Few Americans Want Members of Congress Re-Elected, Poll Finds

Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Just 8 percent of Americans want the members of Congress re-elected, according to a CBS News-New York Times poll taken nine months before roughly one-third of the Senate and the entire House face voters.

The Feb. 5-10 survey found 81 percent of respondents saying the lawmakers shouldn’t receive another term.

By 80 percent to 13 percent, Americans said members of Congress are more interested in serving special interests than the people they represent.

Also, 75 percent disapproved of the job Congress is doing, the highest level since 74 percent said they disapproved in October 2008.

Congress’s job approval rating was 15 percent in the current survey; it was 12 percent in October 2008.

news.yahoo.com...

If this doesn't reflect the anger out there right now...nothing will. This isn't just people angry about spending....much of this is people angry about the government doing nothing...especially since both parties have pretty much failed the american people the last 9 years. Republicans are stonewalling and Democrats are acting like they are powerless.

2010 and 2012 are going to be crazy come election time.

[edit on 12-2-2010 by David9176]

I think you've got it right on. We ARE angry.

We're angry that our government no longer represents the will of the people (Iraq and Afghanistan).

We're angry that our government appears to be interested solely in its own best interests, and not that of its people (bailouts).

We're angry that change was promised.....and hasn't happened yet (Obama).

We're angry that after fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan for years, it appears our government is gearing up for a go again (Iran).

It's time to take back OUR government. Hopefully we can do that at the next election.

reply to post by smyleegrl

It's time to take back OUR government. Hopefully we can do that at the next election.

That's the thing though....people actually WANT government to do something...but they do nothing but CONTINUE the same BS. It doesn't seem to matter. I also don't understand how Democrats act like the whole world just fell apart because they only have 59 votes. The last time Republicans had a super majority was back in the 1910's!

Not to mention...the supreme court just handed special interests even more leverage in our elections which is going to be tough for people to see through when the ads are rolling.

This goes beyond Republicans and Democrats...I just want the nonsense to stop. I want jobs back in this country...GOOD JOBS.

And if I see another Republican claiming that corporate tax cuts will make the economy better i'll go bezerk. Corporate tax cuts do nothing but INCREASE PROFITS....not employees. The only thing that increases employment is DEMAND.

If people don't have jobs and money to buy things...then demand will stay down and the downward spiral will continue. There is too much money at the top that is not being put back into the economy and it's killing the country. Also, much of that money at the top has gone to International Corporations who don't give a DAMN about America or it's people.

We are looked at as consumers...not individuals. It's a travesty and it needs to change.

[edit on 12-2-2010 by David9176]

Congress actually isnt doing that poorly (compared to the senate)...they occasionally get something passed through (of course the serious obstructionists try to railroad everything).

the Senate however is completely out of control...

let the facts speak for itself...click here if you dont mind knowing the truth:

Clickie for graph


edit = CNN link goodness

[edit on 12-2-2010 by SaturnFX]

SACK THE INCUMBENT

SACK THE INCUMBENT

SACK THE INCUMBENT

I can't say it enough!! Vote for an amateur. Encourage your Father, or Sister-In-Law, or Mailman to run for an office and then support them and vote for them.

Do not, under any circumstance, vote for any "Politician." Vote for somebody with a job, or a small business. Vote for somebody with a home in a neighborhood you can relate to! Vote for somebody that will travel to Washington, work, and then come home!

reply to post by SaturnFX


I don't know the official terminology, but for most Americans, Congress=Senate and House.

I think it is correct to refer to the entire crooked operation as "Congress." Senators prefer to be called Senators, but they really are just elitist members of Congress.

The Presidency and Congress are mainly ceremonial. The US is governed mainly by the permanent civil service bureaucracy although the real decisions are made at elite universities and then spread by the media and by non-governmental organizations. The universities, media and NGOs are all essential elements of the de facto government, which is referred to as the Polygon or the Cathedral. There is no conspiracy involved - the system is self-organized and self-perpetuating with no need for central leadership.

reply to post by David9176


You call yourself a Liberty Constitution Supporter, but yet you oppose
tax cuts ? Any tax cuts are good...even for corporations. Who do you think
creates the jobs in this country ? Yes we should reduce taxes on Corps.
Small Businesses, individuals,...everybody. The Government has no business taking our money. They do nothing but waste it. IN A BIG WAY!!
I understand some taxes are necessary. But have you taken a look at how
many govt. agencies there are ? (Just on the federal level)
It's bloated man. The Constitution never gave the Fed that kind of power.
It's turning into tyranny pure and simple. But I rant.
Congress defenitely need to be taken out. (At gunpoint if necessary)

reply to post by getreadyalready

Senators prefer to be called Senators, but they really are just elitist members of Congress.

True. They only have to go up for re-election every 6 years so they can screw with anyone for 5 years and then play full of promises in their campaigns.

Also, more money is thrown at them than Representatives because of their increased power....from their length of their terms....and the lower number of them compared to the house.

But you are right...people prefer Congress as Washington as a whole.

reply to post by Noromyxo

Any tax cuts are good...even for corporations. Who do you think creates the jobs in this country ? Yes we should reduce taxes on Corps. Small Businesses, individuals,...everybody. The Government has no business taking our money. They do nothing but waste it. IN A BIG WAY!!

Wrong. Tax cuts are good for the middle class...YES. For International corporations? NO Our tariffs on imports are 2 PERCENT and people wonder why we've lost all of our jobs. THEY DON'T CARE IF YOU HAVE A JOB OR NOT.

