Sunday, September 4, 2011

Polls Show the US Citizens Discontent with Government

In the latest sign of trouble for President Barack Obama, the results of a Quinnipiac University poll released on Thursday showed that the president's overall job approval rating has sunk to an all-time low.
The poll found that 52 percent of Americans disapprove of the way Obama is handling his job as President compared to just 42 percent that approve.
Obama's approval rating has shown a notable decline since a survey conducted in July showed that 47 percent of Americans approved of his job performance compared to 46 percent that disapproved.
Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said, "President Barack Obama has hit a low 42 percent approval in the past, but this is his highest disapproval rating."
The poll showed that members of Congress fare even worse than Obama, with 70 percent of Americans saying they disapprove of the way the Democrats in Congress are handling their job and 71 percent saying they disapprove of the way the Republicans in Congress are handling their job.
The Quinnipiac survey of 2,730 registered voters was conducted from August 16th through 27th and has a margin of error of +/- 1.9 percentage points
According to a CNN Poll 65% give Obama thumbs down on economy, 67% disapprove of the President's handling of the budget deficit and 60% disapprove of how he is dealing with unemployment.
The CNN/ORC International Poll was conducted August 24-25, with 1,017 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.
The AP-GfK survey, conducted Aug. 18-22, found that approval of Congress has dropped to its lowest level in AP-GfK polling – 12 percent. 53% of the respondents said they would likely replace their member of congress in 2012.
This is consistent with the August 2011 poll that showed 75% of the respondents said the country is moving the wrong direction.
The numbers of Americans who are not affiliated with either major political party has reached the highest level ever, as the number of Democrats has reached an all-time low.
During the month of August, voters not affiliated with either party grew from 32.1% in July to 33.5%, the highest level recorded in seven years of tracking. Overall 33.5% of Americans are Republicans, 33.5% Unaffiliated, 33.0% Democrats, according to the Rasmussen Reports poll.
Rasmussen also asked "In thinking about the 2012 Presidential Election suppose you had a choice between a Republican candidate and Democrat Barack Obama.  If the election were held today would you vote for the Republican candidate or Democrat Barack Obama?" The response was that 48% would vote for the generic republican and 40% for Mr. Obama.
On infrastructure spending, only  37% of Adults are at least somewhat confident that money spent by the government to repair highways, bridges and tunnels will be properly used, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. That includes only eight percent (8%) who are Very Confident. A sizable 62% lack confidence the infrastructure money will be spent the right way, with 19% who are Not At All Confident.
Only 26% believe U.S. public schools provide a world-class education. A majority (62%) does not think American public schooling provides that level of education. 
Another Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 50% of Likely Voters believe the federal government has too much influence over state governments. Just 11% think the federal government does not have enough influence while 26% believe the balance is about right. Thirteen percent (13%) are not sure.
On the question of which branch of government does a better job, 33% pick local governments, 23% look to the state level, and 15% prefer the federal government.
As one would find from this information fewer voters than ever feel the federal government has the consent of the governed, a foundational principle, contained in the Declaration of Independence. Sixty-nine percent (69%) believe the government does not have that consent. Perhaps it's no surprise voters feel this way since only eight percent (8%) believe the average member of Congress listens to his or her constituents more than to their party leaders.
They also say politicians listen and respond to business more than the people.  68% believe that government and big business work together against the interests of consumers and investors. The same number 68% voters just don’t believe politicians are interested in the opinions of ordinary Americans. And when looking at Labor and Big Business, 75% of Americans say large corporations have too much influence.
Seven in ten said people like them have little say in what their government does; eight in ten said most members of Congress are primarily interested in serving special interests, not the people they ostensibly represent. Sadly, this has been the trend for over 20 years. Yet we continue to put the same media hyped group in power.  
It is important to take from this that those of us who want real change, who want the government to once again be public servants and abide by the constitution, are in the majority.  We must act to make a change. We must get people in positions of power who are interested in public service not greed. We must demand our representatives represent us or replace them. We need to institute recall elections for all US legislators in all 50 states. Currently on 18 states allow for recall. They are Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin. We can get this law passed in every state if the majority who are displeased with the government will act.
 It is incumbent on us to research and really understand what the candidates stand for, not what the news tells you to think or some 60 second commercial tries to sell you about this person. Research records if they have one, of public service and personal life. If a person has a history of poor judgment up to the time they are running for office now, why would they be any different once elected?

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