Public Disapproves Of GOP In Congress

The American public is not happy with anyone in Washington these days, and there's no reason that they should be. While the parties argue over how much to protect the rich from taxes and how much to cut from Social Security and Medicare, both parties seem to be ignoring the issues that the public really thinks is important -- the failing economy and lack of job creation. And until one party or the other honestly and seriously comes up with a plan to create jobs and help the economy, the public is justifiably going to remain unhappy with the politicians.

For a few months now the president's approval numbers have been below 50%. And a new ABC News/Washington Post Poll shows the president's numbers remain weak. The poll was conducted between July 14th and July 17th of 1,001 adults nationwide (and has a margin of error of 3.5). Here are the numbers for the president:

Overall Job Approval...............47%
Approval for handling the economy...............39%
Approval on handling the deficit...............38%
Approval on handling of taxes...............45%
Trusted to handle the debt debate...............48%
Hasn't done enough to compromise on deficit................58%

If those were the only available numbers a person would be justified in believing that President Obama (and the Democrats) are in a lot of trouble. But those aren't the only numbers in the poll. And when the numbers are revealed for the Republicans in Congress, it makes the president's numbers look really good. Here are the Republican numbers on the same issues:

Approval for handling the economy...............28%
Approval for handling the deficit...............27%
Approval on handling of taxes...............31%
Trusted to handle the debt debate...............39%
Hasn't done enough to compromise on deficit...............77%

The people may not be happy that the president hasn't done enough to fix the economy and create jobs, but they are much more disappointed and angry with the efforts of the Republicans in Congress to re-impose their failed economic policies. The charts above show just how out of touch with the general public the congressional Republicans really are. As the top chart shows:

59% approve of raising taxes on oil/gas companies
61% approve of raising Medicare premiums for the wealthy
64% approves of higher taxes for hedge fund managers
66% approve of raising FICA tax on those making over $107,000
72% approves of raising taxes for those making over $250,000

Needless to say, the congressional Republicans have loudly opposed all of these very reasonable measures. Instead, they would rather abolish (or substantially cut) Medicare, and would substantially cut benefits & raise retirement age for Social Security -- measures opposed by huge majorities of Americans. It is an understatement to say the congressional Republicans are out of step with the general public. They are simply ignoring the wishes of the American people so they can continue their giveaways to the rich (which incidentally, most of them are).

And the ordinary American voters know the Republicans don't have the best interests of regular Americans at heart. As the second graph shows, 59% of Americans believe Republican politicians are more interested in protecting the interests of the rich on Wall Street, and 67% believe Republicans are more interested in protecting corporate interests. But when it comes to protecting the interests of middle class Americans, small businesses and individuals the public gives the president much higher marks than the Republicans.

It looks like the public is starting to realize that Republican politicians sold out to the rich and the corporate interests long ago, and do not represent the interests of ordinary Americans. I expect the Republicans will continue with their failed economic policies that favor the rich and put the burdens of taxes on the working and middle classes, because they have always done that. And they figure they can use social issues to get re-elected (as they have done in the past).

But this is not the past, and social issues will not be the dominant factor in the 2012 election. That election will be concerned with only two things -- the economy and job creation. Personally, I hope the Republicans continue down their current path, because that could mean they would be facing a resounding defeat at the polls.