Posted on 03/23/2007 1:14:11 PM PDT by janereinheimer
APPROVAL RATINGS FOR CONGRESS DIPPING (AGAIN)
Many of the newbies rode into town and thought they were going to shine like radiant little stars. After all, they had been promised --and had promised the taxpayers back home -- that they were about to solve all the problems of the western world. And maybe even Antarctica, since that was a subject that also warmed their hearts.
Little did they realize that there would actually be people in Washington who did not agree with them. Nobody ever told them that. Here they thought they'd be insulated from those mean old Republicans and others, even some in their own party, who disagreed with them.
Somewhere along the way, they actually had to confront regular, ordinary taxpayers who also did not agree with them.
What had happened to their world? The grandeur of their innocence suddenly started to smell just as bad as the very people they replaced. They were actually taking all that PAC money that seemed to be just falling out of the sky.
"Here, have some more," the PACmasters gleefully told them. "You've got all those campaign debts to pay off. Why not start off with a clean slate when you get sworn in."
"Are you sure?" the newbies asked.
"Sure, I'm sure," the PACmasters whispered in their cute little ears.
"Is it legal?" the newbies asked.
"Of course, it's legal," the PACmasters assured the newbie baffoons. "Would I lie to you?"
"I guess not," the innocent little newbies said, tentatively.
That was then, and this is now.
They rode into town and joined the Big Mess on the Potomac. There are Democrats who'd rather be caught dead than be caught actually speaking to a Republican.
And there are Republicans who run the other way when they see anything that looks like a Democrat coming their way.
Then there are all those protestors. How did they get into the back hallways anyway?
How are we supposed to sneak out of the chamber and slink back to our offices if there are all these newspaper types and protestors hanging around back there ready to pounce on us?
Get them out of here. They can't tell us what to do. We are the Congress!
Sure you are. And your approval rating is slipping again. Didn't you hear?
In fact your approval rating is actually less than that of the president. You know, the guy you've all been told to disagree with. How do you like that?
So just remember that Gallup says only 28% of the American taxpayers actually approve of what you're doing up here under the Dome. Yes, newbies, that means you.
President Bush's overall leadership approval rating has jumped up to 41.6%. So next time you think the people in the United States don't like him or approve of the job he's doing, just remember that he's nearly twenty points ahead of you Domed Ones.
Oh, and by the way, the Republicans? The taxpayers gave a 75.9% approval rating for the ones you apparently don't want to emulate since they're on the "wrong side" of the aisle. (Investors Business Daily, March 2007 poll).
From a historical perspective, Truman left office with a 22% rating.*
Johnson left office with ratings in the low 30s.*
Bush 41 left office with ratings at 28%.*
And Bush 43? He's doing okay. Just remember, his approval is better than yours.
Don't crow too much. Unless you want to be a one-term newbie. That could happen too. Especially if you let Aunt Nancy whip you into her image. She's gonna be a one-term speaker, probably.
She's only just kidding when she says she's the most powerful woman in America. She doesn't really believe it. And you shouldn't either. She can't even keep her troops in line.
Why just today, for instance, the big fat initiative to de-fund the troop needs in Iraq and Afghanistan failed in Aunt Nancy's House. Out of all that political rhethoric that's been flying around, when the final votes were counted, it was 218 to fund, and 212 to not fund.
That means our soldiers get more ammo, food, and armor from the taxpayers back home.
Not from the domed ones. The troops over there will remember that you guys under the dome were going to leave them high and dry because you thought you were supposed to play political war games with their Commander in Chief.
The groundswell you hear in the background is called Troop Surge.
Of course, you realize that this whole deal will be vetoed if your bill, which carries a March 2008 deadline, goes through the Senate. Since none of you guys are military experts, how in the world do you presume to tell our best and our brightest how to win a war? Or how long it ought to take?
So just get back to doing the job you were elected to do. If you had wanted to run a war, you should have joined the military. Politicians do not know how to do that, so leave it to the experts who are trained to be the best fighting team in the world.
