http://blogs.usatoday.com/gallup/2007/06/what_do_hmos_an.html [rquoter]New Gallup data show confidence in Congress at all time low Just 14% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in Congress. This 14% Congressional confidence rating is the all-time low for this measure, which Gallup initiated in 1973. The previous low point for Congress was 18% at several points in the period of time 1991 to 1994. Congress is now nestled at the bottom of the list of Gallup's annual Confidence in Institutions rankings, along with HMOs. Just 15% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in HMOs. (By way of contrast, 69% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the military, which tops the list. More on this at galluppoll.com on Thursday). It’s worth remembering that Congress is basically nothing more than a mechanism for the representation of the people’s wishes. We all can’t go to Washington. So we elect men and women and send them off in our stead. It’s not an optimal situation, it seems to me, when such a low percentage of average Americans have confidence in this system. Generally speaking, Americans have been skeptical about Congress for decades now. But the current 14% confidence rating for Congress is down from 19% last year and is the lowest in Gallup’s history, surpassing the 18% confidence in Congress measured in 1991, 1993 and 1994. Americans' are generally in a sour mood, as discussed here. The particularly low rating for Congress this year thus represents a continuation of the existing low esteem in which Congress is held, coupled with a strongly negative mindset on the part of the American public.[/rquoter] i thought the dems were 'spose 't be some kinda different.
I didn't think they would be that different, but there are some big differences. Investigating the corruption at the whitehouse is one huge difference.
Yes! Let's talk about why that is. Maybe it's because congress isn't STOPPING THE WAR like America elected it to do?
Bush's approval is higher than congress', and these approval ratings are significantly lower than the previous congress'
oh so its all relative to you.. if bush had a 15% rating then you don't care.. also, i what percentage of the current congress are democrats? and which party is the biggest sponsor/supporter of HMOs?
I hope next year's congressional republican candidates take the distorted reasoning that you are preaching here to heart and tie themselves as close to bush as they can. But sadly they are not as dumb as you are acting here, unfortunately.
They mishandled the William Jefferson case for a long time, and I would think that they're too busy jockeying in 08 to give a serious fight for the promises they made in 06. I also think that as long as they don't have a definite plan with conviction on Iraq, they will not win on foreign security. Bush's warts and all...
Bush at 26% in Newsweek poll. He just passed Carter for 2nd lowest all-time. Only Nixon at 23% stands between Bush and the lowest spot ever... and Bush has 20 months to drop those 3% and usurp Tricky Dick. Of course, if you look at where he was after 9-11 and now, I don't think any other president is close in the amount of support they lost.
Of course the country disapproves of the job the Democratic Congress is doing. They have failed to do what the people put them in office for -- to stop this horrible, wrongheaded debacle of a war. I disapprove of the job they're doing too.
They were elected to address "high fuel costs," gouging is commonplace. Oil company profits are ridiculous. They were elected to end the war in Iraq. The were elected to address a host of social issues including health care which is a national travesty. They have made little if any progress on these fronts, likely because they are controlled by the same corporate interests that control the Republicans. They seem more interested in political infighting than accomplishing anything. I predict that their tenures will be brief, they will be thrown out during the next national election. The leaders of this nation are not listening, we need to get their attention.
Perhaps I missed it but I don't remember this being a major campaign issue on either side. Who were the ones who ran on the platform that they were going to lower fuel costs?
Actually, on the war at least, there are two reasons they've made little progress and neither has anything to do with corporate interests. First, they do not have a veto-proof majority. The president has signaled again and again that he does not care that the majority of Americans oppose this war. He's the decider and he'll do what he damn well pleases, dead soldiers be damned. And enough Republicans will stick with him that the Dem majority can't beat a veto. The second reason they haven't made progress on ending the war is that they're too scared to cut off funding, which is their only path to ending a war that only the president and a relatively small group of Americans support. It's not about in-fighting either. It's just the opposite. They're sissies and they're scared to have the fight they need to have to stop the meaningless loss of lives. As for them not being in control long, think again. The American people may be disappointed, even furious, with Democrats for not standing stronger, but there's no way they're handing the keys back to the people that got us in this mess and insist we stay there. The D majority will grow (not shrink) in 07 and again in 08.
You didn't miss it. The 06 elections were about the war, period. Just like the ones this year and next will be.
Cindy Sheehan says the new breed of democrats is all about failure. Why can't the democrats get anything right?
