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Fox News Poll: Despite economic gains, many Americans just getting by

Sure, things are much better. Just not for me. 
That’s how many American voters view the economy, according to the latest Fox News poll. 
The number saying the country is still in a recession is down more than 20 percentage points since 2010. Yet the number saying their family is “falling behind” financially is the same. And while more people are getting ahead -- the largest portion is still just getting by.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE POLL RESULTS
In 2010, an overwhelming 88 percent felt the country was in a recession. That’s down to 65 percent in the new poll, released Wednesday. That includes 37 percent who also think things are getting better and 28 percent who say things could get worse. 
The one-third (33 percent) who says the recession is over includes 18 percent who feel another could be coming. An optimistic 15 percent believe both the recession is completely over and the economy is recovering. That was three percent in 2010.
Republicans (42 percent) are much more likely than Democrats (13 percent) to think the country is still in a recession and things could get worse. 
When asked about their family’s finances, 31 percent say they are getting ahead. While still a minority, that’s up from 24 percent in 2013 and 27 percent in September 2009 (in the first year of President Obama’s first term).
Today about half -- 49 percent -- say they are “just able to pay most bills,” down from 54 percent in 2009.
Eighteen percent say they’re “falling behind.” It was 17 percent in 2009. 
Voters living in households with annual income over $50,000 are twice as likely as those with lower incomes to say they are getting ahead (42 percent vs. 20 percent).
Meanwhile, more voters are giving President Obama a thumbs-up on the economy: 46 percent approve of the job he’s doing, while 50 percent disapprove. In December, just two months ago, he was underwater by 12 points (43-55 percent). His all-time low rating on the economy came in August 2011 when 34 percent of voters approved and 62 percent disapproved. 
The president’s overall rating stands at 45 percent approval vs. 49 percent disapproval. This is the first time since August disapproval of Obama’s job performance has been below 50 percent. It was 42-52 percent a month ago (January 11-13, 2015). 
Obama’s recently-proposed federal budget includes new spending on infrastructure as well as domestic programs -- plus a pay raise for federal workers. People like that idea -- as long as someone else pays for it.
By a 61-38 percent margin, voters oppose Obama’s proposal if their taxes would go up. However, if taxes only go up on “people who earn more” than they do, voters reverse and support it by 53-44 percent. 
All in all, do people want the government to do more? Not really. Forty-nine percent think the government is providing too many services for too many people. That’s down from 54 percent in 2014. 
About one in four (23 percent) believes the government is doing too little for too few. That’s mostly unchanged from last year (24 percent) and up a touch from 20 percent in 2012.
Another 22 percent of voters feel services are being provided at the right level, up from 19 percent (2014).
The poll also asks voters what the federal government should be doing right now -- cutting or spending. A 56-percent majority thinks the government should be cutting taxes, cutting spending, and reducing regulations, while 40 percent prioritize expanding domestic programs and increasing spending on infrastructure.
Republicans think Uncle Sam should be cutting taxes and reducing regulations by a wide 54-point margin (75-21 percent). Democrats go for expanding programs and increasing spending -- but by a much smaller 18-point margin (58-40 percent).
Pollpourri
A whopping 21 percent of voters approve of the job Congress is doing. The last time approval of Congress was above the teens was June 2011. Seventy-two percent still disapprove. 
The Fox News poll is conducted by telephone with live interviewers under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R). The 1,044 registered voters were reached via landline and cell phone numbers randomly selected for inclusion in this nationwide survey from February 8-10, 2015. The full poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Oregon governor reportedly changed his mind about resigning over ethics controversy

