Asked what type of job they think Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is doing, Americans overwhelmingly say his performance is “only fair” to “poor,” according to a recent Harris Poll. The survey also showed that Rumsfeld’s positive rating was at 78 percent shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, while now only 35 percent of Americans cast his performance as “excellent” or “pretty good.” In fact, since April 2003, Rumsfeld’s positive rate has dropped fairly consistently from 71 percent to today’s 35 percent.
Congress passed a continuing resolution to fund the federal government through Dec. 16, avoiding a shutdown but ensuring that the Pentagon and other federal agencies will yet again start the fiscal year without a new budget. The continuing resolution will mostly keep spending levels frozen at the previous fiscal year’s…