How is John Boehner doing since he took over as Speaker of the House?
Or, in words:
A new record-low 11% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, the lowest single rating in Gallup’s history of asking this question since 1974. This earns Congress a 17% yearly average for 2011, the lowest annual congressional approval rating in Gallup history.
My friend Josh Holland reminded me that Rasmussen found that 11% of the public thinks communism is a morally superior system to our own. I think if you boil down a pot of Stupid until it’s dry, you are left with 11% of the public.
Boehner may discover that it is impossible to refine the Stupid any more than this.
If you take the average stupid republican, you have to come to the conclusion that half of them are more stupid.
the disapproval number is also pretty impressive
I’m coming to the conclusion that Boehner is only 1/2 to blame for the Repulitards in the House. He’s consistently shown in Press-cons and interviews he flat-out lacks the leadership capability to manage his Party.
My suspicion is that Eric Cantor is the man behind the curtain for more than one might suspect, along with a few Tea Party Republicans (Paul Ryan comes to mind), to formulate policy and Strategy in the House, and Boehner is the convenient Charlie McCarthy for them.
Nice — but ten bucks says the GOP still holds the House and takes the Senate (and wins the presidency if Romney’s the nominee).
When Republicans fuck up, it’s “government’s” fault — and “government” is Democratic by definition to most Americans, thanks to relentless right-wing propaganda. The only time Americans stop thinking like that is when the GOP has held the White House long enough to be equated with government (which takes a minimum of six years). And then, once a Democrat wins the presidency, everything bad about government is the Democrats’ fault again.
you’re really pessimistic. I think we’ll take the House with a little wiggle room, but not much. I think we have a decent shot to at least hold the Senate to 50-50. And I think Obama will probably win with about 55% against Romney, 59% against anyone else.
The polls are all over the map, but Public Policy Polling is about to release a poll showing Romney beating Obama. And Gallup has Obama tied with Romney and Newt.
Democrats still can’t message. Occupiers still can’t message. I’m gloomy.
You’re so crazy.
There’s a good West Wing moment about this. “Give me the next ten words.”
You think this President is vulnerable? Give me the next ten words. Show your work. Where is he possibly going to do worse against Romney than against McCain? He won 365 in the EC and had a +10M margin of victory nationwide, and is only helped by demographic changes of the last four years.
Who are the 12-13M people Mitt Romney has to convince to change their 2008 votes and go with him?
They’re in the unemployment lines. Or they’ve given up looking for work. Or, smaller in number, they’re “progressives” who won’t vote for Romney, but will stay home or vote for a third party candidate because Obama turned out to be exactly who he said he was, not who they dreamed him to be.
I take polls with a grain of salt; we’re a long way out, and a lot can happen. But they’re a far more reliable indicator than old West Wing episodes. For three years the economy has been in the toilet for most people. Obama owns that, and in any normal year it would be enough to sink him. I’m inclined to think he’ll win in 2012 just because the R brand is so reviled right now, but we’d be wise to take absolutely nothing for granted.
“Obama owns that”
Not according to public opinion polling. From October.
A majority (51%) of voters still blames the nation’s current economic problems on the recession that began under President George W. Bush rather than the economic policies of President Obama.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/october_2011/most_still
_blame_bad_economy_on_bush_era_recession
While he’s obviously getting some blame, Obama, like FDR and Reagan, inherited a lousy economy, as opposed to seeing the economy go into recession during his term. That’s why he’s polling like them, and not like George H.W. Bush or Jimmy Carter.
link?
A tale of two polls:
PPP – Romney ahead of Obama
and/but:
CNN: Obama leads Romney 52-45
I don’t get it. Tea-baggers obviously make hatred of congress a key plank in their resentment pitch. And in fact the more people blame congress for the lack of progress, whatever they might like that to be, the further the corporatist agenda is advanced. And this is true whatever little fantastical goodies corpratist pols may have promised at some point.
CNN (pdf) finds similarly disastrous results for the Republicans, the Republican Party, and the presidential candidates.
If polls are simply “snapshots in time”, then I would want to throw away this snapshot and burn the negative if I were a Republican.
There is really not a shred of good news for them in any of that poll. Even self identified Republicans and Conservatives disapprove of Congress in numbers equal to Democrats. Amazing!!
yep.
and I spent the morning watching the House in operation. It’s so bad that the Democrats are almost half-hearted about arguing with them. Boehner’s caucus is just reading the same talking point about wanting a year instead of a two-month bill. They seem honestly think that this talking point will shield them from the wrath of their constituents when they get a $1000 bill from the IRS.
It really has become just a show of opposition for opposition’s sake on anything and everything of any substance. There is no cogent plan or direction on the GOP side. Just jumping up and down and stamping of feet. One big tantrum. It should be a worldwide embarrassment to anyone who gives a damn about the country and its direction. I just don’t see how they think that the public will not notice.
But, of course, their goal is really only legislative carpet-bombing while they have the opportunity. Inflict maximum damage in the minimum amount of time.
And this will probably achieve what they want in some small way. It will continue to sour the outlook about the functions of government, in general, in the minds of the low information voters and nudge their mental narrative ever so slightly farther right in that regard.