At first, I thought that this 100 hour deal sounded like a real ambitious plan.
But then, it was explained that it was 100 legislative hours. Well, since Congress takes more time off than school teachers, the 100 hours would take forever.
Then, it was legislative hours that was working on vote stuff.
So it looked more and more like a rubber ruler that meant nothing. They ended up passing all their initiatives but only two of them were ideas that they actually had the power to do something about -- like their ethics rules, which is a joke. And something else equally meaningless.
What a scream!
Democrats told voters..."Its Time for a Change."
What change?
Mark Kirk is our congressman too.
I'm really disappointed with him.
We have emailed him several times but all we get is a letter to donate to his campaign.
I finally sent him a Valentine's Day Card to tell him how much he broke my heart.
My husband and I don't know if we want to vote for him. He nearly lost his seat by 1% by Bond.
Kirk is cartering to a Democrat base...Lake County is no longer a Republican stronghold.
I've never voted for Kirk. I leave that section of the ballot blank. He's as liberal as all of the Democrats he beat, so I don't care who wins. Last year, he beat Dan Seals, 53%-47%.
The real question is: 'WHY is congress's approval rating so HIGHT' 28% is way, way higher than I would give them, more like -32%:-()
I'd like to hear it if you ever get one.
I'm thinking pro-choice, pro-illegal alien, pro-gay marriage, anti-gun rights, pro-pork barrel spending is the new definition of conservative.
These are the very same Hate America Democrats who have been pushing for defeat all along are'nt they? The very ones who, while in office, have allowed this immigration invasion to happen without lifting one finger and who have place all of the blame on GWB?
These are the same ones who are attempting to conduct a naked "fishing expedition" out of this bogus "show trial" regarding the firing of 8 US attorneys.
You have some doubts about thier sincerety, do you?
P.S. No, I didn't stay home on election day.
To get to only 28% though, with the Republicans' approval rating at 75% suggests some pretty bad numbers for the Democrats to bring the overall rating down that low.
I don't know of a poll that differentiates approvals between liberals and conservatives, just political parties.
Doesn't mean such a poll isn't out there; I just haven't seen it. Would like to though, so if you get your hands on a link, please pass it on.
Please do!
I think we can do a lot of work between now and the next election. Nothing beats slime-ball politics like real numbers.
'Rats down, Bush up to 43% in Rasmussen poll. Fight back W, call a traitor a traitor. That's it!
Rat a Rat, I like that.
Fred Thompson, where are you!?!?!?
We need to extract ice core samples to find the last time they were above 50%.
You are'nt alone in mistakenly hanging these past years of rotten governance on the Republican Party...lots of dimwits are doing it.
Sorry, but you'll be sad to know that they did'nt act alone, infact they could'nt do it by themselves. They had help. From guess who?
The Dems were in on it all along.
Instead of firing one party over another maybe they should all be fired or, short of that. be held responsible for acting responsibly!
What a novel concept. It'll never fly.
Makes too much sense.
He's comin' 'round the mountain I believe/hope/pray. But I don't think he's going to jump in so early. All these other guys are doing is flying around the country spreading their greenhouse gasses out the doors of the planes when they ought to be in Washington working, not campaigning.
Where'd they ever get the idea they were self-employed? If I had a job and were not self-employed, I could just see me going to my boss saying something like, "I want to run for president so I'm not sure how often I'll be here for work in the next 20 months or so."
Problem is, the senators apparently don't think the taxpayers are their bosses! Once they're elected, it's no longer just their constituency they're working for. They need to wake up to that thought!
Term limits is the only thing that makes sense. That and getting rid of the PACs so they can't start shaking the money tree as soon as they get to The Dome. That's the second only other thing that makes sense.
Term limits seems like a sort of leash law for "attack politicians", Janie.
In my exasperation I'd rather see "accountability" as a performance measure. (Yes I know it is hopelessly naive to expect people to do what they say they are going to do.)
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