One of the best ways to see what the general public is feeling about how things are going is to ask them! That is, precisely, what the Harris Poll does. The Harris Consumer Confidence Poll has been done every quarter, of every year, for decades and decades. That poll is nearly off the charts for how much confidence people are having in the current administration compared to the past, even compared to a magical 100 rating. Here is a summary of that Harris Poll, from a couple of days ago:

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® Improves Again
26 Aug. 2014
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had increased in July, improved further in August. The Index now stands at 92.4 (1985=100), up from 90.3 in July. The Present Situation Index increased to 94.6 from 87.9, while the Expectations Index edged down to 90.9 from 91.9 in July.
The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey®, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was August 14.
Says Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board: “Consumer confidence increased for the fourth consecutive month as improving business conditions and robust job growth helped boost consumers’ spirits. Looking ahead, consumers were marginally less optimistic about the short-term outlook compared to July, primarily due to concerns about their earnings. Overall, however, they remain quite positive about the short-term outlooks for the economy and labor market.”
Consumers’ appraisal of current conditions continued to improve through August.
The Source:
August 2014 Consumer Confidence Survey®
The Conference Board
This shouldn't be so surprising, as Democratic Presidential administrations, going back to 1947, have always done better than Republican administrations.

FIREWORKS AT THE MINNESOTA STATE FAIR! ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,We plan to visit the MN State Fair again this year. It sounds like one must stop should be the Republican State Fair Booth! The fireworks at the GOP booth continues. In recent years past, it has been Former Republican Senator Rudy Boschowitz, Former Republican Senator David Durenburger, Former Republican Governor Arnie Carlson, and former Former Republican Governor Elmer L. Anderson who were uninvited to their own Minnesota State Fair Booth or their own Republican State Convention. The Republican Party, as it is today, is a far cry from what it once was. They have become a wing of the Tea Party/FOX Party. In Minnesota history, 25 or our governors have been from the Republican Party compared to only 6 for the Democratic Party but the new Republican Party is such a right wing faction of what it used to be! You can bet your money that indicted U.S. Congresswoman, Michelle Bachman, is more than welcome in the Republican MN State Fair Booth! Fireworks at the Minnesota State Fair is something you won't want to miss!

THIS YEAR IN FAIR POLITICS: GOP vs. GOP
By Don Davis Today August 22nd, 2014
ST. PAUL — Political challengers proposed debating incumbents. Incumbents pared down the challengers’ lists. The governor sat motionless as two buckets of ice were dumped on him.

It was a typical opening day at the Great Minnesota (Political) Get-Together, except, that is, that the State Fair also featured Republican officials banning their endorsed Supreme Court candidate from the party’s fair booth.

Michelle MacDonald tried twice to get into the booth, between a radio station’s remote studio and the 99-year-old Ye Old Mill ride.

MacDonald had announced her plans to campaign at the fair booth each day of the fair, but two volunteer security guards greeted her and tried to keep her out of the booth. Elected party officials, including chairman Keith Downey, were not there.

While she eventually was allowed in twice, it was just to look briefly, not to campaign.

MacDonald said Downey told her of the decision by party officials Wednesday to ban her, but she said those officials have a duty to either support their endorsed candidates or resign from party leadership.

The ban came a month before MacDonald faces a trial on a drunken-driving charge and after being ticketed this month on a charge of violating her limited driver’s license.

Michael Brodkorb of politics.mn, a former GOP official, reported that one Republican Executive Council member said the panel would “fully support” MacDonald being arrested if she attempts to enter the Republican Party booth.

She was not arrested Thursday, although law enforcement officers were nearby.

MacDonald told Forum News Service that she plans to return to the booth each day.

Republicans meeting in Rochester, Minn., this spring overwhelmingly endorsed MacDonald to challenge Justice David Lillehaug, who Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton appointed to the high court.

Sen. Scott Newman of Hutchinson, who Republicans nominated for attorney general, announced Thursday that he will support Lillehaug instead of MacDonald.

Longtime politics-at-the-fair observers said they never have seen anything like the MacDonald incident.

More traditional fair politics were also plentiful, especially debates about debates. Fireworks are in the air!

So, economically, how are things going? GREAT!....if you are in the right group!

ON THIS DAY, IN 1776,NEWS REACHES LONDON THAT AMERICAS HAD DRAFTED THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE! It was a declaration of WE THE PEOPLE!
Until the Declaration of Independence formally transformed the 13 British colonies into states, both Americans and the British saw the conflict centered in Massachusetts as a local uprising within the British empire. To King George III, it was a colonial rebellion, and to the Americans, it was a struggle for their rights as British citizens. However, when Parliament continued to oppose any reform and remained unwilling to negotiate with the American rebels and instead hired Hessians, German mercenaries, to help the British army crush the rebellion, the Continental Congress began to pass measures abolishing British authority in the colonies.
THE WORDS "CORPORATION" AND "CORPORATIONS" WERE INTENTIONALLY LEFT OUT OF THE DOCUMENT. CORPORATIONS WERE NOT TO BE CONSIDERED AS PEOPLE AND CORPORATE MONEY WAS NOT SPEECH!