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber decided to resign over the weekend amid an ethics scandal involving his fiancée, but later changed his mind for reasons that remain unclear, according to a published report. 
The Associated Press reported late Wednesday that Kitzhaber, a Democrat, informed some of his aides on Sunday that he was going to step down. On Tuesday, Kitzhaber asked Oregon secretary of state Kate Brown to return from a conference in Washington D.C. Since Oregon does not have a lieutenant governor, Brown would taken Kitzhaber's place until a special election could be held. 
However, on Wednesday, Kitzhaber's office issued a two-sentence statement saying he would remain in office. 
"Let me be as clear as I was last week, that I have no intention of resigning as Governor of the state of Oregon," Kitzhaber said. "I was elected to do a job for the people of this great state and I intend to continue to do so."
Kitzhaber, who was re-elected to a second consecutive term as governor in November, has faced calls to resign after a series of newspaper reports revealed that his fiancée, Cylvia Hayes, did paid consulting work for organizations with an interest in Oregon public policy. During the same period, she worked as an unpaid adviser in the governor's office on some of the same issues. Kitzhaber has said repeatedly that he and Hayes took care to avoid conflicts, and a state ethics commission will decide whether conflict-of-interest laws were broken.
State Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum has launched in an investigation into the allegations, which she has previously called "very serious" and "troubling."
Earlier this month, The Oregonian, the state's largest newspaper, called for Kitzhaber to step down in an editorial.
Emails released to the paper last week by the Department of Administrative Services showed Hayes instructed state officials to help implement a policy known as the genuine progress indicator, which she was being paid to promote.
The genuine progress indicator is an alternative to the gross domestic product, which uses health and environmental data to help measure economic success. Hayes was paid by Demos, a New York-based nonprofit, to promote the policy.
The records also show that Kitzhaber himself intervened to urge Jordan to hire a former Maryland official who worked on the genuine progress indicator in that state, the newspaper reported. He was eventually hired on a yearlong contract worth about $65,000.

VA secretary asks Iraq War veteran: 'What have you done?'

WASHINGTON –  Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald on Wednesday asked a Republican lawmaker who served in both Iraq wars, "What have you done?" as the two men sparred over huge cost overruns at a troubled Denver VA hospital.
McDonald was defending the VA's budget at a hearing when he and Colorado Rep. Mike Coffman tussled over construction delays and cost increases at the long-delayed hospital project.
After a few minutes of arguing, McDonald snapped at Coffman: "I've run a large company, sir. What have you done?"
Coffman, an Army veteran, did not respond at the hearing. But the four-term lawmaker said in a statement later that he could tell McDonald a few things he hasn't done.
"I have never run a federal agency that tolerates corruption the way the VA has. I've never built a hospital that's years behind schedule and hundreds of millions over budget. And I've never been a shill for inept bureaucrats who allowed American heroes to die on a medical waiting list," he said.
The last comment was a reference to a wait-time scandal that cost former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki his job. McDonald, a former Procter & Gamble CEO, took over as VA secretary in July. He has vowed to improve VA's delivery of services such as health care and disability benefits and make it a "model" for other government agencies.
The dust-up started when Coffman criticized the VA for citing its legal efforts to defend the Denver hospital project as a major accomplishment.
"How is that a success?" Coffman asked. "You lost that case on every single point for the hospital in my district that is hundreds of millions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule."
"I think that that's just characteristic of your glossing over the extraordinary problems confronted by your department," Coffman added. "This is a department mired in bureaucratic incompetence and corruption."
McDonald said he was offended by Coffman's remarks and noted that he had only been on the job for six months.
"You've been here longer than I have. If there's a problem in Denver, I think you own it more than I do," he told Coffman.
McDonald then offered to give Coffman his cellphone, "and you can answer some of the calls and see if I'm making a difference for veterans."

Intel officials tight-lipped on American militant fighters back in US, admit tracking is difficult

