Rasmussen Polls Shed Light on Reactions to U.S. Economic Intiatives

Rasmussen Reports

54% Say ‘No’ To All Bailouts

55% Say Government Mortgage Help Rewards Bad Behavior

Confidence in Stimulus Plan Drops Over Past Week

Iraq’s Abu Ghraib Prison, Renamed, Reopens

By Saif Tawfeeq | Reuters

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi officials on Saturday formally reopened Abu Ghraib prison, which became synonymous with abuse under the U.S. occupation, and in addition to a fresh coat of paint, gave it a new name.

The prison on the western outskirts of Baghdad earned global notoriety after U.S. jailkeepers filmed themselves tormenting and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners less than a year after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

The pictures sparked global anger and helped fuel a raging anti-U.S. insurgency in Iraq that killed tens of thousands of Iraqis and has only started to fade in the past year.

Renamed Baghdad Central Prison, it already has around 400 inmates, said prison director general Alsharif al-Murtadha Abdul al-Mutalib.

“The prison is officially open and we have received inmates. Hundreds are present,” Mutalib told a swarm of reporters and cameramen at a media open house at the prison …

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Where Are They Now? Bush’s Inner Circle.

Yahoo! News Blog

While many Americans are finding themselves looking for new jobs, maybe even new careers, there are some high-profile folks who are having to adjust to unemployment in the public eye. As Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton start to settle in to their gigs, what’s going on with the people they replaced?

George W. Bush

“I’m looking for a job,” George W. Bush told surprised employees and staff at Dallas’ Elliott’s Hardware. In a brilliant PR move, the store wrote an open letter to Bush that appeared in local papers, jokingly informing the former leader of the free world that they had an opening as a store greeter. Bush, known for his sense of humor, responded happily with patronage (and, of course, the entourage and press that comes with it).

Flashlights and batteries were on the shopping list that day, the former president told one employee, as he and wife Laura were just moving into their 8,500-square-foot Preston Hollow home — with neighbors like Mark Cuban and T. Boone Pickens. The former president was “nicer than any person you’d ever want to know,” one employee told a local TV station.

But Bush certainly has more on his mind than duct tape and paint chips. Don Evans, who served as his commerce secretary, told the Dallas Morning News:

“They’re adjusting quickly to this new life, to being out of the White House, and out of the proverbial bubble. … He’s got two or three really important priorities on his mind. One, he has to earn a living … so he’ll be on the speaking tour. He’s into writing his book. Thirdly is the importance of building the presidential center, particularly the [policy] institute” at SMU …

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PROMISES, PROMISES: Web Site Likely to Fall short

By PHILIP ELLIOTT | Associated Press

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama promised taxpayers they could track each of the billions and billions of dollars in spending Congress has approved to stimulate the nation’s flailing economy and save its banks. It’s a promise that’s going to be difficult, if not impossible, to keep.

Obama, whose presidential campaign harnessed technology to identify supporters and track voters, already has rewritten the rules on how technology can be used to shape public opinion. But as the president and his top aides attempt to turn that savvy into governing, they are finding that existing technology and regulations are making it difficult for them to keep their word.

“We’re actually going to set up something called Recovery.gov. This is going to be a special Web site we set up, that gives you a report on where the money is going in your community, how it’s being spent, how many jobs it’s being created so that all of you can be the eyes and ears,” Obama told an audience last week in Indiana.

“And if you see that a project is not working the way it’s supposed to, you’ll be able to get on that Web site and say, ‘You know, I thought this was supposed to be going to school construction, but I haven’t noticed any changes being made.’ And that will help us track how this money is being spent.”

Except that it didn’t work exactly as Obama suggested when the Web site went live Tuesday as Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus package into law …

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Public Support for Stimulus Package Still Strong

CQ Politics Poll Tracker

More than half of Americans favor Congress passing a roughly $800 billion stimulus package, says a USA Today /Gallup poll . Fifty-two percent of Americans interviewed Wednesday night are in favor; 38 percent are opposed. These figures are nearly identical to those measured in Gallup polling last week, right before passage of the bill in the House, and are also in line with public support in early January …

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