They now control most all of our media as well! They know how to use advertising to keep the factions of the public fighting against one another, leaving themselves to continue their takeover of our country!

The above post is correct but the image is wrong.  Corporation, and corporations were intentionally left out of both documents! While we are on the topic: ________________________________________

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND THE CONSTITUTION! By Jefferson and Madison

The Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and outlined the reasons why the colonies were seeking independence from Great Britain. The document was written by Thomas Jefferson at the suggestion of the other members of the Continental Congress. He wrote the draft in June of 1776, and his fellow committee members made changes in wording and added additional charges against King George III of England. The document listed the "self-evident truths" and "unalienable rights" of Americans that Thomas Jefferson based on the philosophy of John Locke, and it provided the reasons why the colonies are seeking independence.

The Constitution was written in 1787 and ratified by the 13 states in March of 1789. The Constitution served as the fundamental law of the United States and established the foundation for a republican form of government with three separate branches: the judicial, executive and legislative. The Constitution was influenced by the United States' experience under the Articles of Confederation which was the country's first written constitution. Individual states had been granted too many rights, weakening the federal government. The Constitution strengthened the central government while still maintaining individual liberties. The first ten amendments to the constitution are known as the Bill of Rights, and they became part of the Constitution on December 15, 1791. The Bill of Rights guarantees Americans the rights to freedom of speech, assembly and religion, among others. Corporations are not people! Corporate money is not speech!

What could they do?
How about immigration reform and dealing with the problem of forcing our best, and brightest students to deal with predatory lenders to cover for their astronomical student loans? How about highway and bridge maintenance? Can they do nothing to help better care for our Veterans? Shouldn't campaign finance reform, at least, be discussed? Congress could do SOMETHING about Global Climate Change. Congress could do SOMETHING about the takeover of our government by multi-international corporations! They could quite paving the way for multi-international corporations to dominate everything that used to be controlled by The People. Doing nothing about Citizens United, giving muti-international corporate money the same legal definition as our speech and the corporation the same rights as a person, has resulted in a government takeover, giving corporations the ability to control our economy, our courts, our environment, our media, our prison system, our military system and our ballot boxes.

“In a country as wealthy as the United States, all workers should be able to afford stable housing, healthy food, quality education, and health care. It is also an economic imperative to support our workers if we want to remain competitive globally and boost our economy.
This means increasing wages and labor protections so that every worker, in every industry, can support a family, build assets, and plan for retirement. It also means ensuring that today's workers--and tomorrow's--have opportunities to gain the education, skills, and training needed to move up at work, and become a part of the middle class.
From All-In Nation, here are six things that President Obama and Congress can do right now to put us on the path to economic equity and inclusion:
1. Guarantee Domestic Workers Basic Wage and Labor Protections. Nearly two years ago, President Obama pledged to extend basic workplace rights to our country's 1.8 million domestic workers. While new rules from the Department of Labor extending minimum wage and other basic workplace protections to in-home caregivers have been proposed, they have yet to be finalized.

2. Do Business Only with Companies that Pay Good Wages and Offer Benefits.Every year the federal government spends more than $500 billion on goods and services.

3. Increase the Minimum Wage. As Christian Weller, Julie Ajinkya, and Sarah Treuhaft write in All-In Nation, "raising the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 would put $51.5 billion annually in the pockets of affected workers, who are disproportionately people of color, and would create approximately 140,000 new jobs every year." President Obama and Congress have both an economic and moral incentive to make this happen as soon as possible.

4. Train Low-Income Youth and Adults for Good Jobs in High-Growth Industries.Congress should pass the Pathways Back to Work bills proposed by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Rep. George Miller (D-CA), which would prepare hundreds of thousands of low-income youth and adults for quality jobs in high-growth industries.

5. Strengthen Community Colleges. The Obama Administration and Congress should enact policies like the Community College to Career Fund proposed in President Obama's FY 2013 budget that would train 2 million workers for well-paid jobs in high-demand sectors.

These steps would be a good start to creating an all-in nation and fostering an inclusive, vibrant economy.”
________________________________________
Angela Glover Blackwell is the founder and CEO of PolicyLink.

Actually, they have had time to do some things besides raising money to get re-elected!

WHAT IS THE "WE THE PEOPLE/MOVE TO AMEND" MOVEMENT?
by Virg Boehland (As printed in the June 18th, 2014 Duluth Reader Weekly)
THE "WE THE PEOPLE- MOVE TO AMEND" amendment is a proposal to get 2/3 of the states, individually, to request our federal government to return the power back to the people.
The Move To Amend movement is a grassroots, multi-partisan, movement that has multiple volunteer organizations in every state. Minnesota, for example, has groups in Duluth, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Rochester, and Grand Rapids. Seventeen states have already passed legislation to amend our United States Constitution; the proposal passed the Minnesota Senate during the 2013 legislative session, but came up just a few votes short in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Governor Mark Dayton, in the past, has indicated his support. Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, and Green Party members alike support the "We the People/Move To Amend" amendment. Republican, Newt Gingrich dislike the super-PAC's that are now in control. Ronald Reagan Economic Advisor, David Stockman believes corporate personhood must go. 154 other leading Republicans have supported the elimination of Citizens United. Republican appointed, Justice John Paul Stevens is working to overturn the courts Citizens United decision and John McCain says that Citizens United is the worst Supreme Court decision ever! They join leading Democrats, including President Obama, on this issue. President Obama says that Citizens United is the worst Supreme Court decision in decades and all agree that corporate personhood must go.

