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In fact, the 9-point drop in the most recent quarter is the largest Gallup has ever measured for an elected president between the second and third quarters of his term, dating back to 1953. One president who was not elected to his first term -- Harry Truman -- had a 13-point drop between his second and third quarters in office in 1945 and 1946.

In Obama's first quarter and second quarter, his job approval average compared favorably with those of prior presidents. But after the drop in his support during the last quarter, his average now ranks near the bottom for presidents at similar points in their presidencies.

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For the first time since he took over in the White House, Americans don't see eye to eye with President Barack Obama on the important issues, according to a new national poll. But the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey does indicate that a majority approve of how Obama's handling his duties as president.

According to the poll, which was released Tuesday, 48 percent of people questioned say that they agree with Obama on the issues that matter most to them, with 51 percent saying no. That's a switch from April, when 57 percent said they agreed with the president on important issues, with 41 percent disagreeing.

Xhen said:



How's that going?



Harry Reid couldn't scrabble together more than 47 votes with a 60 vote majority and didn't even properly count the votes before bringing this to the floor. I've thought all along that the Democrats would pass some monstrosity under the guise of health care "reform" and they probably still will because Obama's credibility will implode if they don't. But between the Three Stooges (Obama, Reid, and Pelosi) I'm not sure anymore they have the leadership ability or competence to pass anything.

Reid is also in big trouble back in Nevada in next year's election. His approval rating is in the tank and two different Republicans are leading him in the polls.

ILvEowyn said:



Well, the bill you mentioned isn't the health care reform bill, which everyone will be focusing on. Passage of some sort of major reform bill seems pretty much inevitable, now that there are no more committees to go through. Whether the bill that passes is one that actually helps much remains to been seen though of course.

I'd agree with GM and Cerin that it would be good for Reid to go. I doubt the Democrats will lose a bunch of Senate seats in a wave-style election. There's even a chance of their picking up Republican-held seats in Missouri, New Hampshire, and Ohio. Getting some fresh faces and new leadership in there could really help.



I would not add Pelosi. She actually fights for progressive causes.



What are those numbers even supposed to mean? Like the 50% number for the GOP on Iraq? Does that mean that 50% now like the GOP position on the war? I doubt that very much. But then, we've talked about Rasmussen before.

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When taxpayers and conservative activists began holding tea parties to protest an out-of-control federal government's unsustainable growth, it was not entirely unreasonable to ask: Where were these people for the last eight years?

...

Ask and ye shall receive. Conservatives in general and the Tea Party movement are increasingly directing their fire at Republicans who govern like Democrats. The strongest sign yet has been in New York's 23rd congressional district, where local Republicans nominated a liberal who supports card check and same-sex marriage but won't forthrightly disavow either tax increases or a health care bill that funds abortion.

---

Normally, the argument that voting for a third-party candidate on the right is morally equivalent to voting for a Democrat keeps many a disenchanted conservative in the GOP fold.

...

Yet this time many conservatives are asking: Do we not in effect get a legislator liberal enough to be a Democrat even if Scozzafava wins? Aren't their higher principles at stake in this election than (maybe) securing a vote for Boehner for speaker?

...

Republicans who voted for the bailout routinely find themselves booed when they try to speak at Tea Party events. The eight House Republicans who broke with their party and voted for a climate change bill including a costly cap-and-trade scheme, they were denounced by the grassroots as "cap and traitors." When the National Republican Senatorial Committee and other Washington GOP power brokers pull out all the stops for moderate primary candidates -- including two of the cap and traitors -- conservative activists pledge not to pull out their wallets.

Gandalf'sMother said:

So, where were they under G.W. Bush? Are they finding it easier to come out and get angry because there's now a black Democrat in office?

Gandalf'sMother said:


So, where were they under G.W. Bush? Are they finding it easier to come out and get angry because there's now a black Democrat in office?

-GM

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And the Tea Party movement is a true grassroots movement which is not under the control of the Republican party, which the party bosses are finding out in the NY 23 race.

