Capital

You wouldn't know it from watching cable news (even MSNBC shows are still possessed by Republicanitis) but our new President is doing pretty good, and Americans are pretty happy about it. Dana Milbank in the Washington Post leads his story today:

Yesterday's news was good -- almost supernaturally so.
The economy? Recovering.
The markets? Rallying.
Swine flu? Abating.
Drought? Ending.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff declared his confidence that Pakistan's nuclear weapons are well secured. The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee declared his confidence that a massive health-care overhaul will be accomplished this year. Warren Buffett declared his confidence that the economy is "out of the quicksand." And the Supreme Court was confident enough about the state of the nation to turn its attention to Janet Jackson's breasts.

He notes: The rapid improvement in the public's mood is without precedent in modern history. Last week's Washington Post poll found that 50 percent of Americans think things are generally going in the right direction, up from only 8 percent in early October. That's the quickest change in optimism since the question was first asked by The Post in 1980. Views of President Obama, in turn, were impossibly high: Ninety percent called him willing to listen to different views, and better than 70 percent called him a strong leader, honest and trustworthy, and understanding of people's problems."

Add to this the latest Research 2000 poll which shows President Obama has a favorable rating of 70%, versus 25% unfavorable.

So it is the perfect time for the Obama adminstration to start pushing for new regulations, because the blissfully unregulated are going to push back. He began Monday by honing in on tax havens that make it more profitable for big corporations to operate elsewhere, balanced by making tax credits permanent for research and development, leading to industries and jobs right here.