U.S. intelligence officials declined to say Wednesday exactly how many Americans who went overseas to fight with foreign militant groups have returned to U.S. soil to pose a terror threat -- but acknowledged difficulties in identifying them and noted some have likely returned undetected.
“We know what we know, but we understand there is intelligence we don’t have,” Nicholas Rasmussen, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, testified on Capitol Hill. “But it’s possible there are great numbers.”
He was joined before the GOP-led House Committee on Homeland Security by Michael Steinbach, an FBI counterterrorism expert, who told members: “This is a number we don’t know about,” regardless of the best intelligence.
Officials testified that roughly 20,000 people from around the world -- including at least 3,400 from Western countries -- have flocked to join the Islamic State and other extremist groups.
Rasmussen said the rate is “without precedent” and far exceeds anything similar in the past 20 years.
Officials think as many as 150 Americans have tried to reach the Syrian war zone. FBI Director James Comey said a few months ago that “about a dozen” had reached the zone and were actually fighting.
One known person is Douglas McAuthur McCain. The 33-year-old Californian died in August while fighting with the Islamic State near Aleppo, Syria.
However, the number identified as having returned to the United States is classified.
Committee Chairman Mike McCaul, R-Texas, called Islamic State fighters “barbaric terrorists” whom U.S. officials “must keep out of the homeland to protect the American people.”
Officials said that foreign fighters with the Islamic State pose a particularly dangerous threat of returning to the West and carrying out deadly terror strikes, considering they return with battle-ground experience, explosives training and access to a network of terror-related groups.
At least one of the men responsible for the attack last month on a satirical magazine in Paris had spent time with Islamic extremists in Yemen.
Rasmussen and Steinbeck were also joined at the hearing -- titled “The Urgent Threat of Foreign Fighters and Homegrown Terror” -- by Francis Taylor, a Homeland Security Department under secretary. He said officials have no information right now about any imminent, credible domestic terror threat.
The State Department did not send a witness, which McCaul called “very disappointing.”
McCaul also expressed concern about the Obama administration not having one federal agency in charge of countering the increasingly successful efforts by radical Islamic groups to convert Americans via social media without their having to leave U.S. soil. He also argued that none of the key federal departments or agencies have dedicated -- or “line item” -- spending for such efforts.
The intelligence officials also testified that a major problem in tracking foreign fighters overseas is that the U.S. Embassy in Syria is closed and the CIA has no permanent presence on the ground in that country.
"Once in Syria, it is very difficult to discern what happens there," Steinbach said. "This lack of clarity remains troubling."
The officials repeatedly said U.S. agencies continue to share information and work together on counterterrorism efforts.
However, they identified two other major concerns -- the need to improve information sharing with European countries and tracking foreign fighters engaged in what they called “broken travel” or hopscotching between countries by different modes of transportation to avoid detection.
“The volume and diversity of recruits flowing to and from the conflict areas make disruption especially challenging,” Rasmussen said. “There is no single pipeline for foreign fighter travel into and out of Syria. Violent extremists take different routes, including land, air, and sea.”
He also said most go through neighboring Turkey, which has signed visa, free-travel agreements with more than 69 governments. But he acknowledged the country has stepped up its efforts to deny entry to potential foreign fighters.
Another major concern was the State Department’s interest in resettling tens of thousands of Syrian refugees in the U.S.
McCaul called the idea a potentially “federally funded jihadi pipeline.”
Taylor said he also was “concerned” and that the State Department would need to look at watch lists to see if there was a connection to terrorist groups.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Pennsylvania town packs heat, and wants visitors to know it

Drive into tiny Conoy Township, Pa., and you'll see the standard "welcome" sign, but it also comes with a warning: "THIS IS NOT A GUN FREE ZONE."
The signs are meant to alert criminals to the fact that many people in the rural Pennsylvania town of 3,000 are armed. A dozen have been installed so far and three more are slated to go up, which would cover every major road into the town. Officials hope the signs give would-be criminals second thoughts before causing trouble.
“I think even those who have bad intentions can read,” Stephen Mohr, one of the township supervisors, told FoxNews.com. He said the town’s five supervisors unanimously decided to put the signs up.

"What we’re telling people is that when they do come here, they should feel safer knowing that everyone in the township is watching out for them."- Stephen Mohr, township supervisor, Conoy, Pa.

