Poll sees a new low in Americans’ approval of Congress

[alp227]

Source: The Washington Post

After nine months of contentious battles on Capitol Hill, Americans have reached a new level of disgust toward Congress that has left nearly all voters angry at their leaders and doubtful that they can fix the problems facing the country.

Whether Republican, Democrat or independent, more Americans disapprove of Congress than at any point in more than two decades of Washington Post-ABC News polling.

Just 14 percent of the public approves of the job Congress is doing, according to the latest poll. That is lower than just before the 1994, 2006 and 2010 elections, when the majority party was on the verge of losing power in the House.

(...)

But the president’s new jobs package, which is supported by a narrow majority of the public, has bolstered his position on the issue. He now holds a 49 to 34 percent advantage over congressional Republicans when it comes to the public’s trust on creating jobs. That is a change from September, when they were evenly split at 40 percent each.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-sees-a-new-low-in-americans-approval-of-congress/2011/10/04/gIQAc0yQML_singlePage.html

[EFerrari]

1. I wonder if the Tea Party Congress will go into the negative numbers.

[Blue_Tires]

23. Give them another couple of weeks

[FrenchieCat]

2. Dumbasses voted for divided government and gave the keys of the house

to the tea party....and then are surprised that we have gridlock, when we least needed it.

[libinnyandia]

9. Congressional gridlock

One problem in 2010 was that so many people stayed at home instead of voting and I'm afraid that is what is going to happen in 2012. Plus the GOP is hoping to disenfranchise so many people through voter restrictions. And the biggest problem is the extreme ignorance of so many Americans- a lack of knowledge of American history and politics. And of course we have such a dysfunctional system of government that gives so much power to a minotity of people. The 20 smallest states population-wise have 40 Senators- California has as many people as those 20 states and has 2 Senators. A state like Wyoming sends 2 senators to Washington- probably right wingers, and they can do their damage and still be re-elected. Looking back, I am surprised that we were able to accomplish waht we did. Social Security, Medicare, The EPA, etc., would now be impossible. And ignorant voters may complain, but they will vote for incompetent people, or they will stay home, or just as bad vote for a third party candidate and thus allow the election of right wingers like Bush.

[kdtroxel]

14. Systemic Failure of Government

Ever since the 2003 “Help America Vote Act” gave all the states money to buy electronic election fraud machines, your singular role in our government has been stolen; as a result, the atrocity of our corporate & banker complicit government has mounted. We the people are the only true way to straighten this mess out. We the people are the only way to create the form of government that is best promotive to our happiness. The very definition of a peaceful revolution is a federal constitutional convention. Why are we hardwired not to accept that possibility? A constitution not being followed, whole or in part, is a dead document.

“Each generation…has a right to choose for itself the form of government it believes most promotive of its own happiness.” – Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

“The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government.” – George Washington (1732-1799)

"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first." - Thomas Jefferson

[HighContext]

22. Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it."

"The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it."
P. J. O'Rourke.


Pretty much says it all.
Except the part about Democrats. At this point they've limited their expectations to just keeping the country from falling the fuck to pieces.

[Blue_Tires]

24. +1

[DonCoquixote]

11. k and r

we are like the bull that charges right into the matador's cape, and people wonder why there is no left!

[Bandit]

16. We don't sign Republican Bills into Law....He does.

So it is a Hell of a lot more than "Yes We Can"...Or don't you think he included himself in the "we" part?

[Igel]

18. The electorate as a whole has a clear preference.

1. They want some sort of middle-of-the-road approach, as long as it works. On some issues they veer right or left, but the majority are happiest when nothing extreme happens, when there are no lurches.

2. They want gridlock if they think that Congress is veering too far right or left. Rapid change is unsettling, unless it's rapid change that nearly everybody wants.

3. They want a monolithic Congress, able to enact sweeping changes, all of which are right or left (depending on the electorate's mood).

(1) happens relatively seldom, but is preferred.
(2) comes in behind (1), even though nobody much likes it.














































(3) comes in a rather distant third. Drawn to scale, (1) and (2) would be nearly overlapping and your display would still need to be approximately 83 yards high to display both (2) and (3) at the same time. Oh, and you'd have to get rid of all the toolbars at the top of your web browser.