WHAT IS THE SPECIFIC WORD OF THE WE THE PEOPLE/MOVE TO AMEND amendment?
(The following is from the national Move To Amend Website)
“Move to Amend’s “We the People” Amendment:
Section 1. [Artificial Entities Such as Corporations Do Not Have Constitutional Rights]
The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons only. Artificial entities established by the laws of any State, the United States, or any foreign state shall have no rights under this Constitution and are subject to regulation by the People, through Federal, State, or local law. The privileges of artificial entities shall be determined by the People, through Federal, State, or local law, and shall not be construed to be inherent or inalienable.
Section 2. [Money is Not Free Speech]
Federal, State, and local government shall regulate, limit, or prohibit contributions and expenditures, including a candidate’s own contributions and expenditures, to ensure that all citizens, regardless of their economic status, have access to the political process, and that no person gains, as a result of their money, substantially more access or ability to influence in any way the election of any candidate for public office or any ballot measure. Federal, State, and local government shall require that any permissible contributions and expenditures be publicly disclosed.”

WHAT IS CORPORATE PERSONHOOD AND WHAT IS WRONG WITH IT?
“Corporate personhood” commonly refers to the Supreme Court-created precedent of mega- corporations enjoying constitutional rights that were intended solely for human beings. Move To Amend believes this form of “corporate personhood” corrupts our Constitution and must be corrected by amending the Constitution. Many corporations are the backbone of our country. Not all abuse the power they have achieved. Unfortunately, too often the things that keep a person alive, clean air, clean water, and healthy food are the very things that are contaminated in order for some corporations to live. Too often those things harm, and kill people. In those situations, multi-international corporations are the opposite of people. Neither the Declaration of Independence nor the United States Constitution ever mention corporations, nor a corporation, and were intentionally left out of our United States Constitution by our Founding Fathers. Corporations, as we know them today, were illegal for over 100 years after our American Revolution. But thanks to decades of rulings by Justices who molded the law to favor elite interests, corporations today are granted so-called “rights” that empower them to deny citizens the right to full self-governance.
Justices since have struck down hundreds of local, state and federal laws enacted to protect people from corporate harm based on this illegitimate premise. Armed with these “rights,” multi international corporations wield ever-increasing control over jobs, the ballot box, our environment, politicians, even control of judges, and the law.
Move To Amend believes corporations are not persons and possess only the privileges citizens and their elected representatives willfully grant them. The “We the People” Amendment will reverse the Court’s invention of “corporate personhood” and limit corporations to their proper role: doing business.
How did multi-international corporations achieve corporate personhood?
It is only through the court system that the best lawyers, and the best lobbyists, in the world have managed, through Supreme Court decisions such as the 2010 Citizens United, to achieve corporate personhood. According to the First Amendment of our United States Constitution, the judiciary shall not construe the spending of money to influence elections to be speech.

WHY ALL OF THIS TALK ABOUT DEMOCRACY? ISN'T THE UNITED STATES A REPUBLIC?
According to the national Move To Amend website, our use of the term “democracy” is shorthand for what is technically our political system - a democratic republic with direct election by citizens of other citizens to represent us, We the People. “Democracy” accurately describes, however, the direct ability and power of citizens through education, advocacy and organizing to influence other citizens, the media and elected officials through organizations, campaigns and social movements.
“Democracy” is also an accurate description of the several ways We the People in many states directly govern and bypass elected representatives. These include the initiative, referendum and recall - the power of citizens to create laws, reverse laws and remove elected representatives.
Whether democracy, republic, or democratic republic, they (and we) are all effectively weakened when corporations possess inalienable constitutional rights to influence public opinion, shape public laws, mold public officials and intimidate public communities.

WHY IS THE WE THE PEOPLE/MOVE TO AMEND AMENDMENT IMPORTANT TO US?
Every time multi-international corporations gain more control over our elections, ever time they gain more control over delivering the message that can be used to control the citizens, every time they write and pass legislation favorable to their efforts without the population knowing where that money comes from, the people lose more, and more of their control over their country. “We the people” is becoming “We the multi-international corporations. When it takes 25+ million dollars for candidates to run their political campaigns, as was the case in the District 8 House of Representatives seat for Northern Minnesota two years ago, the individuals ability to control who gets elected is diminished. Corporate interests are drowning out the people’s voices, the people’s votes.https://movetoamend.org/