The latest Gallup poll shows Congress with an approval rating of 29 percent. This compares unfavorably with President Bush's approval rating, which stands at 33 percent according to the same poll. Moreover, Congress' 64 percent disapproval rating is one point higher than that of the last Congress just before the 2006 elections.
Why is this Congress viewed so unfavorably? Part of the explanation lies in the inherent unpopularity of the institution as it has evolved. At the beginning of the year, Congress' approval rating was only 37 percent even though every member of the House had just won the popular vote in his or her district.
However, the poor performance of the Reid-Pelosi Congress surely helps account for the decline since that time. As I noted the other day, Congress has started to resist the ethics reform it promised voters, legislation that might help reverse prevailing perceptions of Congress and make that body less inherently unpopular.
But it's not just Democratic addiction to the "culture of corruption" that's at work here. The fact is that this Congress has failed thus far to enact any high-profile domestic legislation. As the Washington Post puts it, "not a single priority on the Democrats' agenda has been enacted, and some in the party are growing nervous that the "do nothing" tag they slapped on the Republicans last year could come back to haunt the party."
Perhaps Nancy Pelosi should discontinue her foolish outreach program to anti-American Middle Eastern dictators and focus more on enacting the reform legislation she promised the American people.
UPDATE: John Hinderaker has more on this story at Power Line.
Reader Comments ( Page 3 of 5)
31. Thomas Green,
While Israel currently has a government which is a Bush puppet, it may surprise you that Israeli media is far more varied than that here. That is partly because Middle Eastern countries are generally relatively small so that even where governments would like to restrict information as our regime does, have to deal with the fact that their citizens can generally see TV from neighboring nations.
This is one of the reasons that demonstrations against Olmert's war against Lebanon, but on behalf of Bush, could draw anti-war demonstrations at Kikar Rabin alone with more than 2% of the entire population of Israel, equivelent to 6 million Americans demonstrating against the war at a single spot.
Zev Aelony
VeganWolf.blogspot.com
Zev Aelony at 6:48PM on May 15th 2007
32. Well Scruzman, unfortunately it will take some time to undo all the injustices that the Conservatives have done to screw up this country...for example, let's just look @ Katrina...
Bob T. at 6:47PM on May 15th 2007
33. The liberal "dems" have stirred up a part of the population that has never understood the policies of any US Government. Raising taxes doesn't effect the unemployed! Looking at your constituency and "screaming for nationalization for illegal immigrants" makes no sense! Give me your tired your poor your huddled masses waiting for welfare and medicare wasn't the way the song was written.
jim foulkrod at 7:14PM on May 15th 2007
34. Scruzman,
You seem to have confused the Social Democrats in Germany, who opposed fascism, with the bitterly anti-socialist National Socialists, or NAZI party which rose to power funded by scores of millions of US dollars raised by the Union Bank Corporation, lead by the President's grandfather Prescott Bush, Greatgrandfather George Herbert Walker, Bunny Harriman, John Foster Dulles and his brother Allan, Fritz Thysen and others.
Please see the works cited in the beginning of a discussion of this president's strange view of the world on my blog. Also the seizure of some of their properties in October and November of 1942 by the alien properties authorities after they refused to stop their pro-Axis activities even nearly a year after the war began.
Zev Aelony
VeganWolf.blogspot.com
Zev Aelony at 7:32PM on May 15th 2007
35. The reporter of this piece Is a big time JEW or a Repuk OR plain full of SH-t
joseph at 7:32PM on May 15th 2007
36. Jim Foulkrod,
I suspect that you meant naturalization for immigrants rather than 'nationalization'.
More important, that basically was the way the song was written, in response to racist agitation against immigrants over a century ago when people who were not obviously 'colored' could simply appear at Ellis Island and, after checks for TB, etc., simply come in and shortly become citizens. To some racists here that meant letting in 'Black' Irish (Irish Catholics), Jews, Arabs, Slavs, Italians, Swedes and other undesirables.