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There's a lot of buzz in the conservative blogosphere today about a new poll put out by the Club For Growth which shows Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman leading both Democrat Bill Owens and Republican Dede Scozzafava in the special Congressional election in New York's 23rd Congressional District. The poll shows Hoffman at 31 percent, Owens at 27 percent, Scozzafava at 20 percent, and 22 percent undecided.

It's a bit disturbing how credulously the conservative blogs, most of whom are rooting for Hoffman, are taking this poll. Here are few of the concerns that a more critical observer might ask about it:

-- The Club for Growth endorsed Hoffman and just last week threw $300,000 into the race on his behalf.
-- The sample size is tiny (300 people).
-- The pollster that Club for Growth is using, Basswood Research -- I'm sure does perfectly good work for its clients -- but is not that well known** and is therefore not taking too much reputational risk with this poll. (** I'm told that Basswood does in fact do a decent amount of work for Republican candidates like Tom Coburn and Mark Sanford.)
-- The number of undecideds in the poll -- 22 percent -- is unusual for a poll just eight days out from an election and is higher than what the public polls show.
-- The poll was conducted entirely over the weekend. Although Sunday is a fairly good polling day, Saturdays are not.
-- The narrative that Club for Growth constructs around the poll is that Hoffman is taking votes from Scozzafava, but the poll also shows the Democrat Owens polling quite a bit lower than he does in the public polls. It seems unlikely that Owens voters are defecting to Hoffman. Rather, if Scozzafava's support is indeed collapsing, I'd expect Owens to be picking up some of that support in addition to Hoffman.
-- The poll was released at a time when the NRCC, which has endorsed Scozzafava, is defending its position by citing the polling evidence, and so the incentive to put out some contrary evidence to alter the inflection of the media narrative is quite high.
-- The poll shows that 59 percent of so-called likely voters have no opinion (or haven't heard of) Owens, 48 percent have no opinion of Scozzafava, and 56 percent have no opinion of Hoffman.
-- Only 14 percent of the likely voters in this poll are age 40 or under, as compared with about 40 percent in the Research 2000 poll.
-- Previous polls put out by Basswood Research and the Club for Growth in this race featured highly leading question wording, although that does not appear to be the case here.

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Remember the media complaints about George W. Bush golfing while soldiers are dying? Obama has golfed as much in 9 months as Bush did during two years and 10 months.

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The race card: the new last refuge of the scoundrel. You've gotta love the new post-racial atmosphere that Obama loyalists have brought to the country.

Xhen said:



The race card: the new last refuge of the scoundrel. You've gotta love the new post-racial atmosphere that Obama loyalists have brought to the country.

They're finding it easier to come out and get angry now because the Democrats are running a $1.4 TRILLION deficit. That makes Bush and the Republicans look like spendthrifts by comparison.

What ramped up the anger was TARP, the Porkulus "stimulus" package, bailouts of automakers, not to mention cap and tax and the trillion dollar debacle going under the guise of health care reform. The amount that Congress is spending (or proposing to spend) is simply breathtaking and people are genuinely pissed off about it.

And the Tea Party movement is a true grassroots movement which is not under the control of the Republican party, which the party bosses are finding out in the NY 23 race.

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In February 2008, Congress and the Bush administration passed a stimulus and tax rebate bill to fight the developing recession. Since then, the federal government has put American taxpayers on the hook for nearly $12.9 trillion in spending, loans, and insurance for deposits and investments.

Here is the money spent on specifically fighting the recession:

* $168 billion for Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 – Feb 13, 2008

In February 2008, Congress passed the first stimulus package as part of the effort to fight the recession. Of the $168 billion, $106 billion went to individual tax rebates and there were $51 billion in business tax cuts.

* $200 billion for Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF) – Mar 11, 2008

The TSLF is used by the Federal Reserve (Fed) to offer overnight loans to primary dealers, banks who can trade directly with the Fed, based on a competitive single-price auction. In March 2008, the program was expanded to offer $200 billion worth of 28-day loans to increase liquidity in the financial markets.