They don’t really care about the short term implications, though. I think this behavior is probably more about the long-game strategy of poisoning the well of government one drop at a time.
That’s not the way the payroll tax works at all. In fact, that’s the reason why 2/3 of the country or whatever swears up and down that Obama raised their taxes to begin with. The cuts got lost under brutal wage stagnation and decline. So too might the rate restoration.
I had a wonderful little dream today.
The DCCC running ads in the Richmond media market, saying:
“Did you notice your pay check got a little smaller this year? Thank Eric Cantor. He used his power as Republican Majority Leader to block an extension of the payroll tax holiday. Take a look at a recent pay check. Look at the number under “FICA.” Now look at one from last year.
See the difference? That’s what we call the “Cantor Tax.” Thanks, Eric. Thanks a lot.”
Whaddya think?
Sweet! Simply insert the name of the local Republican congressperson and run that same commercial all across the country.
So they lose an election. They’ll still have veto power. This or that republican may be out but the machine will be just find, and what public government can do will continue to be constrained by the mantra of deficit cutting without touching defense or regressive tax breaks.
When have Democrats ever used the power they have to the utmost?
I don’t agree with the attitude but I think it’s a plausible explanation of why the republicans have been so willing to aggressively break government. Even if they get blamed for it memory is short.
What this poll says to me is not just that somewhere approaching 90 of the populace disapproves of “congress” (The pollable populace by the way, which means those most likely to vote and excludes a shadow populace, many of the members of which would vote if only they thought that their vote would actually matter), but that vast numbers of Americans now disapprove the the entire government. RatPubs, DemRats, congress, the whole federal bureaucracy…the works.
A “Throw da bastids out!!!” poll.
Now who…of all of the candidates for the most powerful office in the land (besides perhaps head of the CIA or Goldman Sachs, of course) …is essentially preaching the same message?
Duh.
OHHHHhhhh yes.
And despite all opposition, he just keeps on preaching it.
And he keeps on winning.
I told you in August. Valdez IS Coming. (Only He’s Looking A Lot Like Ron Paul)
How far off was I? Not very. Not so far. And “so far” has been a long, long way already.
Watch.
The American soul is not dead yet.
It’s just been taking some time off.
Watch.
Will he “win?”
He’s already won.
He has brought the anti-war movement to real national attention.
When was the last time that happened?
Hmmmmm…
Yup.
Long ago and far away.
Only now it’s yer helpful. friendly ol’ next door neighbor doing the talking instead of a buncha dirty hippies and anarchists.
Hmmmmmm…
Intersting, eh?
I think so.
AG
I would love for Ron Paul to win the nomination. It’s nice that he seems to be taking running seriously for once instead of wasting his followers’ money.
We will see.
Yes we will.
Call you Ishmael?
Call him Valdez.
Watch.
AG
I would also love Ron Paul to win the nomination.
Can you imagine an Obama-Paul campaign? Real, substantive treatment of the issues; two candidates who treat the electorate like adults instead of children or pawns; actual ideas exchanged during the debates; and even a certain level of respect and decorum.
I’d be interested to know if a similar poll asks those in Republican districts if they approve of their district’s congressman. I would bet they would fare much better, but I could be wrong.
Actually, there was a Pew Survey similar to this, last month, in which voters in Tea Party districts were asked about their opinions after ten months of TP representation. The answer to your question:
Two takeaways: The “drown government in a bathtub” crowd looks worse the closer anyone, even stalwart Republicans, look; and Democrats need to contest everywhere in 2012. A lot of lean-Republican voters are pretty disgusted right now.
I think communism is morally superior. It’s just impossible to practice that way because of human greed. Some level of socialism on the other hands, work far better.
“Congress” means the House and the Senate last time I looked. So how does record disapproval of a failed organization half controlled by Reps and half by Dems translate into a win for Dems? American voters mostly don’t know shit about anything, but I think they do know that the Dems control the Senate. So what am I missing here?
Except that the Republicans control the House, and they consistently and flamboyantly refuse to work with the Democrats, even after the respective house and senate leaders have worked out a deal beforehand. As for the Senate, although it is technically controlled by the Democrats, that majority doesn’t help them any time the Republicans want to take advantage of the rule of 60.
The American public may have a slow learning curve, but it has gradually gotten through their thick skulls that the deadlock and the game-playing in Congress is more the fault of the Republicans than the Democrats.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories1/70493html
It will be a freaking miracle if anyone who watches the major broadcast networks ever gets a clue. Just listened to Brian Williams and NBC give their take on the current payroll tax deadlock. And it was painted as another, “see, Democrats and Republicans just can’t agree. Where oh where is the compromise? Obama is coming out combative and getting the Republican’s faces”
Not one single time did they mention that the two month extension passed the Senate in a very bipartisan vote. You would never know what has actually happened if all you watched was Brian Williams. What a worthless piece of shit these “journalists” are. I’m convinced that, like Fox watchers, you will actually know less when you get done watching these bozos than if you watched nothing at all.
Well, I do watch nothing at all. I haven’t watched TV news in at least 15 years. And I imagine that’s the case with more and more people. Or maybe they watch it and throw things at the screen. Polls are showing that most Americans now know enough to blame the Republicans.