Job fears grip voters, Obama ratings crumble

[onehandle]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – More Americans now disapprove of President Barack Obama than approve of him as high unemployment and government spending scare voters ahead of November's congressional elections, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Tuesday. In the latest grim news for Obama's Democrats, 72 percent of people said they were very worried about joblessness and 67 percent were very concerned about government spending.

The unemployment rate of 9.5 percent and the huge budget deficit are dragging down the Democrats and eating away at Obama's popularity only 20 months after he took office on a wave of hope that he could turn around the economy. Another bit of bad economic data arrived on Tuesday when the National Association of Realtors reported sales of existing homes plummeted in July to their slowest pace in 15 years.

Piling the pressure on Obama, the top Republican in the House of Representatives called on the administration's economic team to quit. Obama's disapproval rating was 52 percent in Tuesday's poll, overtaking his approval rating for the first time in an Ipsos poll. Only 45 percent of people said they approved of the president's performance, down from 48 percent last month.

That number, coupled with a hearty 62 percent who think the country is going in the wrong direction, could spell trouble for Democrats, who control both chambers of Congress and the White House. But amid the bad poll numbers, a non-partisan congressional body on Tuesday reported that the Democrats' massive 2009 stimulus package helped keep the economy afloat.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_usa_elections

[KingFlorez]

1. Time for a modern WPA

It's a good temporary solution until growth starts again.

[4_TN_TITANS]

62. and it's a fucking proven program

which many of us were screaming that Obama should have started the minute he took office. It's far too late now and our Dems will be paying the price for ignoring the wisdom of FDR.

[deutsey]

63. But that's soshulizm!!111!!

Seriously, I think it was Robert Reich who said that with the BP disaster cleanup, the nation's crumbling infrastructure, and the crappy jobs situation, the times are perfect for something like a WPA. I remember whoever said that saying it would not only fill the needs we have for rebuilding key aspects of our country, it would also mobilize Americans and give us a sense of being in this together.

A voice crying in the privatized wilderness, apparently. :evilfrown:

[book_worm]

2. 45% with 9.5% unemployment? pretty good, considering--and better than Reagan and Clinton

at comparable times. Things will get better.

[villager]

5. So we're believing that "9.5%" figure then?

Whistle, meet graveyard!

[defendandprotect]

25. Last I heard it was 17% and more like 22 million unemployed ....

wonder how they're doing with UNITING the unemployed???

[cowman]

27. Is that counting

the underemployed also?

[defendandprotect]

31. Yes .... I hesitate to say it was Bernie Sanders who last reported those figures....

but that is my memory of it -- vague -- and probably two months ago?

Keep in mind around that time we had a Yahoo article where Obama was describing

this economic problem as a "Depression" --

unfortunately, before I could pick it up and post it here, that word was replaced

with "Recession."

Some in Congress have been calling it "The Great Recession"!!

But, I think we already had that under Reagan and again with Poppy Bush???

[cowman]

35. I believe you are correct

about Bernie Sanders.

[defendandprotect]

37. Sen. Bernie Sanders -- wish we had a couple of hundred like him!!

[cowman]

38. Hell

I wish they were all like him.

[defendandprotect]

41. Well, we know where we got him from ... Dems aren't making too many like him!!

[MannyGoldstein]

43. As you probably know, using pre-Clinton-reformulated numbers

Unemployment is 20% or so.

[villager]

6. "I'm no dupe!"

But, alas, this replicated post is...

[OhioChick]

3. Jobs are the #1 issue, no surprise given that unemployment is still high n/t

[defendandprotect]

26. Trade agreements have to be the #1 issue if we want jobs to return!!

[CLANG]

4. I liked this line:

"But amid the bad poll numbers, a non-partisan congressional body on Tuesday reported that the Democrats' massive 2009 stimulus package helped keep the economy afloat."

Fuck the republicans, and not in a pleasant manner.