* $29.5 billion bailout for Bear Stearns debt – Mar 14, 2008

The Federal Reserve gave a $29.5 billion loan to J.P. Morgan to encourage its purchase of Bear Stearns, and aid the process of liquidating Bear Stearns’ assets.

* $10.7 billion for IndyMac Bank – July 11, 2008

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) seized IndyMac Federal Bank in July of 2008 after IndyMac’s collapse, which is one of the largest bank failures in U.S. history. OneWest Bank, based in Pasadena, California, purchased its assets for $13.9 billion in January 2009, leaving the FDIC (taxpayers) with a $10.7 billion loss.

* $24.9 billion for Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 – July 26, 2008

Congress gave grants for the redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed homes in high-foreclosure neighborhoods, and a $7,500 tax credit for some first time homebuyers. The bill gave temporary authority to the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase any obligations and other securities in any amounts issued by Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE) like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

* $300 billion for American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act – July 30, 2008

Congress gave the Federal Housing Administration power to insure up to $300 billion in new 30-year fixed-rate mortgages for homeowners that were facing foreclosure on their current loans.

* $200 billion for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Bailout I – Sept 7, 2008

The Treasury Department, in joint power with the Federal Housing Finance Agency, took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and committed $200 billion for buying stock in the two firms, thus recapitalizing them, and providing funds to pay down debt, and cover their toxic legacy assets and loans.

* $150.3 billion for American Insurance Group – Sept 16, 2008

The Federal Reserve gave an initial $85 billion to AIG in exchange for a 79.9 percent equity stake in the company. The price was later reduced to $60 billion but the Treasury Department remains in control of the insurance company. In October they supplemented this with a $37.8 billion loan. In November the Fed purchased $22.5 billion of AIG’s mortgage-backed securities and $30 billion of AIG’s collateralized debt obligations. The bank has separately received $70 billion from TARP as loans in exchange for equity stakes, $40 billion from the Bush administration and $30 billion in March 2009 from the Obama administration.

* $427 billion to improve global liquidity conditions – Sept 18, 2008

In a coordinated effort with major international central banks in Europe, Asia, and North America, the Fed expanded its currency swap arrangements in order to improve liquidity conditions in global financial markets. Swap lines are currency exchanges where central banks loan local currency to each other for a specific period of time. This program sent U.S. dollars to foreign banks for them to lend.

* $152.1 billion for Asset-Backed Commercial Paper – Sept 19, 2008

This ABCP program specifically is designed to finance the purchase of commercial paper from money market mutual funds to increase liquidity in the market. The program will run until October 30, 2009.

* $9 billion to insure Morgan Stanley debt – Sept 29, 2008

In September 2008, Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group bought 21 percent of Morgan Stanley for $9 billion. The Federal Reserve agreed to put taxpayers on the hook for the full $9 billion by insuring the investment.

* $700 billion for Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) – Oct 3, 2008

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which created TARP, has been used to recapitalize banks by buying equity and assets ($383 billion), to provide loans and capital to General Motors and Chrysler ($25 billion), to partially fund TALF ($100 billion), to fund the Making Home Affordable Program ($50 billion) and Small Business Administration loans ($15 billion), and to establish the Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP) ($100 billion). See note below about the PPIP’s additional costs.

* $900 billion for Term Auction Facility Lending (TAF) – Oct 6, 2008

The Federal Reserve auctioned an increased amount of term funds to deposit bearing banks, given proper collateralization, in order to increase immediate liquidity in the market.

* $540 billion for Money Market Investor Funding Facility (MMIFF) – Oct 21, 2008

The Federal Reserve guaranteed money market mutual funds, reinvestment funds, portfolios, and similar accounts to increase investor confidence.

