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-Cp
06-13-2007, 03:09 PM
Gee.. what a shock:

WASHINGTON — Fueled by disappointment at the pace of change since Democrats assumed the majority on Capitol Hill, public approval of Congress has fallen to its lowest level in more than a decade, according to a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll.

Just 27% of Americans now approve of the way Congress is doing its job, the poll found, down from 36% in January, when Democrats assumed control of the House and the Senate.

And 63% of Americans say that the new Democratic Congress is governing in a "business as usual" manner, rather than working to bring the fundamental change that party leaders promised after November's midterm election.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), the first woman to hold that position, has also failed to impress many Americans. Only 36% approve of the way she is handling the job, the poll found.

In contrast, 46% of Americans in the current poll said they approved of the way Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia handled the job after he led the GOP into the majority in 1994.

The poll also found continued public unhappiness with President Bush, whose approval ratings have been stuck below 40% since last year.

Public disappointment with Congress swelled before Republicans lost power in November. Democrats swept in on promises to end the war and tackle a host of popular domestic issues, including raising the minimum wage, reducing prices on prescription drugs, promoting stem cell research and ending corruption.

Although some Democratic initiatives have passed the House, few have won passage in the Senate, where the party has held the majority by one vote.

Bush and his Capitol Hill allies have thus far managed to block every Democratic attempt to force a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, much to the chagrin of Democrats around the country.

"They just haven't seemed to have gathered things together the way they should," said Martha Wilde, 81, a Democrat from Remer, Minn., who said she had been particularly disappointed in congressional Democrats' lack of progress confronting the Bush administration over the war.

"I think they should force them more," Wilde said.

A third of liberal Democrats, who constitute the party's base, approve of the job Congress is doing; 58% disapprove, the poll found.

That's a dramatic change from January, when a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll found that 43% of liberal Democrats approved of the job Congress was doing and 36% disapproved.

Representatives of Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Democrats were undeterred by the public's anger.

"The American people are rightly frustrated with the ongoing war in Iraq, and Democrats will continue to work with Republicans to force the president to change direction in Iraq so our troops can come home and we can refocus our efforts on fighting terrorism," said Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami.

The poll was conducted Thursday through Sunday; 1,183 adults were surveyed by telephone. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-pelosi12jun12,0,7184922.story

Hagbard Celine
06-13-2007, 03:23 PM
Approval of a US president: Lowest in three decades. :dunno: Somebody needs to press the "reset" button on our whole government.

glockmail
06-13-2007, 03:43 PM
Approval of a US president: Lowest in three decades. :dunno: Somebody needs to press the "reset" button on our whole government.
Leave it to you to ignore the real story and bash Bush. He's got a higher approval rating than Pelosi, Reid, and Congress as a whole.

Dilloduck
06-13-2007, 03:49 PM
Leave it to you to ignore the real story and bash Bush. He's got a higher approval rating than Pelosi, Reid, and Congress as a whole.

Heck---I'm watching C-Span right now watching the dems trying to make sure all earmarks are well hidden on the Homeland Security Bill. Transparency in government, my ass. :laugh2:

Lightning Waltz
06-13-2007, 03:55 PM
Approval of a US president: Lowest in three decades. :dunno: Somebody needs to press the "reset" button on our whole government.

What's even more telling is that congress (as a whole) generally has a lower approval rating that what people feel about their particular representative, and congress generally has a lowever approval rating than the president...

Lightning Waltz
06-13-2007, 03:57 PM
It also sounds, from the article, that Congress has such a low approval rating because they aren't standing up to Bush enough...

Dilloduck
06-13-2007, 04:03 PM
It also sounds, from the article, that Congress has such a low approval rating because they aren't standing up to Bush enough...

Another example of the worthlessness of polls. I wouldn't bet a plug nickle on what people were really thinking when they responded to who knows what kind of questions.

Monkeybone
06-13-2007, 04:17 PM
i wanna know where they take these polls too.

and i could see how ppl are dissapointed, the Dems promised promised promised (even republicans do too, yes i know) and when they don't deliever of course ppl ain't gonna be happy.

Guernicaa
06-13-2007, 04:25 PM
Their approval is low because:
A)They have not gotten us out of Iraq yet.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-06-26-iraq-poll_x.htm
B)They are not punishing the greedy geezers who run the oil companies.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/27/AR2006042702122.html
C)They are not saving Americans from the Reich’s attack on choice.
http://www.pollingreport.com/abortion.htm
(Face it bitches! Americans are pro-Choice!)
D)Americans want health care. Badly. And the Reich better come to terms with that fact.
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/US/healthcare031020_poll.html

Hagbard Celine
06-13-2007, 04:40 PM
Leave it to you to ignore the real story and bash Bush. He's got a higher approval rating than Pelosi, Reid, and Congress as a whole.

No, leave it to beaver.

Guernicaa
06-13-2007, 05:02 PM
No, leave it to beaver.
duhhhh