DebateGate
General Category => 3DHS => Topic started by: Christians4LessGvt on July 16, 2008, 04:02:00 PM
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Democrat Congress: Lowest Approval Rating
in the History of Gallup Polling.
14 percent approval rating! - Way to go, Democrat majority!
The 75% currently disapproving of Congress is just shy of the record-high 78% in March 1992.
These results, from a July 10-13 Gallup Poll, follow 18 months of dismal job approval ratings for Congress, during which approval has usually registered below 30%, and has averaged only 25%.
Still, the 14% approval rating is extraordinary. Approval of Congress has fallen below 20% only six times in the 34 years Gallup has measured it. Including the latest reading, four of those have come in the past year: in July, June, and May 2008, and in August 2007. The two additional readings were from March 1992 (in the midst of the House bank check-kiting scandal) and June 1979 (during an energy crisis that resulted in surging gas prices and long gas lines), when either 18% or 19% of Americans approved of the job Congress was doing.
The most recent decline comes almost exclusively from Democrats, whose approval of Congress fell from 23% in June to 11% in July, while independents? and Republicans? views of Congress did not change much.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/108142/Confidence-Congress-Lowest-Ever-Any-US-Institution.aspx (http://www.gallup.com/poll/108142/Confidence-Congress-Lowest-Ever-Any-US-Institution.aspx)
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And do you know why?
The reason they are held in such low esteem is because they refuse to impeach and convict the criminals they have been supporting for the last 8 years.
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Yea, that has to be it
::)
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I guess that this blurb is about as relevant as Bush having the lowest approval rating in history too.
More evidence that the people are fed up with the fuckery of both parties.
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It is not the Democratic Congress that has the disapproval rating. It is Congress, the whole damn thing that has the rating.
But this does not mean doodly-squat, because the people do not vote for Congress; they only vote for one senator and one representative, and it is only that vote that counts, whatever the motive.
I expect many more Republicans to be thrown out than Democrats. I would also favor this, because the GOP has been beyond useless for many years now.
And no, no matter who wins, the new congress will NOT be more Christian by any definition, nor will it result in less government. Perhaps you would have better luck in Estonia, CU4.
You should have been born an Est.
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Yea, that has to be it
::)
It most certainly IS it.
What would you say the reasoning is?
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If IT was it, you might see their ratings go up by 5-10 points.....might. The reason it's so low is as Fat & Xo have referenced, both sides are screwing their bases. Pushing impeachment and some asanine war crimes tribunal would bring in the foaming at the mouth far left, while alienating, if not repulsing moderates & the right. Pushing massive tax cuts and defense spending might bring in more of the far right, but would again alienate moderates and the left
So, it's BOTH parties that are making the congressional ratings so pathetic, Brass. NOT what's specifically making the left side of the party so low
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If IT was it, you might see their ratings go up by 5-10 points.....might. The reason it's so low is as Fat & Xo have referenced, both sides are screwing their bases. Pushing impeachment and some asanine war crimes tribunal would bring in the foaming at the mouth far left, while alienating, if not repulsing moderates & the right. Pushing massive tax cuts and defense spending might bring in more of the far right, but would again alienate moderates and the left
So, it's BOTH parties that are making the congressional ratings so pathetic, Brass. NOT what's specifically making the left side of the party so low
So, what would you recommend they do to improve their rating with the American People?
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Do you want an answer that'll bring up their overall ratings, or just my ideological's side?
Overall, IMHO, SERIOUS fiscal discpline & responsibility, with cessation of massive out-of-control pork barrel spending would go a LONG ways in rehabilitating Congress's abysmal #'s. It would also come up with more tax relief for EVERYONE who pays taxes, (tax cuts that don't include "the rich" would be more of a boon to the left), and better enforcement of immigration laws, minus the fence (with the fence would be more of a boon to the right)
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Again, a disapproval rating of Congress cannot be compared with a disapproval rating of the president, because while a voter can vote against the president and VP, he can't vote against Congress, just for one senator and one Representative.