* $1.7 trillion for Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF) – Oct 27, 2008

The CPFF provides a liquidity backstop to issuers of commercial paper (money-market securities sold by large banks to get money to pay short term debt obligations) and improved liquidity in short-term funding markets by financing the purchase of unsecured and asset-backed commercial paper. It is intended to enhance investor confidence and increase the availability of credit for businesses and households. This program is different from the ABCP liquidity program in that it allows the Fed to directly purchase commercial paper, not just finance. The max amount CPFF can purchase is equal to the size of the commercial paper market, estimated now to be $1.7 trillion, though as of March 2009, only $246 billion of taxpayer money has been spent.

* $2 trillion for Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP) – Nov 21, 2008

This program will insure $1.5 trillion of all new unsecured loans (senior subordinated bank debt) that are issued before October 31, 2009. The limit of debt the FDIC will cover is up to 125 percent of all the unsecured debt that existed as of September 30, 2008, estimated to be $1.5 trillion. TLGP will also insure $500 billion for non-interest-bearing deposit accounts until Dec. 31, 2009.

* $9 billion for Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008 – Nov 21, 2008

This act provides additional unemployment compensation through August 27, 2009. It funds seven more weeks of unemployment insurance benefits for those still unemployed, and an additional 13 weeks for those in states with unemployment rates above six percent—such as Michigan and California.

* $301 billion for Citigroup Bank – Nov 23, 2008

This money insures against losses on loans and securities backed by toxic assets and mortgages. Citi has received a separate $50 billion from TARP as loans in exchange for equity stakes.

* $1.45 trillion for Mortgage-Backed Securities Purchase Program – Nov 25, 2008

This Federal Reserve program purchases the direct obligations and mortgage-backed securities (MBSes) of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and other GSEs. Up to $1.25 trillion of MBSes will be sold to asset managers selected via a competitive process. Up to $200 billion in GSE direct obligations will be bought through the Fed’s primary dealers in a series of competitive auctions. The original funding for this program was $600 billion, but in March 2009 the amount increased more than double.

* $900 billion for Term Asset-Backed Loan Facility program (TALF) – Nov 25, 2008

This Federal Reserve program has an additional $100 billion in funding from TARP, bringing the total to $1 trillion. TALF is supposed to help market participants meet the credit needs of households and small businesses by supporting new asset-backed securities that are collateralized by student loans, auto loans, credit card loans, and loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration. In March 2009, the TALF program was expanded to include loan support for investors to buy frozen “Legacy Assets” which are older and not as highly rated. This updated TALF program will operate in conjunction with the Treasury’s public-private investment funds.

* $4 billion for Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 – Dec 23, 2008

This act waives, for one year, the rules that require seniors to make annual withdrawals from their retirement plans and accounts. It also reduces the funding requirements for tax-qualified, defined-benefit pension plans. The cost is based on Congressional Budget Office estimates of decreased revenues due to this pension relief program.

* $118 billion for Bank of America – Jan 16, 2009

This money insures losses on loans and securities backed by toxic assets and mortgages. The bank has received a separate $45 billion from TARP as loans in exchange for equity stakes.

Quote:

What ramped up the anger was TARP, the Porkulus "stimulus" package, bailouts of automakers

Quote:

What happened in the election of 2006?

Quote:

The Democrats failed to run a candidate.

Gandalf'sMother said:

I tried my hardest not to be hyper-partisan in this climate, but the disloyal opposition has made that nearly impossible.

Quote:

I thought there was room for constructive bi-partisan dialogue at the beginning of this Administration - especially given some of the goodwill being offered by certain GOP leaders in the initial months. That goodwill has been tossed into the trash, and the opposition has devolved into demagogic false populism that is impossible to negotiate with.

Quote:

The more the Democrats can get through without any compromises, the better. Because the compromises we're being asked to accept are completely unacceptable. And the Dems have a clear majority. The sheer undemocratic nature of the filibuster threat which hangs over everything is reason enough for me to believe that the current GOP doesn't give a hoot about the American people.

-GM

Quote:

Does jumping onboard Obama's hard left agenda (or meekly standing aside) equate to loyalty to the country now?