If there's no majority view on an action, the action should be slight. Voters will accept an extreme action for a while based on a new president's or Congress' word *if* it yields the consequences promised in the time frame promised. If you can't make accurate predictions *and* you make sweeping changes, it's perceived as a throw of the dice. "Let's make this big change. No, you know from my track record I have no idea what'll happen, even if I say I know exactly what'll happen." Right.

Even if the status quo is sucky, you have to remember that a large percentage of the outcomes to a rapid change are likely to be suckier, with another large portion of the outcomes being not much different from the status quo (but still requiring some dislocation and uncertainty). In other words, most change is bad--just look at evolution for an example. Most mutations are harmful and not passed. Yet most people assume that all the social, political, and economic changes (that they like, at least) must be all perfect, if not merely exceptionally wonderful. Simply "okay" is deemed impossible, and no change can be for the worse. They also can't accept blame, lest they be seen as weak (or humble).

[Kennah]

3. How low, can we go. How low, can we go.

[opihimoimoi]

4. Since Congress is controlled by the GOPers....they will bear the guilt of the dissatisfaction

They will go down to defeat nx year....

[lbrtbell]

5. But the Senate is still majority Dem

That could also bite us in the ass. :scared:

[opihimoimoi]

7. the GOPers hurt themselves big time....they are going down

[Igel]

19. Nope.

They'll bear the brunt of blame in majority (D) areas, not in majority (R) areas or even in areas with no clear voting majority.

The house has passed numerous bills that would have prevented a lot of the things that the public is perturbed about. The Senate blocked the House bills. Usually the Senate blocked them because of the (D) in the Senate, for what they believed was good cause. In some cases the (D) stands for just the (D) leadership, often by simply ignoring the bills--to bring them up for a vote would produced a "no" vote or a compromise, the first bad for PR the second risky because the compromise might be acceptable to most (D) but not to the leadership.

What can be said is that the (D) Senate has blocked the actions of the (R) House, but that the (R) House has blocked what results have been forthcoming from the (D) Senate.

It can also be said that the (D) Senate has produced far less for the (R) House to block than would have been expected given the (D) in front of "Senate" because of an obstinate (R) minority in the (D) Senate or because of the Senate leadership.

Anything more requires assuming that either the (R) or the (D) are right. That's a slamdunk assumption on DU, an clear (D) area. But this is also why the (R) will bear the brunt of blame in majority (D) areas, not in majority (R) areas or even in areas with no clear voting majority.

[Name removed]

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[harvey007]

8. Latest poll is bad news for Obama as well

President Obama won't win reelection, says poll...
Some 55 percent of Americans surveyed say President Obama won't win the 2012 election, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/2011/1004/President-Obama-won-t-win-reelection-says-poll

[DonCoquixote]

12. and a lot of that will be

Because Reid and Pelosi started cutting him off at the knees from day one, to say nothing of Landrieu, Bayh, and the other Blue Dogs, which is a nice way of saying "Dixiecrats."

[newfie11]

10. People need to differentiate between parties in congress

I am concerned that people are blaming the whole lot of them instead of the re-pugs.

[mother earth]

13. Gridlock while poverty strangles Main St. & kills small bus.

[closeupready]

15. It will continue sinking lower.

If they were to enact meaningful campaign finance reforms and get the big money out of DC, then you'd likely see the numbers rise.

But if, as is likely, the legalized form of prostitution they practice continues to grow, then you will have larger numbers of people checking out of the process altogether, portending ominous things, IMO.

[vminfla]

17. So who are these 14%?

I would like to meet one of these people.

[indypaul]

20. Congressmen and Senators neglect their duty

With the balancing of the budget emphasized by so many of these empty suits.
Many of them have negated any possibility of balancing the budget when they
pledged to Grover Norquist they will ignore 50% of their responsibility and
ignore the revenue side of the budget. How can a Congressperson or Senator
who has signed that pledge claim to fully represent their constituents when
they ignore half of their duty? About time we started asking that question.
And demanding some answers.

[HighContext]

21. Remember this when they trot out those depressing #s on Obama. Congress polls even lower. np