[cowman]

7. do you really

think that the unemployed or underemployed will really give a fuck about that? I just have this bad, bad feeling that we are going to get our asses handed to us this Nov. and the sad thing is that the repukes have no fucking plan at all except tax cuts for the wealthy.

[defendandprotect]

30. Do you think the massive turn out for Obama was because Americans don't get it????

They well understand what's going on -- well, maybe not all the in's and out's of

our hacked elections, but they know!

Demoralizing voters is one way to get them to stay home --

and Pelosi and many of us have been asking why Obama/Gibbs/Rahma/DLC have been so

intent on demoralizing Democratic voters???

I don't think anyone is looking to go backwards -- the question is staying together

and pushing thru this corporate/DLC line --

even if it takes a new Democratic presidential candidate in 2012!!

No one is going backwards -- liberal/progressive voting bloc has to stay together and

push forward thru this fascist intereference with the working of democracy.

Pre-BRIBED and pre-OWNED candidates and elected officials aren't working for democracy

and the people -- they're working for corporate/elite interests!!

[cowman]

33. I don't disagree with you

but americans now credit the poor economy to the Obama Admin, as unfair as that may be, but, it is what it is, not trying to be argumentive, just giving my perspective of what I sense.
I hope I am wrong but I live by my instincts which have served me well.

[defendandprotect]

36. And they are not entirely wrong .... Obama bailed our criminal elites ....

rather than nationalizing the companies and keeping them going with the workers --

NOR has Obama restored NEW DEAL rules and regulations on capitalism --

even worse, he put those who created the disaster in charge of fixing it!

Make any sense to you????????

IMO, most DU'ers need their BS-meters turned up Waaay higher --

[cowman]

39. The only way it would

make sense to me is if I were insane and I have to believe that I'm not and all your points are excellent ones.

[cowman]

I think Lewis Black said

that the definition of insane is doing the same thing over and over and expect a different outcome, or something like that. All your points are excellent ones.

[defendandprotect]

50. That's something Dems should keep repeating to themselves ....

:evilgrin:

[CLANG]

42. I don't think it will be as bad as they say

[cowman]

45. I hope to hell not

but like I said, my instincts tell me we are in for an ass kicking and my instincts are rarely wrong.

[CLANG]

61. My instincts are usualy wrong, but I can't afford to be wrong this time!

[AndyTiedye]

57. Because the Mighty Slime Machine (MSM) Has Convinced Them It's All Obama's Fault

[deutsey]

64. Oh the repukes have a plan...

Erase the progressive gains of the 20th century and re-establish total free market privatization.

Despite how terribly this scam has failed around the world, they keep trying to foist that on us in America and Americans are so uninformed many of us don't care or know how devastating that will be for them.

[cowman]

8. Ya think?

[Phlem]

10. I Think

It's the F'ing jobs man. The man's done a lot of what wasn't been hi priority for his base. He's thrown his base under the bus multiple times and after all of this, still no jobs, but plenty leaving the country.

He broke it to us on acceptance speech night with his "Bipartisan" babble. That was my awe sh!t moment. I wish we could vet these guys better.

He just plain old needs to be replaced, He steered a sinking ship away from the edge but he's spent. We need Dean!

-p

[amandabeech]

12. "He did a lot that wasn't high priority for his base."

Truer words have not been posted here.

Health care and "financial reform" are nice, but if you don't have a job or are concerned about whether you'll have a job tomorrow, them's small potatoes.

It seems that absolutely no one in the White House gets it.

To paraphrase the Ragin' Cajun, "It's the jobs, stupid!!!"

[cowman]

15. I truly believe

that both parties have no fucking clue about what is really going on in the real America, they are so insulated there in DC its like, fuck em, I got mine. There are a very few who do truly care but their voices are drowned out by those that don't give a shit about the "little people"

[amandabeech]

51. I see it the same way as you do.

The first party to actually connect with folks in real America will win in November and in 2012.

