I’ll take good news as I can get it. There are some signs that things are getting better.

– Via Think Progress, Bloomberg reports that the demand for U.S. bonds is very high, which means financing our deficit is getting cheaper. And as I noted recently, the deficit is projected to fall below $1 trillion in 2012.

– Congress failed to renew the ethanol subsidy that had been in place since 1980. While that may not sound like an important thing, it does mean that corn as a feed and food crop will not have to compete on an uneven field with fuel. That’s good for food prices.

– Whether it’s the slowly improving economy or the GOP clown car, President Obama’s approval rating is going back up.

The latest Gallup survey shows that 47 percent of Americans now say they approve of the way that President Obama is handling his job. This is a 5 percent improvement since the Dec. 16-18 Gallup survey and marks the first time the president’s numbers have been in positive territory since July. The number of Americans who say they disapprove of Obama’s job performance has fallen to 45 percent, down 5 points from Dec. 16-18.

Sweet dreams are made of these.