New NYT/CBS Poll; Disapproval of Congress 82%/Approval of Tea Party 20%

[auditor0007]

Disapproval rate for Congress at record 82% after debt talks

WASHINGTON — The debate over raising the debt ceiling, which brought the nation to the brink of default, has sent disapproval of Congress to its highest level on record and left most Americans saying that creating jobs should now take priority over cutting spending, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll

A record 82 percent of Americans now disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job — the most since The Times first began asking the question in 1977, and even more than after another political stalemate led to a shutdown of the federal government in 1995.

More than four out of five people surveyed said that the recent debt-ceiling debate was more about gaining political advantage than about doing what is best for the country. Nearly three-quarters said that the debate had harmed the image of the United States in the world.

Republicans in Congress shoulder more of the blame for the difficulties in reaching a debt-ceiling agreement than President Obama and the Democrats, the poll found.

The Republicans compromised too little, a majority of those polled said. All told, 72 percent disapproved of the way Republicans in Congress handled the negotiations, while 66 percent disapproved of the way Democrats in Congress handled negotiations.

The public was more evenly divided about how President Obama handled the debt ceiling negotiations: 47 percent disapproved and 46 percent approved

The public's opinion of the Tea Party movement has soured in the wake of the debt-ceiling debate. The Tea Party is now viewed unfavorably by 40 percent of the public and favorably by just 20 percent, according to the poll. In mid-April 29 percent of those polled viewed the movement unfavorably, while 26 percent viewed it favorably. And 43 percent of Americans now think the Tea Party has too much influence on the Republican Party, up from 27 percent in mid-April.

For more: NYT: Record disapproval rate for Congress - politics - The New York Times - msnbc.com

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Oh I know folks are going to complain that it's the New York Times. But other polls reflect the same sentiment. There seems to be consistency.

The American people have also have said in poll after poll that they want compromise to the point they demand compromise. Yet, the will of "We the People" was ignored and particularly by the Tea Party. Based on the reaction by the general public and by conservatives (see Frum thread), it was quite evident who took the US to the edge of the cliff.

The GOP would be doing themselves a favor by ditching the Tea Party because the Tea Party will probably drag them down in 2012.

So what? And I am not ripping on your post, but the fact is that it doesn't mean shit. Come election time, 90% of incumbents will be re-elected. When polls like this are done, people blame Congress but they exempt their own representatives believing that it is just the rest of Congress that is the problem.

 

[Poli_Sigh]

"One of the penalties of refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."
— Plato

"Thanks to TV and for the convenience of TV, you can only be one of two kinds of human beings, either a liberal or a conservative."
— Kurt Vonnegut

"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests."
— Patrick Henry

 

[jgarden]

In 1981, Reagan inherited from Carter a national debt/GDP ratio of 32.5%, the lowest since the end of WW2.

Since that time 3 Republican presidents have increased it by 61.4%, with CW Bush leaving a debt/GDP ratio of 82.4% at the beginning of 2009. Clinton was actually responsible for reducing it by 9.7%, while by the end of 2010 Obama had increased it by 9.0% - making him the first Democratic president to increase the debt/GDP ratio since WW2.

Where is there any sense of responsiblity by Republicans for the national debt, and why did they decide to address the problem only after they were voted out of office?

 

[Qball]

Quinnipiac poll
Quinnipiac poll: Americans favor Obama, Dems over GOP in debt ceiling debate | Video

Pew Poll (another hit on the Tea Party)
Verdict on the Debt Ceiling Negotiations: ‘Ridiculous,’ ‘Stupid,’ ‘Disgusting’ « Poll Watch Daily

Gallup Poll
Amid Debt Clash, Approval of Parties in Congress Low but Steady

Because I'm "fair & balanced"
Rasmussen Poll
Most Voters Are Unhappy With Both Sides in the Debt Ceiling Debate - Rasmussen Reports™

Though the liberal meme about how stupid the average American is annoys me greatly, I would say it becomes harder to poll issues that turn on more than just opinion.

Most Americans are too busy living their lives to be bogged down in politics, and for good reason, because it's depressing as all hell. But to your average American, Obama looks like a cool oasis of thought amongst the bickering Congressmen on either side. For political junkies, it's obvious Obama's doing what he's always done, which is vote "present", and let everybody else do the work.

Even though I think it's an adult point, it's also something you'd really understand if you follow politics for several months at a time, but people hate politicians who actually do shit other than try to win elections. Governance is messy and policy disputes can take months, even years, to iron out. Speaking in vague terms to where people can read their intentions onto you is how Obama got elected, and he's tried doing the same thing in every major policy debate he's had since.

Also, regardless of opinion, the only way to solve the debt crisis is either by cutting spending or cutting spending and raising taxes. Republicans don't want tax increases, but Obama does, so he speaks in terms that make them seem unreasonable, all the while pretending like there's no method to their madness.

Republicans believe that when you make it cheaper to do business, more business will occur, thus there will be more to tax. When you get people back to work, they will have more income (to tax) with which to buy things (to tax). These will produce revenue the government can use to pay off our debts. Instead, Obama just wants to hike up taxes on people who already have a bunch of money while viewing spending as an after-thought. But Econ 101 should tell you, even if you tax at 100%, if you have runaway, out-of-control spending, you'll have be in debt.