Currently things have changed. Now the US but not Mexico is allowed to export unlimited quantities of highly subsidized corn, driving millions of farmers there from their homes and to the US. They come and do the work you refuse to do, have to accept pay low enough to subsidize your food budget, pay taxes, and in addition to the abuses at the hands of elitist nativists, are denied the welfare and medicare their taxes pay for.
Son of one of the lucky immigrants who got around the exclusion of Jews that sent millions of Jews to the Nazi gas chambers and thus escaped the fate of his family,
Zev Aelony
VeganWolf.blogspot.com
Zev Aelony at 8:18PM on May 15th 2007
37. I totally agree Paul, I really like their future agenda which ups our Taxes by 400 billion dollars.
Gary Vee at 7:33PM on May 15th 2007
38. Bob - The incompetence of Blanco and Nagin far outweigh the incompetence of Bush during Katrina.
Why did Blanco wait to ask the feds for help? Why again were all those school buses parked instead of helping people get out of New Orleans?
Bush's fault? Hardly. Blanco and Nagin Peter Principled themselves back in Jr. High.
scruzman at 7:49PM on May 15th 2007
39. "...the bitterly anti-socialist National Socialists..."
Zev - I'll mull that over for awhile then will visit your site.
scruzman at 7:49PM on May 15th 2007
40. ßcruzman,
Please do mull it over and read Hitler's works. He hated socialists, unions, etc.. He added 'National Socialist' to the name of the German Workers' Party when he realized that he had to make it appear more attractive to voters. Always economically incompetent (though through theft he died arguably the wealthiest man in the world), he was dependent on his banker-financiers in his rise to power. The Bush crew even arranged the purchase of the Nazi Party headquarters castle prior to their rise to power. Their young lawyer, John Foster Dulles was dispatched with their agreement that led to Hitler's becoming chancelor with von Pappen as vice chancellor.
Please also read '1984' for the concept of 'Newspeak'. In it the Ministry of Truth is the organ of lies, the Ministry of Peace is the organ of terror, and so on. This work is clearly the operating manual of this administration and the mass media which functions for it.
Zev Aelony
VeganWolf.blogspot.com
Zev Aelony at 8:23PM on May 15th 2007
41. Joseph,
I don't know if the author, Mirengoff is a member of my tribe or not, but wonder what would be the significance if he is?
His name is Slavic, but could well be Jewish. Your name, more accurately transliterated as Yossef, is clearly Jewish. Is that significant?
Zev Aelony
VeganWolf.blogspot.com
Zev Aelony at 8:29PM on May 15th 2007
42. Gas over $3 a gallon... illegal workers flooding the country and taking American's jobs... a never-ending war in Iraq and Afganhistan....so much war debt that China owns our ass... fellow Americans..it is time to stand up and take this country back by whatever means necessary
jackass at 8:33PM on May 15th 2007
43. Republicans war on drugs like war in Iraq.
http://journals.aol.com/phatpooches/crack-attack/
Mike at 8:47PM on May 15th 2007
44. Perhaps if the Republicans would quit sticking with policies of their failed president, and think of the American people, Congress might just have progress. Yet again, we have a government that allows Republicans to stick to their party, instead of thinking of the needs of the USA. I do not blame the Democrats. Republicans, as always, have been a group of overstuffed windbags that have done nothing for America. They make corporations richer, approve special, unneeded projects to persons in their parties. It is insane. I truly think they are unAmerican, as long as they do not learn to get a spine and vote for what the people want, not their pioneers.
Michelle at 9:48PM on May 15th 2007
45. Joseph,
I don't know if the author, Mirengoff is a member of my tribe or not, but wonder what would be the significance if he is?
His name is Slavic, but could well be Jewish. Your name, more accurately transliterated as Yossef, is clearly Jewish. Is that significant?
Zev Aelony
VeganWolf.blogspot.com
Zev Aelony at 1:01PM on May 16th 2007