Poor marks for Bush, Congress (CBS poll)

[JoFerret]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/18/politics/main688974.shtml

<<President Bush doesn’t fare very well in the latest CBS News poll with an approval rating of just 44 percent and still limp support for his proposed Social Security overhaul.

But at least he's doing better than Congress, which earns a thumbs-up from only 35 percent of Americans – nearly as low a rating as it received last month immediately after lawmakers' unpopular intervention in the Terri Schiavo case.

Approval ratings for Congress have historically been low but they're now at one of their lowest points since the late 1990s. Disapproval of the Republican-controlled Congress even extends to 39 percent of Republicans, along with 59 percent of Democrats.

...

But most Americans don’t seem to know what Congress has been up to – or else they think Congress hasn’t been up to much.

...

Americans cited the war in Iraq as the country's top priority, followed by the economy and jobs, Social Security, terrorism, health care and, for the first time, gas prices. The Terri Schiavo case was not mentioned as a top concern.

...
Significantly, there's been no increase in support for Mr. Bush's Social Security plan since he and other Republicans began actively campaigning for it in January.

[laylah]

1. Most are right...

Congress does NOT care what we think!

Jenn

[gizmo1979]

14. That's exactly right!

If they polled corporate America I bet they have a 90% approval rating!:grr:

[The White Tree]

41. Why should they?

According to this article:

Approval ratings for Congress have historically been low

Yet the re-election rate of incumbents in both the House and Senate is very high. We don't like the job they do but refuse to vote them out. Why should they take the American people seriously.

[NYC Liberal]

2. Why do only 44% approve of Bush yet 51% voted for him? HMMMM?? n/t

[Colorado Blue]

32. Fuzzy math:)

[Voltaire99]

38. The other 7%...

...have already blown their Bush tax cuts at Wal-Mart. ;-)

[grytpype]

3. America slowly wakes up...

... too late. Bush's second term has barely begun, can you imagine how sick of him we are going to be in 2008? Jesus, I can't stand to think about it.

[grytpype]

4. Recommend!!! Link directly to poll results and analysis:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/18/opinion/polls/main689012.shtml

[grytpype]

11. I love it... what a total disaster for Duhbya!!!!!!

seven in ten Americans express uneasiness about Bush’s approach to Social Security, which he has attempted to make the hallmark of his second term. More Americans are uneasy about Bush’s approach to Social Security today than they were in February. Now, just a quarter feels confident that Bush will make the right decisions regarding the program.


CONFIDENT BUSH WILL MAKE RIGHT DECISIONS ABOUT SOCIAL SECURITY

Confident
Now
25%
2/2005
31%

Uneasy
Now
70%
2/2005
63%

[grytpype]

13. more from the poll (don't forget to recommend, this is great news!)

DIRECTION OF THE COUNTRY

Americans are now more pessimistic than they have been in recent months about the direction of the country. 62 percnet say things in the U.S. have seriously gotten off on the wrong track; one third says things are headed in the right direction. Rarely in this poll has the percentage who think the country is on the wrong track been this high; the most recent instance was in May 2004, when 65 percent said so.

[katsy]

22. Oh..

Really?

:sarcasm:

:nopity:


Well if they were disenchanted in May, where the fuck were their brains when it came time to vote?

:banghead:

[Beetwasher]

44. Indeed

Their brains were replaced by a Diebold computer chip.

[katsy]

45. Good point. eom

[Tuttle]

42. how come no DIEBOLD computers were polled?

n/t

Tut-tut

[Stinky The Clown]

5. 39% of (R) bad and 59% of (D) bad???

That's interesting. It either means they hate our asses or they think we're wimps for not standing up. In a perverse way, this could be good news. I don't know how th equestion was phrased, but it could be they want the repugs stifled and are beggin us to get new people in there to do it.

I just don't know .....

[NYC Liberal]

6. It means 39% of (R)s and 59% of (D)s disapprove of Congress..n/t

[Stinky The Clown]

7. Ah ..... I musta misread it ... need new glasses? ... I'm old? .... my dog

ate the report? :)

[NYC Liberal]

8. Had a "Bush moment"?

:P

[Rose Siding]

9. To know DeLay, is to not like him

snip>
While most Americans don't know a great deal about the Republican leaders of Congress, Tom DeLay – the House majority leader embroiled in a scandal over possible ethics violations – is the best known and the least liked.

While seven in ten are undecided or don’t know enough about DeLay to rate his job performance, among those familiar with him, three times as many (22 percent) have a negative view as have a positive one (7 percent).

[JoFerret]

10. The exterminator

...thrives under stones and in darkness.

(The only positive thing about him is that he is obviously FRENCH.)

[Toots]

12. obviously FRENCH

:-) LOL

[snippy]

18. To know him is to loathe him. n/t

[alfredo]

15. do I detect a glimmer of intelligence?

[Cha]

16. Congress has been "up to" screwing

the American People and they'd better get a clue before it's too late. And I don't mean by watching and reading the mainstream media..they're bought and paid for by the fascists!

