The Christian Science Monitor addressed why Americans are so angry in an article today. Perhaps I’m more aware of it now, or maybe it’s just the popularity of pundit-laden, agenda-driven cable news networks, but it certainly does seem like we Yankees are pretty fired up. At what? Well, take your pick: The government, other Americans who (gasp!) have opinions contrary to ours, or even our local nugget-less McDonald’s. Although, believe it or not, it does seem we were even angrier in the early 1990s, at least according to prior surveys:

So what does this all add up to? Are we "mad as hell," like TV anchor Howard Beale ranting to viewers in the 1976 Hollywood classic "Network"? Is today’s real-life incarnation, Glenn Beck of Fox News, whipping us into a frenzy of revolt against Washington?

Not necessarily. Pollster Scott Rasmussen reports that 75 percent of Americans are "angry," but his question is framed solely around anger: "How angry are you at the current policies of the federal government?" Forty-five percent replied "very angry" and 30 percent said "somewhat angry."

But when Americans are given a choice of "angry," "dissatisfied," "satisfied," or "enthusiastic" about the way the federal government works, "dissatisfied" is the most popular choice at 48 percent, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll. An additional 19 percent chose "angry."

This net negative of 67 percent doesn’t come close to the same poll’s finding in October 1992, during the last time of political turmoil over fiscal policy. Then, 25 percent of Americans were angry, and 56 percent were dissatisfied, per ABC. A month later, third-party presidential candidate Ross Perot won 19 percent of the vote and cost President George H.W. Bush a second term.

In 1992, unemployment had peaked at 7.8 percent – well below today’s level – and yet voters then were angrier than they are today. So it’s not just about unemployment. "Consider also the duration of the downturn, the tenure of the administration, the level of effort, the sense of empathy, and other atmospherics," says Gary Langer, director of polling for ABC News.

Obama emerged from his post-inaugural honeymoon long ago, but he’s still only 13 months in office. If the public remains unhappy with the economy and with his administration’s recovery efforts, anger could rise. As things stand today, the Democrats already could lose well more than 24 House seats this November, the post-World War II average loss for the president’s party in midterm elections.

For now, the angriest bloc of voters is conservatives, at 32 percent, according to ABC. Ten percent of liberals and 12 percent of moderates are angry. Higher levels of anger and declines in job approval for Obama could point to greater-than-average losses in November, potentially even the loss of Democratic control on Capitol Hill. Nonpartisan political handicapper Charlie Cook already predicts the Democrats will lose the House.

I also thought this passage was quite noteworthy:

There’s also disaffection among moderates, frustrated by the high degree of political polarization that leaves little room for compromise on major policy matters. But efforts in the last decade to build a "radical middle" movement – a drive to marry the best ideas of the right and left – seem to have faded.

The stunning decision by Sen. Evan Bayh (D) of Indiana, one of the Senate’s few moderates, not to run for reelection cast the hollowing-out of the middle in sharp relief.

A very unique — and inspiring — story from the Austrian Alps via The Telegraph. One can’t help but think that if more people thought in these terms, the world would be much better off.

Mr Rabeder, 47, a businessman from Telfs is in the process of selling his luxury 3,455 sq ft villa with lake, sauna and spectacular mountain views over the Alps, valued at £1.4 million.

Also for sale is his beautiful old stone farmhouse in Provence with its 17 hectares overlooking the arrière-pays, on the market for £613,000. Already gone is his collection of six gliders valued at £350,000, and a luxury Audi A8, worth around £44,000…

Mr Rabeder has also sold the interior furnishings and accessories business – from vases to artificial flowers – that made his fortune.

"My idea is to have nothing left. Absolutely nothing," he told The Daily Telegraph. "Money is counterproductive – it prevents happiness to come."

Instead, he will move out of his luxury Alpine retreat into a small wooden hut in the mountains or a simple bedsit in Innsbruck.

His entire proceeds are going to charities he set up in Central and Latin America, but he will not even take a salary from these.

"For a long time I believed that more wealth and luxury automatically meant more happiness," he said. "I come from a very poor family where the rules were to work more to achieve more material things, and I applied this for many years," said Mr Rabeder.

All the money will go into his microcredit charity, which offers small loans to Latin America and builds development aid strategies to self-employed people in El Salvador, Honduras, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Chile…

Since selling his belongings, Mr Rabeder said he felt "free, the opposite of heavy".

But he said he did not judge those who chose to keep their wealth. "I do not have the right to give any other person advice. I was just listening to the voice of my heart and soul."

Hat tip to The Huffington Post.

It seems bad news abounds these days. Skyrocketing health care costs. Escalating deficits. Reality television is still here. But it’s not all bad. The Colts are 12-0. The economy is due to pick up (any day now…). And hey, there’s at least a 65% chance you’re not one of Tiger Woods’ mistresses.

Even better, the National Center for Policy Analysis has summarized a post from The American illustrating there’s still hope for the old U.S. of A. Check it out:

According to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control:

• Life expectancy for Americans reached an all-time high of nearly 78 years (77.9) in 2007 (most recent data available), the age-adjusted death rate dropped to a new all-time low, and life expectancy for black males reached a new record of 70 years.
• Compared to the life expectancy in 1929 of only 57.1 years, the average American today can expect to live almost 21 years longer.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture:

• Food expenditures by families and individuals (both at home and at restaurants) as a share of disposable personal income reached an all-time record low of 9.6 percent in 2008.
• Spending on food as a share of income was twice that high in the 1950s (average of 19.3 percent), and almost three times as high in the early 1930s.

