacturers, which have arguably been hardest hit by the current economic downturn," said Rep. John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat and staunch industry ally.
House Majority leader Steny Hoyer has embraced the proposal and said in an interview with Reuters in April that the measure would be acted upon quickly once proposed.

Obama 'Luck' May Vanish

Steve Holland at Reuters points to Obama's "unprecedented power" and personal popularity but wonders how long the President's good fortune will endure:

How long will his [Obama's] luck last?

With the U.S. economy reeling and millions of Americans without jobs, Obama has his work cut out for him. He has a long list of challenges, and spoke of them at a news conference this week.

"If you could tell me right now that, when I walked into this office that the banks were humming, that autos were selling, and that all you had to worry about was Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, getting healthcare passed, figuring out how to deal with energy independence, deal with Iran, and a pandemic flu, I would take that deal," Obama said.

Pollster John Zogby said that after his first 100 days, Obama now embarks on another weighty period in which Americans will want to see evidence that his $787 billion economic stimulus approved in February is working.

"I think by late June, they are going to have to start seeing some of these economic indicators stabilizing or at least some orange cones and hard hats out on the roads -- something that indicates either a stemming of the tide or some kind of progress," Zogby said.

Those who keenly watch the poll numbers also point out that while Obama is personally popular, some of the items on his agenda are less so.

"I think he will always stay personally popular," said Republican strategist Charlie Black, who was a senior adviser on Republican John McCain's presidential campaign last year. "But when you test the individual policies, a majority will tell you we're spending too much money."

"On the policy proposals the jury is out as to how popular they will be," he said.

That Controversial Handshake

From Steve Holland at Reuters:

What's in a handshake? The clasping of hands by President Barack Obama and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has set off a debate over what kind of signal Obama was sending.

To the White House, the friendly Obama-Chavez encounter at a weekend summit of Latin leaders was a sign of a new U.S. foreign policy aimed at improving relations around the world.

"It's unlikely that as a consequence of me shaking hands or having a polite conversation with Mr. Chavez that we are endangering the strategic interests of the United States," Obama said.

But to some of his critics, the handshake was a sign of American weakness.

"Everywhere in Latin America, enemies of America are going to use the picture of Chavez smiling and meeting with the president as proof that Chavez is now legitimate, that he's acceptable," Republican Newt Gingrich, a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, told NBC's "Today" show.

Obama and Chavez had two highly public encounters at the summit in Trinidad and Tobago -- a handshake, a chat and then later when Chavez gave Obama a book, "The Open Veins of Latin America," published in 1971 by Uruguayan Eduardo Galeano.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney, in an interview with the Fox News Channel, said Obama's encounters with both Chavez and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega were not helpful and "sets the wrong standard."

He accused Obama of taking an apologetic tone about past U.S. policy on his trips to Europe and Latin America.

"I think you have to be very careful. The world outside there, both our friends and our foes, will be quick to take advantage of a situation if they think they're dealing with a weak president or one who is not going to stand up and aggressively defend America's interests," Cheney said.

'O' Wants $$$, Voted 'No!'

From Reuters:
President Obama asked the U.S. Congress for an additional $83.4 billion to fund the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan on Thursday, saying the security situation along the Afghan-Pakistan frontier was urgent.
"The Taliban is resurgent and al Qaeda threatens America from its safe haven along the Afghan-Pakistan border," Obama said in a letter to Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, that was released by the White House.
Obama said 95 percent of the $83.4 billion in supplemental funds he was requesting would go to support U.S. military operations in Iraq and the U.S. effort to disrupt and defeat al Qaeda.

How Obama voted on war funding while he was in the Senate:
May 2007: Congress approved a roughly $100 billion spending measure to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and domestic projects, including hurricane relief. Obama voted no.
December 2007: Congress cleared a $555 billion catchall spending bill that included $70 billion for U.S. military action in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama did not vote.

Reuters Biased Mideast Coverage

From James Taranto in the Wall Street Journal:

"Jewish Settlers Rampage Through West Bank Village," reads the Reuters headline, but the story is rather less sensationalistic in describing what provoked the riot:

Dozens of Israelis from a Jewish settlement where a Palestinian killed a youth last week rampaged on Wednesday through a West Bank Arab village, smashing car windows and damaging homes, residents and medics said.

"Killed a youth"? You have to read all the way down to the eighth paragraph to get a more vivid description:

Last Thursday, a Palestinian wielding an axe killed a 13-year-old youngster and wounded a boy, aged seven, in Bat Ayin. The attacker, who was not identified, fled.

We wondered how Reuters covered that incident at the time, so we dug up this dispatch, whose headline is "Palestinians Kill Israeli in West Bank Settlement: Police"--a good deal more anodyne than the "rampage" one:

A Palestinian with an axe and a knife killed a 13-year-old Israeli boy and wounded a seven-year-old boy in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank on Thursday, two days after a right-wing government took power.