The government has no interest taking your money? GOVERNMENT CREATES MONEY. WITHOUT MONEY IT"S A BARTER AND TRADE SOCIETY. Then all profits will be gone. No more skimming from the top as is being done now.

Maybe you are right. TO hell with government. Let's go with barter and trade. I'm sure I can take the labels I print on and trade them for FOOD.

Get a grip man.

Yes the government is over bloated but that doesn't mean you should ignore this.

Do you honestly think corporations are against large government? WRONG. It's their best tool to MAKE PROFITS.

You call yourself a Liberty Constitution Supporter

Yep. But above that...I support MY FAMILY. That trumps everything...including the Constitution. Our Founding Fathers never intended for WEALTH to dictate power but yet that is exactly what is happening right now.

Government is corrupt. YES. Now ask yourself why. WHO has the MONEY to CORRUPT GOVERNMENT?

You cannot trust the public, because it doesn't know what it says or does, and as follows, you cannot really trust the leadership that panders to that same public. It's a vicious cycle of stupidity. But blaming the People or the Authority doesn't work either. Instead, trust yourself, find companions, create bonds, and make them last. Find a community you belong to and feel safe in.

This is what a corrupt middle class doesn't understand. It is breeding problems, because its values have lost touch with reality. It's easy to sit in a class room, recite Foucault and complain about inequality, police violence and class differences, but in reality we're all contributing to the decline of society by engaging in that very same process of filth. We buy filthy weed/alcohol, we consume filthy products, we reinforce filthy propaganda from television. We believe everything we're told, yet we insist on attacking the institutions that protect us from living in a third world gutter.

Everybody wants to call themselves something or be a part of some group. I guess that's how human nature works. But that doesn't mean that whatever group you're part of or what opinions you hold really matter. I argue that much of what people believe doesn't matter at all, either because they don't act on their beliefs, or the ideas they hold simply have no practical bearing on everyday life.

reply to post by getreadyalready

I can't say it enough!! Vote for an amateur. Encourage your Father, or Sister-In-Law, or Mailman to run for an office and then support them and vote for them. Do not, under any circumstance, vote for any "Politician." Vote for somebody with a job, or a small business. Vote for somebody with a home in a neighborhood you can relate to! Vote for somebody that will travel to Washington, work, and then come home!

Now that is something I would definitely be behind. We need middle class people in Washington. We need people making just enough to get by in Washington. Let's put someone who lost their job to OUTSOURCING in Washington.

We need new blood. They aren't all bad in the house/senate....but most of them need to go.

Really you need enough people p*ssed off at the government to boycott voting entirely. As a democracy, if the nation refused to vote it's leaders into power what then? The government's leadership becomes a dictatorship. I know that people are getting fed up. Here in England and our American cousins across the pond have had enough. Unfortunately, people fear change. That's the reason governments fight to keep power, and why the sheeple following them will do nothing. People don't lack the desire to make a difference they lack the courage. They fear "rocking the boat." I can't personally seeing change happening anytime soon though, it seems the only people whose eyes are open are the fine people on ATS...but if you push people hard enough, sooner or later they're gonna start pushing back...

What really needs to be done is to get rid of the "career" politicians in Congress. These guys get into "bed" with these lobbyists and "special interest" groups and ignore what the people who elected them want and are crying out for.

Limit them to 2 or 3 terms then they are OUT!



[edit on 2/12/2010 by Keyhole]

the only government worse than democracy is all the others.

I will just post this comment and let my avatar tell you how I feel.

reply to post by SaturnFX


The only one better than a democracy is a representative CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC! Which is what we are "supposed" to have.

One of the features of democracy is that almost any adult, no matter how unintelligent or uninformed, has a vote. Does this result in poor policy choices? If it does, how can the problem be fixed? Or is a democracy which makes rational policy choices a pipe dream?

Campaigns to educate and inform voters have also seem like a good idea but they decades of them have produced no demonstrable success. Pouring money into them does not seem to make voters any less ignorant over the long term - if anything, democratic politics get dumbed down with the passage of time. To make matters worse, any such attempts to "raise awareness" attract progressives and tend to degenerate into exercises in leftist propaganda which manufacture consent for even more lousy policy.

We know that all but the past few centuries of human evolution happened under Malthusian conditions, where the total amount of wealth and food avaliable was strictly limited in ways it is not today. Some of these lousy policies with deep appeal, such as the redistribution of wealth, do make more sense under those conditions because they allow the population of a society to increase. So perhaps these biases have genetic roots and are adaptations to a world which no longer exists? I'm not aware of any studies on the heritability of the support for various economic policies, but they would be very interesting to see. If I'm right about this, then wise and rational democracy is a completely hopeless enterprise - well, at least for the next few thousand years, anyway.

reply to post by getreadyalready


I wish I could give you 40 eleven dozen trillion billion stars for that post!!

EXACTLY what is wrong with our government is career politicians..

Throw all the bums out..Dems, Republican. everyone..Zero and the whole Supreme Court included.. and the top 50,000 or so GS grade bureaucrats while we are at it.

Clean slate with people that will serve a couple of terms and go back to a real life and a real job.

We are looked at as consumers...not individuals. It's a travesty and it needs to change.

reply to post by David9176


Beautifully stated.

Who cares how the people feel, so long as they buy buy buy and enrich our pockets?

As to making a difference in the elections, it's time those of us who are in the 'know', so to speak, get off our collectively butts and get involved in the process (and I'm mainly speaking about myself here). We need to get the word out to everyone we know that we can change things...by voting.

Of course, that assumes we can get a decent canidate to run for office who isn't conytrolled by special interests.....