According to data from the Energy Information Administration:

• The energy consumption required (measured in thousands of British thermal units) to produce a real dollar of output (Gross Domestic Product) fell to an all-time record low of 8.52 in 2008.
• Compared to 1970 when it took 18 Btus to produce a real dollar of GDP, today’s economy is more than twice as energy-efficient.

My ladyfriend and I took advantage of some lovely late summer weather last weekend and headed down to Indiana’s former state capital — Corydon. We stayed at the Kintner House, a well-known bed and breakfast. We felt like royalty in the William Henry Harrison room, which serves as an homage to our former President (although his stint at the helm was brief).

While in Harrison County, we toured the first capitol building and an early Governor’s mansion (I even bought an artistic rendering of the scene from a local consignment shop for my new home).

In the afternoon, we took a cave tour at Squire Boone Caverns — an Indiana Chamber member. The tour was quite enlightening as we meandered through stalactites and stalagmites nearly nine stories below the ground. Seeing rock formations formed over millions of years is quite humbling — a feeling most of us don’t experience nearly enough (if my hours of watching reality television — or watching Kanye West do anything — are any indication). We also sported a serious glute burn on the 60-foot climb up a spiral stair case back to the surface.

All told, if you’re on a budget and looking to get away on a one-tank trip – to borrow vernacular from Bob Gregory – I highly recommend the Corydon area, especially as fall approaches. Visit Indiana’s blog has a more detailed post highlighting the history and allure of our former capital, as well.

Boy, all this technology sure makes it more difficult to get away when those vacation opportunities arise.

As you read this, I’m sitting on a beach in Avon (no, there are not beaches in the fast-growing Hendricks County community, but in a lovely stretch along the Outer Banks in North Carolina). And double no, I did not write this from the beach, although I easily could have and that is the point with this post.

One almost feels guilty today by being away and not taking the laptop, checking the e-mails, reading the Tweets, calling in for an "important" meeting, and on and on. I’m successfully overcoming those worries thus far. Why? Wonderfully talented colleagues in communications at the Chamber and a staff that knows how to get things done. And if they need me, I’ll answer the cell call or at least return the message.

How about you? Are you able to "disconnect" from the office when away? Are there any unwritten expectations that make that difficult? Or is it turn the lights off when leaving the office and not think about work until you return? 

Interested in your perspective.

Gallup just released a poll ranking the well-being of America’s 50 states (see criteria below). Good news for those in Utah, who ranked number one, but the news was a little more stark for Hoosiers, as we ranked 45th. On the upside, there are five states even more disgruntled than we are.

Like many reading this, I’m quite interested in public policy, so I looked to see if states with any particular political leanings tended to rank higher than others. Perhaps I could adopt that ideology and become a less angry person, as I’d imagine that to be much cheaper than therapy. But alas, that proved fruitless as I noticed Utah, which is quite conservative, was No. 1; Hawaii, which skews liberal, was No. 2; and Colorado, which was recently labelled as the 2nd most libertarian state in another poll I saw, was No. 4. (Gees, don’t you hate when you actually have to think about things and not just rest on partisan dogmas.)

At any rate, here’s some info from Gallup:

Mapping well-being scores across the country, a clear pattern emerges with higher well-being states located primarily in the West and lower well-being states clustered in the Midwest and the South. Standing out among its high-ranking western counterparts is Nevada, with a slightly below average well-being score and a rank of 38th. Also defying the overarching geographic pattern of well-being are Maryland and Massachusetts, the only two states in the Northeast to rank in the top 10…

Results are based on telephone interviews with more than 350,000 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted in 2008 as part of Gallup Poll Daily tracking. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±1 percentage point.

Here is the Indiana breakdown for each criteria they used (rank is out of 50 states, with 1 being the best):

• Well-being: 45
• Life evaluation: 42
• Work quality: 45
• Basic access (to necessities): 29
• Healthy behavior: 48
• Physical health: 35
• Emotional health: 43

Also, this site can tell you how happy your Congressional district is. 

While there is much to be done, the good news is: Indiana has picked up momentum and a national reputation as one of the most business-friendly states in the country, and some economists have claimed Indiana, and its citizens, could be some of the first to emerge once the recession ends.

Olympian runner, Indiana University grad and Indianapolis business owner Bob Kennedy recently visited the Indiana Chamber as part of the Chamber’s ongoing wellness program speaker series. 

Kennedy believes the best way to include exercise in one’s life and to maintain an exercise program is to be very specific with goals and to always block time in your schedule for exercise. Kennedy is still the American record holder in the 3,000 and 5,000 meter distance events. He no longer runs the trails of Eagle Creek Park on Indianapolis’ northwest side to prepare for races, but he does maintain a very busy life. 

Now, he balances his life between his family and his business, The Running Company. After some time away from the sport in recent years, when asked what drove him back to running a few miles a day, he simply replied, “my kids.”