Unfortunately, President Obama's advisers are out of touch, and I don't think that they even know that they are.

I feel bad for Biden, actually. He's a little more down to earth than some, I think, and he has to tow the line.

Biden had the right idea about Afghanistan, too, IMHO. He said to forget about the Taliban and focus on AQ. He thought that a small, special forces or RAngers type force would be adequate, and to forget about hearts & minds.

Biden, of course, wasn't in kindergarten during Viet Nam, and learned from it. Obama has,IMHO, pretty screwed up ideas about that historical period. It wasn't just about hippies and drugs, Mr. President. He really needs a tutor from one of the local universities to get him up to speed there, if he actually would like to learn something.

[defendandprotect]

32. IMO, insurance/pharma wanted a total end to talk of universal health care ...

and Obama and Baucus took care of that for them!!

[emilyg]

18. Sadly true.

[lib2DaBone]

9. Time for a Job Program (WPA) and a Moratorium on Foreclosures...

There should be a 5 year moratorium on foreclosures. (The bankruptcy courts can't even process the overload that fast). We should be protecting our skilled workers who are struggling to hold onto what's left of the social fabric.

China is building 50,000 miles of High Speed Mag-Lev Transportation and 1000 high efficiency state-of-the-art nuclear power packages. Their electric grid will be top notch. They are leaving the USA in the dust.

The DEMS control the White House and both houses of Congress.. yet nothing gets done.

Who cares what the Repukes say... but the lack of leadership in Washington just boggles the mind.

[Lightning Count]

48. If I didn't have to pay for my house for 5 years then I'd be able to save a ton.

Of course I would hate to see what happens after the fiive years are up.

[rayofreason]

67. "1000 high efficiency state-of-the-art nuclear power packages"

This is what we should have built with the money used to bail out GM!

[xchrom]

11. Jobs at home. Nt

[jillan]

13. I was really hoping things would've turned around this summer.

:(

[defendandprotect]

22. The Obama ship has to be turned around to the left .... otherwise we're headed for a berg!!

[madrchsod]

14. jobs should have been the first priority but....

obama`s banksters team had different idea. why in the hell are these guys still around?

[cowman]

16. haven't you noticed

he throws the true progressives under the bus and keeps the corporate tools or should I say stools.

[another saigon]

17. and why eviscerate SS?

because he has made it clear who he is really working for. He could give a crap what we think.

:(

[defendandprotect]

23. Maybe when we all get over pretending we haven't known since day one that

Obama ran off in the wrong direction -- with the wrong people -- we can actually get something done

about all of this???

[another saigon]

60. honestly?

I really never had any illusions about the guy. Yet I have to say, I never thought he would be this bad.

[dkf]

19. From the beginning I said jobs needed to be priority instead of healthcare.

I got very little support for this view. True analysis has no value to those who offer reflexive support or rejection based on ideology.

[defendandprotect]

34. Keep in mind that the .....

health care industry had an interest in getting MEDICARE FOR ALL off the table

permanently!!!

[dkf]

44. And they did.

[defendandprotect]

65. Only with the cooperation of our President and Baucus ... etal ....

[cowman]

46. The main reason

I was so passionately against the HCR is because the PO was taken off the table and I truly believe that the HC industry got the best deal yet.

[defendandprotect]

66. They paid a lot for it . . . Obama and Baucus two of the highest in corporate $$ from HC industry...

[amandabeech]

52. I said the same thing, and got bashed like you.

You and I see a lot of things alike, actually.

[cowman]

55. Yeah like you

I got hammered several months ago for saying the same thing. How are things in DC. Back in the 90's I got to do an exchange with DC Fire, 4 of us spent 2 months with DC Fire while 4 DC Firefighters spent 2 months with Las Vegas Fire. It was quite an eye opener, alot more shootings than I was used to, but really got to hone my Paramedic skills.

[amandabeech]

56. When we both get kicked off here, I'll know that I'm in good company.

Thank you for your bravery!

