Belief that country heading in right direction is at all-time low

* Story Highlights
* NEW: Only 16 percent think the country is headed in the right direction
* NEW: Three-quarters believe President-elect Obama will be a good president
* Over three-quarters, 76 percent, disapprove of President Bush
* Bush approval rating is lower than President Nixon’s after Watergate

WASHINGTON (CNN) — On the day that President-elect Barack Obama visited the White House, a new national poll illustrates the daunting challenges he faces when it becomes his home next year. Read more

Poll: 64 Percent Of Republicans Want Palin To Run In 2012

Rasmussen Reports, in a new poll published Friday, has some interesting data on how Republicans still have overwhelming positive feelings about Palin: Read more

Bloomberg: NYC Income Tax Could Rise 15 Percent

Mayor Says Promised Property Tax Rebate Is Off Table

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is going to cut the city work force by 3,000, but that’s just the beginning of the pain New Yorkers will feel as part of the fiscal crisis. A slew of new taxes are also on the agenda. Read more

Obama offers chief of staff job to Emanuel

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama chose Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel to be his White House chief of staff, his first selection for the new administration, Democratic officials said Wednesday. Read more

A record number of Jews in Washington?

Forget Mr. Smith - this year, Mr. Stein is going to Washington.

With an expected nationwide surge in Democratic turnout for Tuesday’s US presidential elections, the number of Jews elected to Congress may reach record-levels.

With Jewish candidates positioning to match the 2006 record of 30 House members and 13 senators, Democrats are hoping to capture at least four new House districts - including Alaska’s lone House seat, contested by would-be freshman Ethan Berkowitz, and another from the Phoenix area. Read more

California Cities Cut Police Budgets

Housing Downturn, Weak Economy Sap Revenues, Forcing Public-Safety Reductions

VALLEJO, Calif. — When the economic crisis deepened this fall, this city already was losing scores of police and firefighters because it could no longer afford the rich salaries and benefits it offered after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Now, with crime on the rise and tax revenue sinking, this San Francisco Bay area city faces more cuts in police and fire department budgets. Read more

‘Obamamania’ may assault Second Amendment, bring Fairness Doctrine

“Obamamania” having swept the nation through the anointing of Barack Obama by the liberal media and the money from likeminded socialists, it is, indeed, possible Obama will be our next president. Obama’s election will bring about an assault on many of our cherished American rights and freedoms. Read more

Gun sales thriving in uncertain times

Economic woes, fears that Dems will enact new controls drive increase

Americans have cut back on buying cars, furniture and clothes in a tough economy, but there’s one consumer item that’s still enjoying healthy sales: guns. Purchases of firearms and ammunition have risen 8 to 10 percent this year, according to state and federal data. Read more

Report hike in gun and ammunition sales

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 (UPI) — Experts say U.S. economic conditions and the presidential election are partly responsible for an increase in the sale of guns and ammunition this year.

Data supplied by federal and state government show sales of firearms up 8 to 10 percent in 2008, continuing a trend that began in 2006, The Washington Post reported Monday. Read more

Chicago Beats New York, Los Angeles In Murders

Police Supt. Jody Weis To Take Hot City Council Hot Seat

CHICAGO (CBS) - Chicago is the Second City in nickname and the third in population, but when it comes to murder, the city has the dubious distinction of being second to no city in America. Read more

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