Obama Beating Republicans on Economic Stimulus, Polls Show
By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Today's Washington Post reports that Republicans are relishing their opportunity to stand athwart the Obama-Democratic stimulus push and cry "No!" They think it's a political winner position. Polls say otherwise.
Gallup released a poll this morning in which it asked 1,018 national adults whether they approved or disapproved of the way the three key political groups—President Obama, congressional Democrats, and congressional Republicans—have handled the push for a stimulus bill.
Obama scores a 67 percent approval and 25 percent disapproval.
Congressional Democrats are not nearly as popular but still manage a net plus approval rating, with 48 percent favoring them and 42 percent disapproving.
Then there are the congressional Republicans, who have embraced just saying "No!" with enough gusto that one might think they'd just elected Nancy Reagan as party chair. The public has embraced that tactic, just saying no to the GOP at a clip of nearly 2 to 1 (31 percent approve, 58 percent disapprove).
But at least the Republicans approve of the Republicans. From the Post:
"We're so far ahead of where we thought we'd be at this time," said Rep. Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), one of several younger congressmen seeking to lead the party's renewal. "It's not a sign that we're back to where we need to be, but it's a sign that we're beginning to find our voice. We're standing on our core principles, and the core principle that suffered the most in recent years was fiscal conservatism and economic liberty. That was the tallest pole in our tent, and we took an ax to it, but now we're building it back."
The problem for the GOP is that because they spent eight years repudiating these core principles, they have no credibility now embracing said principles. Without the protection of those principles, the GOP simply looks like it wants to oppose for the sake of opposition at a time when the country is crumbling.
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Reader Comments
heh..
nice, really nice!
stimulus and budget
Congress should focus on stimulating the economy not on larding up bills for their own self-interest. They should also read those bills before voting. If they can't read them because of too many pages, then use some common sense and make them shorter and clearer and No Pork from either party. I'm fed up with each party pointing the finger at the other. Both are right about each other. What does that tell you about the kind of people whom we have sent to Washington during the past 12 years? Don't let them catch you up in a net of focusing on who is most at fault. THEY ARE. BOTH PARTIES GOT US INTO THIS MESS. Maybe we need more people to run as independents.
Pork?
Let me get this right: The media portrayed Bush as a disaster? It wasnt his fault? So we were right that Saddam was an immediate threat that had to be destroyed? And it was worth the $50 million cost? LOL. So the economy never imploded, gas never went to $4.50; and wall street deregulation was a great idea? The $5 trillion debt of the conservatives was all a fiction of the liberal media? NO! These things REALLY DID HAPPEN!
A conservatives definition of pork: Nation building in America; funding science. Only building toilets in Iraq is not pork.
Obama is investing $8 Billion in a 10-hub, 20-city high speed rail network, to finally catch us up to Europe and Japan. Its far more efficient than road or air, and will save us energy and pollution on a grand scale. Republicans? Its a boondoggle from las vegas to disneyland. What morons.
Ditto on the characterization of investing in the fuels and grids of the future.
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