There are some pretty rough neighborhoods in DC. I live outside and commute in, actually.

I feel bad for the decent folks stuck in places that are so troubled.

[dkf]

58. Thanks for that.

I've been called so many things I'm beginning to get a complex.

[Clovis Sangrail]

20. Obama has done some good ... but needs to make some bold moves

He's talked about converting our economy to new energy ... fine.
Do it.

If there was ever a good time and focus for a WPA type program this is it.
Start putting people to work on building a renewable energy infrastructure.

As somebody else said - healthcare is well and good but it's secondary to making a living.

[defendandprotect]

21. Guess bailing out corrupt capitalism doesn't work too well??? Restore NEW DEAL regs.....

[cowman]

47. I will never understand

why the bailout money just didn't go to the american people, we would have a thriving economy by now along with a whole overhaul of the financial system.

[Lightning Count]

49. No kidding. nt

[quakerboy]

24. Wouldnt it be ironic

If the president were to try to appease the republican demands by firing his economic team and bringing in a left wing blogosphere approved alternate team?

They really need to break these polls down a bit. I am worried about both joblessness and government spending. But I suspect that I have a very different basis than a teabagger, for instance. I am worried about joblessness because the government is not protecting manufacturing jobs in the US, and I am worried about military over spending and tax breaks to corporations, not the pittance we use for social safety or education or basic services.

[cowman]

28. What you said

[customerserviceguy]

29. Voters have decided that the President owns the economy now

And that's going to hurt big time in a few months.

I heard something that I haven't heard in a while today. While I talk to all kinds of people in financially distressed situations every day, a woman told me today that she'd just been laid off from her retail job. I've spoken with 99'ers, and other folks who seem to not have their boats lifted by any rising tide, but this is the first time in 2010 I've heard from someone who just went on the unemployment rolls.

It's starting to get scary out there...

[mike r]

40. The Obama legislative legacy is meaningless if

you can't get a job and your child can't get a job when they graduate.

[Salander]

53. I'm not worried about the economy. I'm sure it's sound as a dollar!

[Safetykitten]

54. Well the missed boat on healthcare was the ticket to a stronger economy.

Imagine a system where people would get healthcare no matter what job they did.
Also imgaine a system where a person could open a business and not worry about the army of people to be needed to just do paperwork for healthcare. You just hire people to do work.

But instead....

[primavera]

59. Of course, these polls never ask why people are dissatisfied...

I too am concerned with government spending - that our government isn't spending enough. I'm worried about taxes, that our government isn't taxing the rich enough. I too think the country is going in the wrong direction - waaaay too far to the right. Yet, if these pollsters were to tally my responses to the questions they're willing to ask, they'd probably infer that I was upset by how liberal Obama was, when, in fact, the truth is exactly the opposite.

[totodeinhere]

68. Obama needs to start catering to his base before it's too late.

It is probably too late to noticeably turn the economy around by November. A massive jobs program, while needed, couldn't be off the ground fast enough to make a discernible difference in people's lives. But there are other things Obama can do to at least partially mitigate the economy and fire up his base.

He could announce his support for nation-wide gay marriage and ask Congress to totally repeal DOMA as quickly as possible. (I think his position now is that some parts of the law need to be changed, but he is not calling for total repeal.)

He could direct his attorney general to start immediate criminal proceedings against high profile suspected war criminals from the Bush Administration.

He could announce his support for the repeal of NAFTA. He could also immediately start a hard push to get card check passed.

He could shake up his economic team and get some economic advisers who are beholden to Main Street, not Wall Street.

And he could end his mamby pamby bipartisan bullshit and start working hard for the best interests of the American people, and if the Republicans don't like it they can go to hell.

These are just a few ideas off the top of my head. I'm sure there is a lot more besides that that he could also do.

If he does those things on my list then I predict that we win big in November and Obama goes on to a landslide victory in 2012, when by then a massive jobs program will have kicked in.