Approval of Congress lowest in a decade
Only about a quarter of Americans approve of how it's doing its job, a poll shows; most see 'business as usual.'

By Noam N. Levey, Times Staff Writer
June 12, 2007

WASHINGTON — Fueled by disappointment at the pace of change since Democrats assumed the majority on Capitol Hill, public approval of Congress has fallen to its lowest level in more than a decade, according to a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll.

Just 27% of Americans now approve of the way Congress is doing its job, the poll found, down from 36% in January, when Democrats assumed control of the House and the Senate.

And 63% of Americans say that the new Democratic Congress is governing in a "business as usual" manner, rather than working to bring the fundamental change that party leaders promised after November's midterm election.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), the first woman to hold that position, has also failed to impress many Americans. Only 36% approve of the way she is handling the job, the poll found."

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics...,7184922.story

So---the Democrat majority-led Congress has a lower approval rating than President Bush!!! Too funny. And the really sad things for Dems is this little fact: Bush isn't running again for President, but they ARE running again for Congress.

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"This is a time for a national imperative not to fail in Iraq." Condoleeza Rice, January 11, 2007

Maybe it's because they are making the hard decisions? That's what I hear about W.

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Where are we going? And why am I in this handbasket?

Trying to think what hard decisions they have made? I can think of numerous that Bush has made. They refunded the war. That would be tough for them. Can't think of what else they've accomplished. Lots of investigations with pretty much nothing to show from them.

I can't think of any hard decisions W made, either. Maybe you could help me there. His rating is low because he's incompetent. Simple as that. Same applies to Congress, of course (which includes both Democrats and Republicans lest you forget). Also note that Congress generally has terrible ratings no matter who is in charge. And rightfully so most of the time.

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Where are we going? And why am I in this handbasket?

Worth noting:

Pelosi's disapproval rating is about the same as her approval rating.

http://www.pollingreport.com/P.htm

Compare to Bush, who's approval minus disapproval has reached another record low (29-66 and 28-65 in the last 2 polls):

http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob.htm

Americans also approve of Democrats in Congress somewhat more than Republicans in Congress.

Still, failure to cut war funding has alienated many hardcore Dems and of course Pubs will always hate a Congress that has even slight Democratic control. By in large, Americans still prefer a Democratically-controlled Congress for a variety of reasons.

http://www.pollingreport.com/congress.htm

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See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each other. Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction.

- G.W. Bush, 10/3/2003

- The obvious one is the decision to go to war. It is a dangerous cess pool over there and he is attempting to plant a flower in it. This is the main reason he is low in the polls.

- He is currently investing tremendously in dealing with illegals - a tough decision. I think his proposals are bad, but I have no doubt he strongly believes in it and this decision isn't helping him in the polls.

- He made the tough decision to try to deal with the third rail - Social Security. The Dems just threw mud at his ideas and offered none of their own. The Dems were able to scare many seniors and this hurt him.

- The prescription drug debaucle hurt him badly with his fiscally conservative base. He made the decision to deal with what he saw as a major problem.

I could go on if you'd like. He is also being hurt by the price of gas, but I don't believe any of his decisions has effected these prices much. His inability to get his energy plan through has clearly hurt.

By "try to deal with" Social Security, you mean replace it entirely in favor of another form of an IRA. Dealing with Social Security means tweaking it to remain solvent through the baby boomers phase of retirement, not dismantling it.

One idea offered was reducing benefits for high-income earners. My preference involves raising the retirement age to correlate with the assumed increased life expectancy (the major reason why there is a projected shortfall in 30+ years).

Is that why Bush called the projected Social Security shortfall a "crisis" and eluded that it must be replaced with private accounts? This was one time the fear card didn't work for him.

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See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each other. Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction.

- G.W. Bush, 10/3/2003

50% of Independents say it's about the same. Also, dems will always support congress short of Attila the Hun being in office. So that offsets the argument you made about R's.

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JMS gets another English lesson:

Quote:

there is no "mostly unique;" thats like saying "sometimes always," its an oxymoron - its either one or the other.

The result:

Quote:

By the mid-19th century unique had developed a wider meaning, “not typical, unusual,” and it is in this wider sense that it is compared. The comparison of so-called absolutes in senses that are not absolute is standard in all varieties of speech and writing.

So you didn't like Bush's proposed solution. Gee there's a surprise. However the point is that he made the tough decision and effort to address what was considered a very politically dangerous issue because he believed in it. The Dems made no effort to amend his plan or to put their own on the table. They just stood on the sidelines and threw rocks.

Congress includes the Senate...anyone on the left want to bring up Reids approval rating....

The "unidentified stinking green brown pile of something" in the cafeteria is more popular.

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McCain 2008
"We make war that we may live in peace"
"...peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever."
"Oderint dum metuant"
"Inartful: clear and straightforward, lacking the artistry that allows subsequent self-refutation and denial."
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