That would be a right-wing government in Israel. Apparently in Reuterville, taking an ax to the neighbor boys is a perfectly natural thing to do when they elect a right-wing government.

Obama, Church At Odds

From Phiip Pullella at Reuters:
President Barack Obama's lifting of restrictions on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research puts him at odds with Pope Benedict and the American Roman Catholic Church.
After Obama signed the order on Monday, the Vatican and U.S. Church leaders condemned the move. One commentator said the test of "a real democracy" was its defense of the most defenseless.
Obama's executive order reversed and repudiated restrictions placed on the research by his predecessor, George W. Bush, freeing labs across the country to start working with the cells, which can give rise to any kind of cell in the body.
Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' committee on pro-life activities, called Obama's decision "a sad victory of politics over science and ethics."
"This action is morally wrong because it encourages the destruction of innocent human life, treating vulnerable human beings as mere products to be harvested," he added.
The Catholic Church, other religious groups and pro-life advocates oppose such research . . . because it involves the destruction of embryos.
The Catholic Church supports adult stem cell research, which has made advances in recent years, because it does not involve the destruction of embryos.
An article in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano on Tuesday said "a real democracy" should be founded on protection of human dignity in every phase of its existence.
Separately, Osservatore's editor-in-chief Gian Maria Vian told an Italian newspaper that Obama "cannot claim a monopoly on being the Good Samaritan" by saying he supports embryonic stem cell research in order to help alleviate human suffering.
"Does that mean those who oppose embryonic stem cell research want to prolong human suffering?" Vian said.
Monsignor Elio Sgreccia, a leading Vatican bioethics specialist, told Italian media: "The motive for this decision should be seen in the pressure for profits."
After the ban was lifted on Monday, U.S. shares in stem cell research companies soared. Researchers said companies that had been afraid to test the waters would probably leap in now that federal dollars can be used.
The issue will most likely be a main topic at the first meeting between the pope and Obama, expected to take place in July when the president is in Italy for a G8 summit.
In 2001, the late Pope John Paul II urged Bush not to allow stem cell research.
Last year a Vatican bioethics document said the human embryo has "from the very beginning, the dignity proper to a person."

Hillary On Love, Privacy, Etc.

From Sue Pleming at Reuters:
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a sideshow to diplomacy, lamented on Saturday her fashion sense, divulged when she fell in love and shared how she dealt with personal struggles.
Appearing on a popular Turkish television chat show, Hadi Gel Bizimle (Come and Join Us), Clinton tackled a few diplomatic questions but the main focus was on her personal life, such as when she "last" fell in love.
"It was so long ago, with my husband," she told the studio audience, adding that she first met former President Bill Clinton in the spring of 1971 when they were at law school.
"We have been talking to each other and enjoying our life together ever since," she said. . . .
Asked what she missed most about private life, Clinton said it was shopping for herself and sitting around in pavement cafes, drinking coffee and "people-watching."
"I sacrificed a lot of my privacy, which I regret," she said, adding that the benefits of public service were huge.
"You can't have everything, you have to make some choices and I am very excited that I get a chance to serve my country in working with President Obama," she said.
But despite her love of shopping, Clinton said she did not have good fashion sense and often told her daughter Chelsea the "fashion gene" had skipped a generation when it came to the former first lady. . . .
Interviewers delicately asked Clinton to explain how she had dealt with bitter personal experiences, without mentioning a scandal involving Bill Clinton and a former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
"Oh, love! And forgiveness, and friendship, and family. You know, family, faith, friends are the core of my life and I don't know anybody whose life is smooth sailing," said Clinton. . . .

They Prefer Web To Lovers

From Reuters:
German twenty-somethings would ditch their spouses and do without a car in a heartbeat if they had to choose between having them or Internet access or a mobile phone, according to an industry study.
In a survey by German broadband association Bitkom around 84 percent of respondents aged 19-29 said they would rather do without their current partner or an automobile than forego their connection to the Web.
Living without a mobile phone was also unthinkable for 97 percent of those questioned in that age range.
Nevertheless, Bitkom president August-Wilhelm Scheer said on Monday in Hanover that did not mean that "the Web is an anonymous medium that leads to social indifference."
One of the main themes at this year's annual tech trade fair CeBit in Hanover is what the organizers have dubbed "Webciety," short for WorldWideWeb society.
Bitkom said 1,000 people had taken part in the survey, and one in two people said they had made new friends thanks to chat forums and Internet communities. Around 8 percent said they had found a new partner thanks to online relations.
"The Web creates real relationships and does not result in autism and dehumanization," said Scheer, who admitted he gets nervous when he does not have Internet access while on vacation.