AP Poll: Public gives Congress low marks By DARLENE SUPERVILLE ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Congress_AP_Poll.html WASHINGTON -- In the eyes of the public, Congress is doing even worse than the president. Public satisfaction with the job lawmakers are doing has fallen 11 points since May, to 24 percent, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll. That's lower than for President Bush, who hasn't fared well lately, either. Bush has been taking heat over the Iraq war, his decision to spare a former top vice presidential aide from going to prison and his desire for an overhaul of immigration laws that critics said would give a free pass to illegal immigrants. His job approval rating in the AP-Ipsos survey remained virtually unchanged at 33 percent. The 24 percent approval rating for Congress matched its previous low, which came in June 2006, five months before Democrats won control of the House and Senate due to public discontent with the job Republicans were doing. Just two months ago, 35 percent of the public approved of Congress' work. Poll respondents from both political parties say they're tired of the fighting between Congress and the White House, and want the two branches of government to work together on such issues as education, health care and the Iraq war. "They don't approve of anything he does," Theresa Holsten, 55, a Republican and unemployed resident of Lawton, Okla., said of Congress. "He can't do anything right, according to what some people say. It irritates the living daylights out of me." Tammy Lambirth, 42, a data researcher from San Antonio, disapproves of "all the fighting that they do all the time." The latest tussle involves Bush's refusal to hand over documents and let former White House aides answer questions from the Democratic-controlled Congress about the firing of U.S. attorneys. The dispute could end up in federal court. "The Republicans are just stonewalling everything, and the Democrats are just not stepping up and making them do what they need to do, especially about Iraq," said Lambirth, a Democrat. "They need to make our troops get out of Iraq." While the public's approval of Congress has dropped 11 points since May, the percentage of Democrats who are turning up their noses at Congress - like Lambirth - nearly doubled. Among Republicans, though, not so much. Approval among Democrats fell 21 points, from 48 percent in May to 27 percent. It remained low among Republicans, at 20 percent, and has not changed significantly in the past two months. Democrats won control of Congress on the strength of their promises to end the Iraq war, but so far have failed to do it. Bush vetoed one spending bill that included a deadline for ending the war, and Democrats don't have the votes to override him. An increase in the federal minimum wage became law, but much of the Democratic agenda has cleared the House only to become bottled up in the Senate, where the party has a much narrower working majority. Democrats need to be mindful of the public's satisfaction with Congress' productivity, especially as the party campaigns to win back the White House in elections next year, said political science professor Kenneth Sherrill. "If you manage to persuade a very large number of voters, including an increasing percentage of people who associate with your own party that you're not capable of governing, you're in real trouble," said Sherrill, who teaches at Hunter College in New York City. "That is not a good message to send." Among other survey findings: -Bush's marks on his handling of the economy and domestic issues like health care, education and the environment, held steady, at 37 percent on the economy and 33 percent on domestic matters. Last month, Bush was at 37 percent approval for his stewardship of the economy, and 32 percent on domestic issues. -On handling of foreign policy, including terrorism, 38 percent approved, compared with 35 percent last month. -On handling the Iraq war, 31 percent approved, compared with 28 percent last month. -One-fourth of the people, or 26 percent, said the country is headed in the right direction. Last month, 21 percent said the country was on the right track. The telephone survey of 1,004 adults was conducted July 9-11 in English and Spanish by Ipsos, an international public opinion research company. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The people elected a new Congress to end the war. They didn't do it. So it shouldn't be surprising that the majority of folks are unhappy. If things stay the same way, people will elect new members of Congress in the next election, and probably a democrat for president in the hope that they will end the war. By the way, Ron Paul, who is the only anti-war republican, has passed John McCain in fund raising. This is remarkable, but demonstrates that a significant number of people are pretty upset with mainstream poiltics.
Ben. I am surprised at you, I thought Danr was the only one that belived what they say in those polls. next thing you know they will say we are going to put a man on the moon.:whistle:
Chuckle, I saw the Congressional approval rating was at or below 20% and just had to share it, LOL...
^^^ Man, I'd tell you a "Wheel Horse" winning team would be Fred Thompson and Ron Paul. I mean it, those two together might right the ship...
I doubt that Ron Paul and Fred Thompson have much in common from the standpoint of political philosophy.
If Fred gets on board and I reckon he will, he's going to be the GOP frontrunner hands down. Getting Ron Paul involved might not be a bad idea. I've heard where Fred stands on illegal immigration and you're views and his are nearly identical... There's a lot folks which don't know about him and are stereotyping him into a "Good Old Rich RedNeck" like GW. Believe me if and when he throws his hat into the ring you'll be surprised at where he stands on the issues.
I was thinking more on the lines of a Thompson & McCain however I will look more into Ron paul I am always open to new thinking.
Ben, my concern from listing to Fred in the past is that he has no real political core values the way Ron does, and is waiting for the focus groups and Madison Avenue types to tell him what he believes.