[sonicx]

17. This is OK, but Bush deserves below 40.

More like below 10.

The poll also said Congressional Dems were viewed more favorably than Pukes.

[dweller]

19. what? 68% don't know what Congress did in the last year?

DU needs a recruitment drive.

dp

[UCLA Dem]

21. not surprising at all. most people have no idea what's going on.

[renaissanceguy]

33. These people take voting for granted.

It's a shame we have to worry about the ignorants when it comes to election time.


http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues.14744291

[progressivebydesign]

27. Unless the Congress competed on American Idol...

..how would the average American hold a clue as to what was going on in the House??

[dweller]

29. i watch CBS, ABC and NBC by arial antenna

no cable, no satellite, and compare what i read on the internet and mainly DU to those news sources.

They are reporting Congressional activity. It's not the highlight of the newscast, but it is there if you listen.

i would surmise, no one is listening.

dp

[Robbien]

30. That 68% don't know but still don't like what's happening

The mood of the country is changing.

[dweller]

31. they don't like what they don't know about?

okay, it's a gut feeling i guess. And that works for now if it makes them inquisitive.

maybe they sheep will look up.
dp

[snippy]

20. Sooner or later Americans always get tired of corrupt one party control.

[napi21]

23. I want to know why, if Congress has such low ratings, 90% get re-elected?

That doesn't make sense to me.

I can buy the 44% for Shrub even though 51% voted for him. Partly because some expected him to be different than he is being, and some just didn't like Kerry.

But members of both houses are relected almost all the time. THAT I don't understand?

[stevedeshazer]

37. Gerrymandering

The re-election rate among established House members is something like 95%

I'd bet that your congresswo/man is safe for re-election, too. Mine is.

[acmavm]

24. Crap, does this mean it's time for another 'terrorist' attack?

.

[Rose Siding]

25. An Iowa poll gives him 42% approval

DES MOINES --- President Bush's handling of the federal budget and his plan to revamp Social Security have caused his approval ratings among Iowans to slump, according to the latest Iowa Poll.

The poll, published in the Des Moines Sunday Register, shows that 42 percent of adult Iowans approve of the job Bush is doing, while 53 percent disapprove. Five percent are undecided.
.....
The poll showed that just 34 percent of Iowans think the country is headed in the right direction. Sixty-one percent say they believe the nation is on the wrong path.

That is a change from a May 2003 Iowa Poll that showed 55 percent of Iowans thought the country was going in the right direction, while 37 percent said it was headed down the wrong track.

http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2005/04/18/news/breaking_news/4f0c295a4fedd36286256fe7003776c5.txt

65% disapprove of his Social Security effort, 68% disapprove of budget handling.

[progressivebydesign]

26. Okay... can we all start talking about the Mid-Term elections now?? n/t

[renaissanceguy]

34. Or how about recalling the chimp?

He has one of the worst second-term ratings in history. Why should we deal with three and a half more years of something we're not happy about?

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues.14744291

[intheflow]

28. Good News/Bad News.

Good news: "The Terri Schiavo case was not mentioned as a top concern."

Bad news: Conyers work on election fraud was not mentioned as a top concern. :(

[are_we_united_yet]

35. Porr marks? For George W Bush?

Come on. I don't believe it.

[AuntiBush]

36. Not Good When Most American's Don't Know!

My state knows, including most Repuks that are ANGRY they voted for Rethugs. Only a few are ANGRY because, as one told me today... they have a right to kill "us" Liberal Dem's because they are true American's and we are not.

True... I was threatened on my college web-based post board. Teacher MIA on issue & calls will be made tomorrow. Sore losers feel they have a duty to abide by Repuks... being told in their churchs and civil meetings. Learned this today from a very mean, hateful, nasty man.

[Voltaire99]

39. Poll finds Murricans "mad as hell"...

...and planning to take more of it!

[Catfight]

40. What? isn't gay marriage their top priority and wayward Pharmacist?

Phooey on the war, economy, jobs, social insecurity, terrorism and gas prices...what are these people thinking?

sarcasm off...just a bunch of juggling religious nuts if you ask me, the insane can vote now.

[Cats Against Frist]

43. What scares me is that

30 percent of Democrats "think the Congress is doing just fine."

???? The House of Lords and the Baby Chamber are about the most disgraceful bunch of idiots I've ever seen, excluding a VERY FEW.

[bushisanidiot]

46. Americans to AWOL Bush: YOU SUCK!!!

Time for a recall, president pussy!!

[AnneD]

47. What scared me

was that most American's could say what congress has done to er for them. Off the top of my head.....bankruptcy bill (boy that's going to bite them), changes to the overtime laws, tax laws, repeal of inheritance tax, changes in law suit damage awards, patriot act.....HELLOOO <finger snap>.....jeez the lights on and no one is home. Personally, if they can't name one thing congress has done, they shouldn't be allowed to vote.

[renaissanceguy]

48. RECALL the chimp!

I'd guarantee the Repugs would do it if Kerry were president and had low ratings like this.


http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/472476