Does the average American understand these arguments, or do they just get the soundbites? Do they understand that while the House Republicans passed two bills (the first of which was tabled in the Senate, the second the Democrats refused outright) to cut spending and raise the debt ceiling, Democrats haven't had a single hard vote on the budget? Does the average American understand Obama has yet to lay out his own proposal for the budget crisis? Or do they just follow either of the partisan defaults: "Republicans are extremists who would rather this country default than work with Obama and his lucid, cerebral budget proposals" (false) or "Democrats just want to spend spend spend and Republicans want a balanced budget and nothing more" (also false).

 

[JoeB131]

47% disapproved of Obama, while 40% disapproved of the TEA Party. Sounds like more people are angry at Obama about this. 72% disapproved of the way Republicans handled it, while 66% disapproved of the way Democrats acted.

Really, no one came out of this mess looking good. And that's probably the way it should be.

The real problem is that we want government to do a bunch of stuff, and we want someone else to pay for it. That is no longer an option, and both parties have woken up to that reality.

 

[Toro]

Disapproval rate for Congress at record 82% after debt talks

WASHINGTON — The debate over raising the debt ceiling, which brought the nation to the brink of default, has sent disapproval of Congress to its highest level on record and left most Americans saying that creating jobs should now take priority over cutting spending, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll

A record 82 percent of Americans now disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job — the most since The Times first began asking the question in 1977, and even more than after another political stalemate led to a shutdown of the federal government in 1995.

More than four out of five people surveyed said that the recent debt-ceiling debate was more about gaining political advantage than about doing what is best for the country. Nearly three-quarters said that the debate had harmed the image of the United States in the world.

Republicans in Congress shoulder more of the blame for the difficulties in reaching a debt-ceiling agreement than President Obama and the Democrats, the poll found.

The Republicans compromised too little, a majority of those polled said. All told, 72 percent disapproved of the way Republicans in Congress handled the negotiations, while 66 percent disapproved of the way Democrats in Congress handled negotiations.

The public was more evenly divided about how President Obama handled the debt ceiling negotiations: 47 percent disapproved and 46 percent approved

The public's opinion of the Tea Party movement has soured in the wake of the debt-ceiling debate. The Tea Party is now viewed unfavorably by 40 percent of the public and favorably by just 20 percent, according to the poll. In mid-April 29 percent of those polled viewed the movement unfavorably, while 26 percent viewed it favorably. And 43 percent of Americans now think the Tea Party has too much influence on the Republican Party, up from 27 percent in mid-April.

For more: NYT: Record disapproval rate for Congress - politics - The New York Times - msnbc.com

=================================

Oh I know folks are going to complain that it's the New York Times. But other polls reflect the same sentiment. There seems to be consistency.

The American people have also have said in poll after poll that they want compromise to the point they demand compromise. Yet, the will of "We the People" was ignored and particularly by the Tea Party. Based on the reaction by the general public and by conservatives (see Frum thread), it was quite evident who took the US to the edge of the cliff.

The GOP would be doing themselves a favor by ditching the Tea Party because the Tea Party will probably drag them down in 2012.

Funny--but the poll below CNN poll shows that 66% of the American public favored the Tea Party bill that was passed in the house--that Harry Reid Tabled and that Barack Obama stated he would VETO. It was called Cut-Cap--and Balance. And 74% of those polled want a balanced budget amendment--another one of those tea party amendments.

Two-thirds of Americans support House Cut Cap and Balance Plan | Conn Carroll | Beltway Confidential | Washington Examiner

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Your poll came from one of the above--LOL

From multiple polls over the past year, Americans also

- Support not cutting social security
- Support not cutting medicare
- Support not raising taxes on themselves
- Support raising taxes on the rich
- Support not cutting defense spending
- Believe the budget can be balance by cutting foreign aid, government workers and "fraud and waste" and other trivial items.

Tea Party support has been falling for the past 18 months. Of course, many if not most Tea Party people won't believe that, because THEY themselves have not wavered in their views, and thus refuse to recognize that the vast majority of people no longer support them. It's called "confirmation bias," and it is especially prevalent amongst people with deeply held beliefs. But Tea Party support has tanked, whether the Tea Party people want to believe it or not. For example, Tea Party governor Rick Scott has the highest disapproval rating in the history of Florida polling.

But that shouldn't surprise anyone with an ounce of objectivity. Disapproval always rises for those in power during times of economic stress, no matter who or what party is in power. Now that we have 60 Tea Party people in Congress, their disapproval rating has risen too, just like everyone else's.

 

[Old Rocks]

Well, I think that the disaproval of all in power at present will ratchet up significantly if the present economic debacle continues. A bunch of someones for sure has created an even worse situation.

 

[G.T.]

The perception that "my taxes are too high!!" will always be there amongst the Citizens.

That aside, I think a pretty clear perception of Washington is that it is run by the uber-rich, not by the Politicians. The politicians have a foot on their neck and no dignity. The people know this, but the "Political" faction of the population is too caught up in their fucking phony idealogical argument to be able to see it through the lining.

Class warfare is alive. Class warfare is backed by the U.S. Government. It is backed by the Federal Reserve. Except, the class warfare going on is that money is being funneled from every tom dick and jane and given to Corporations via "bailouts" when planned crashes occur, and loopholes via the retarded tax code.

Wake up.