Mohr noted that the intent of the signs is to welcome good people to their town.
“The first word on there is “Welcome”… we have a lot here that we take pride in. What we’re telling people is that when they do come here, they should feel safer knowing that everyone in the township is watching out for them,” Mohr said. “And the criminal -- he should realize that going into this township he could have a bad day.”
But critics say the signs are unnecessary, and unlikely to send the message Mohr claims to be imparting.
“These signs are silly, because the Second Amendment guarantees the right of law-abiding, responsible citizens anywhere to own guns in their homes," said Jonathan Hutson, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "As a matter of fact, no jurisdiction in America completely prohibits the carrying of guns in public.”
And despite the announcement that the townsfolk may be armed, there are still places within where guns are prohibited, noted Shira Goodman, executive director of Cease Fire PA.
"Are there no schools in this town?" Goodman asked. "How about U.S. post offices? What about private business owners or houses of worship who choose to bar firearms from their property?
“The intent seems to be to scare those who might consider criminal activity," Goodman added. "The likely effect will be to embolden a shoot first, Wild West mentality."
Mohr said residents are free to have to their own rules about guns, and the township follows federal and state policies regarding guns in post offices and schools. The signs, he said, refer to the fact that the township government welcomes the carrying of guns in the belief it promotes safety. A member of the National Rifle Association, he also seems to be sending a message of his support for the Second Amendment.
“Those people that need to wake up and realize that the right to carry a gun in a lot of areas have already been curtailed,” he said, noting that other jurisdictions, including New York City, put the onus on residents to show a “special need” in order to carry guns.
Economists who study crime said it will be interesting to see whether crime in the town is affected by the signs.
“My guess is that this may… lead a small number of people to reconsider committing criminal acts, but the signs are unlikely to provide so much new information [about the town] that they result in a large reduction in crime,” David Mustard, an economics professor at the University of Georgia, told FoxNews.com.  
Residents of the town reached by FoxNews.com had mixed views.
“I guess it’s a good idea. But it’s going to take more than just a sign -- I don’t think that would deter a hardened criminal,” Lyle Rider, who runs BMA Cycles in the township, told FoxNews.com.
“It doesn’t bother me… whether it’ll be a crime deterrent or not, I don’t know,” Mark Brosey, who works at Brosey’s Garage in the township, told FoxNews.com.
At least one other U.S. town is considering copying Conoy's idea.
“If you were a thief breaking into homes and businesses, would you choose a city that openly endorses the ownership and training of guns to protect persons and property?” Greenleaf, Idaho, Mayor Brad Holton told FoxNews.com. His town will consider posting such signs at a city council meeting in March.

Why NBC’s suspension is Brian Williams’ last hope for remaining anchor

NBC Universal tried to save Brian Williams’ job last night—and that’s why he was suspended for six months.
The company finally had to stop the bleeding, to halt the hemorrhaging of its own credibility along with that of its franchise player.
The brass slowly came to realize that Williams had to be punished, and significantly, for the sin of fabricating a story about his 2003 trip to Iraq. The betting is that with Lester Holt handling “Nightly News” for six months, things will cool off—the country will have moved on to some other outrage—and Williams will be able to return to the chair.
But that will also require a complete accounting by Williams of what he did wrong—in Iraq, in New Orleans, perhaps on other stories—and a full-throated apology that shows he understands the magnitude of his misconduct.
The note yesterday from Steve Burke, installed by Comcast as the head of NBC Universal, shows that this matter was decided at the highest reaches of the company. That’s how important Williams is to the network—not just for the 9 million viewers he drew to his newscast, but as a high-wattage spokesman and sometimes entertainer.
NBC News President Deborah Turness said that Williams’ Iraq tale was “was wrong and completely inappropriate for someone in Brian’s position.” But the harsher words came from Burke:
“By his actions, Brian has jeopardized the trust millions of Americans place in NBC News.  His actions are inexcusable and this suspension is severe and appropriate.”
But then there was this: “He deserves a second chance and we are rooting for him.”
NBC has so much invested in Williams that it wants to rehabilitate him—but is also buying time to line up a successor in case that proves impossible.
Despite the chatter about Matt Lauer or Savannah Guthrie, it would be difficult for NBC to take either one off “Today,” because morning shows are far more lucrative than evening newscasts.
NBC is also trying to recover from its own botched handling of the crisis. First, its executives allowed Williams to go on air with a lame and inaccurate apology that only inflamed his critics. Second, the brass let him announce that as managing editor he was taking himself off the broadcast for a short period—as if he didn’t report to anyone else.
In the end, NBC had little choice. While weighing Williams’ career against the self-inflicted damage, it is now trying to split the difference. The challenge for the network and its sidelined anchor is to regain the trust of the audience—if that is still possible.