If we were to poll a large random sample of people in each state (for the senators) and in each Congressional District (for the Representative), so that only Nevadans were voting for Nevada's senators, and only people from the 12th Congressional District were voting for that Representative, and then we ascertained how popular each Congress person were with just his/her own constituents, then you might have a meaningful statistic.
CU4LG keeps coming up with these asinine meaningless "statistics" as though anyone would vote against the Democrats because of them, but I seriously doubt that anyone here is this dumb.
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Do you want an answer that'll bring up their overall ratings, or just my ideological's side?
Overall, IMHO, SERIOUS fiscal discpline & responsibility, with cessation of massive out-of-control pork barrel spending would go a LONG ways in rehabilitating Congress's abysmal #'s. It would also come up with more tax relief for EVERYONE who pays taxes, (tax cuts that don't include "the rich" would be more of a boon to the left), and better enforcement of immigration laws, minus the fence (with the fence would be more of a boon to the right)
I think that would only raise their approval in your estimation.
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"CU4LG keeps coming up with these asinine meaningless "statistics" "
Is frantically calling the Gallup Poll and other major media outlets to tell them
they are publishing "asinine meaningless statistics" and that these respected
polling and news organizations should be re-educated by some guy named XO
on some message board as to what polling data has meaning. ::)
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Do you want an answer that'll bring up their overall ratings, or just my ideological's side?
Overall, IMHO, SERIOUS fiscal discpline & responsibility, with cessation of massive out-of-control pork barrel spending would go a LONG ways in rehabilitating Congress's abysmal #'s. It would also come up with more tax relief for EVERYONE who pays taxes, (tax cuts that don't include "the rich" would be more of a boon to the left), and better enforcement of immigration laws, minus the fence (with the fence would be more of a boon to the right)
I think that would only raise their approval in your estimation.
Well, that would be your viewpoint. Seriously though, if you think trying to push impeachement and war crime tribunals were the way to boost Congress' #, you are seriously out to lunch, in my never so humble opinion. I could ask the same question for you, but I'm pretty confident of the MM Liberal Agenda that would come my way as a response........which would ironically help make my earlier point. But, let me not be seen as trying to read your mind, what should congress do to raise their #'s? Or are you sticking with the need for impeachment and immediately defunding the war, as the "obvious" way to springboard those #'s?
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The public loves pork barrel spending, but only when the pork barrel is in their district. When someone proposes a Lawrence Welk National Monument, people in North Dakota are filled with joy. But people in the rest of the country don't agree. That bridge to nowhere was also a popular plan among the people who would be building it.
Had either of these projects been in California or NY, they would not have been declined. Actually, Alaska got the money, but it was allowed to spend it on something other than that useless bridge. Poor Lawrence Welk, on the other hand, is still only resurrected during PBS pledge drives beamed to the ancient.
The idea of a nationwide rating of Congress is still meaningless and stupid, something like a statistic on how many people take a dump during the third commercial break on American Idol.
And no, "Christians" are unlikely to see "less government" no matter who is elected.
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While pork barrel spending is loved in its specific locality, the vast majority of the rest of the country would not be supportive of such. The question was what could bring up Congress' abysmal poll #'s. these poll #'s are not being generated from a specific district, but are wide ranging, and requires a .... "bipartisan solution".....meaning neither a RW platform, such as massive increase in tax cuts nor a LW agenda of something like impeachement, but something that both sides would benefit from.
Cessation of egregious pork barrel spending and a return to some fiscal responsibility would jump those #'s upwards of 15-20 points, would be my guess. And sticking with it, with no back sliding, would likely improve those #'s substantially more, as the populace watches our deficit get shrunk in the process.
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The problem is the actual definition of pork barrel. I think the Lawrence Welk Monument and the Bridge to Nowhere are pretty well-defined, but most of the others do make like easier for at least some citizens, and some may apprear to make everyone safer.
I would nominate TV Marti for immediate cancellation from this area. No one listens to it. The signal is jammed.
Radio Marti is useless in its present condition. The Juniorbushies took it away from the Voice of America and turned it over to rightwing Cuban Miami radio stations, and all they do is broadcast propaganda. Cubans don;t listen to it because it is just the mirror image of Radio Habana.
