A honeymoon ended


The Barack Obama honeymoon has clearly ended. The daily American Gallup poll shows the presidential approval rating is now below 50%:
091203obamaaprovalrating
And if Kevin Rudd thinks the Australian Senate gives him a hard time, he should spare a thought for his American mate. The Democrats made the introduction of a national health insurance scheme with a government funded safety net the key element of its election campaign but the US Senate so far is not having a bar of it. At the Intrade prediction market this morning the probability of legislation being passed before the end of the year was put as low as 3.3% with things not looking that much better about success next year. A federal government run health insurance plan to be approved before midnight USET 31 Mar 2010 was assessed as a 12% chance and by 30 June as 15%.

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