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ummmm.....................yea :-\
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The problem is the actual definition of pork barrel. I think the Lawrence Welk Monument and the Bridge to Nowhere are pretty well-defined, but most of the others do make like easier for at least some citizens, and some may apprear to make everyone safer.
I would nominate TV Marti for immediate cancellation from this area. No one listens to it. The signal is jammed.
Radio Marti is useless in its present condition. The Juniorbushies took it away from the Voice of America and turned it over to rightwing Cuban Miami radio stations, and all they do is broadcast propaganda. Cubans don;t listen to it because it is just the mirror image of Radio Habana.
Why is the signal jammed?
Do the people know it is no good without ever hearing it?
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The Cuban government jams TV Marti.
Tapes made for TV Marti are often distributed around Miami.
The goal of TV Marti is to provoke dissent and discontent in Cuba. But the only people that ever see the TV shows made for it are refugees who have already become disaffected with Cuba and are now in Miami. It is basically a multi-million dollar boondoggle run for the benefit of a few local Cuban fatcats who produce these shows.
Radio Marti simply rebroadcasts Miami talk shows and Castro-hating demogogery that everyone can hear on Radio Mambi and WQBA.
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That bridge to nowhere was also a popular plan among the people who would be building it.
I'm sure the people living on the other end had a few thoughts about it as well.
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I'm sure the people living on the other end had a few thoughts about it as well.
Yeah, both of the them.
There were others, but that family ran the ferryboat.
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I'm sure the people living on the other end had a few thoughts about it as well.
Yeah, both of the them.
There were others, but that family ran the ferryboat.
The 2,005 local census lists a population of 7,410. In addition, there are roughly 500,000 people using the ferry every year that go between the town and the airport. Actually, the family who runs the ferryboat would be against the bridge - they charge $5 per person and $6 per vehicle each way, and they are currently the only way between the airport and town, so they have a stranglehold on the business.
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The 2,005 local census lists a population of 7,410. In addition, there are roughly 500,000 people using the ferry every year that go between the town and the airport. Actually, the family who runs the ferryboat would be against the bridge - they charge $5 per person and $6 per vehicle each way, and they are currently the only way between the airport and town, so they have a stranglehold on the business.
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Actually, the island is uninhabited. It's Ketchikan that has the 7,420 people.
There are two ferries. Perhaps they belong to the same people, maybe they belong to the State of Alaska.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6q__0-krUo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6q__0-krUo)
That would not be 500,000 people, but 500,000 trips, and as I said, the family with the ferryboat would be against the bridge. It would be a rather long bridge, as long as the Golden Gate, and no one is forcing anyone to live there, ok?
If there are in fact half a million trips across the straits, then perhaps there is enough money for these folks to pay for the bridge themselves, rather than asking Uncle Sugar to do it.
I would imagine that there would also be a toll on the bridge, in addition to its huge cost.
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Actually, the island is uninhabited. It's Ketchikan that has the 7,420 people.
The island has the town's airport. It's a bridge from the airport to the town.
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Any way you look at it, federal money to build a Golden Gate style bridge for under 8,000 people when there is already an adequate ferry is clearly porkbarrel spending. The ferry hardly has any sort of monopoly on transportation to the island, because the main industry of Ketchikan is fishing. The harbor is full of boats. I imagine that nearly everyone there has a buddy with a boat.
San Francisco did not enlist the feds to build the Golden Gate Bridge. The people of Ketchican can build a bridge on their own nickel, if they want one badly enough.
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San Francisco did not enlist the feds to build the Golden Gate Bridge.
Well, they asked, but in the midst of the Great Depression, the feds decided other projects were more in need of their funds. It has since received federal funding for upgrades and maintenance, however.
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I am going out on a limb here and saying that the Golden Gate Bridge is more important to the people of the US than any Ketchikan airport bridge. Lots more San Franciscans than Ketchikanners paying taxes, too. The Bridge to nowhere is just a bridge to almost nowhere, and it is a pretty good example of a pork barrel project. Not quite to the degree of the Welk Memorial, but not far behind it.