Voters’ View of Congress Down Again This Month
Congress is back in the doghouse as it takes a break for the July 4 recess.
Congress is back in the doghouse as it takes a break for the July 4 recess.
Democrats' plans to pass major health care legislation have been stymied, at least for the moment, by the Congressional Budget Office's cost estimates. To the consternation and apparent surprise of leading Democrats, the CBO scored Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus' latest offering at $1.6 trillion over 10 years, while it scored the completed sections of Sen. Christopher Dodd's bill at $1 trillion. Presumably, the incomplete sections would cost more.
Twenty-six percent (26%) of Massachusetts voters say their state’s health care reform effort has been a success. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds that 37% say the reform effort has been a failure, while another 37% are not sure.
Forty percent (40%) of U.S. voters now say President Obama has not been aggressive enough in supporting the reformers in Iran protesting the results of the presidential election. That’s a five-point increase from a week ago.
This is not a joke. Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision that required an Oregon public school district to pay a $5,200 monthly tuition (plus fees) for a private boarding school for a high-school senior whose psychologist had diagnosed him with ADHD, depression, math disorder and cannabis abuse.
Mark Twain is credited with warning that “no man’s life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session.” You’d think Twain was speaking for many Americans from some of the survey results this past week, although they would broaden it to include the actions of the government in general.
Thirty-seven percent (37%) of Americans believe most members of Congress have extramarital affairs following Nevada Senator John Ensign’s admission that he cheated on his wife with a campaign staffer.
Following news reports that Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs received a liver transplant this spring, 31% of American adults say publicly held companies should reveal when top managers are ill.
Just 17% of Americans say the government is more likely to spend its money wisely and carefully than a private business, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
The daily Rasmussen Reports Prediction Challenge for Friday focuses whether the United States is a nation of liberty and justice for all.
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford cheated on his wife, lied to his family and staff, decided to get away from his children on Father’s Day and disappeared from the country without making arrangements for the execution of his duties in an emergency.
Why do we need President Obama's big-bang health-care reform at all? What's the real agenda here? If it's really to cover the truly uninsured, a much cheaper, targeted, small-ball approach would do the trick.
Forty-four percent (44%) of Americans say gambling on the Internet should not be illegal, but government moves to legalize it and tax it appear to undercut that support.
The daily Rasmussen Reports Prediction Challenge for Thursday focuses on American society.
Twenty-one percent (21%) of Americans say they live close enough to a shoreline to be impacted by hurricanes, and 39% of that group believe the federal government should be most financially responsible for areas affected by hurricanes and other natural disasters.
Thirty percent (30%) of voters now say the $787-billion economic stimulus plan passed by Congress is hurting the U.S. economy, up three points from late last month.
Only four percent (4%) of voters nationwide agree with the federal Food and Drug Administration that the popular breakfast cereal Cheerios should be regulated as a drug. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 87% disagree and oppose such regulation.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 13% trust the average Congress member’s judgment more, while 12% are not sure who knows best.
There is a tendency for newly installed presidents, like adolescents suddenly liberated from adult supervision, to do the exact opposite of what their predecessors did. Presidents of both parties indulge in this behavior, though Democrats who campaign as candidates of hope and change are more likely to do so.
If Congress fails to enact health care reform this year -- or if it enacts a sham reform designed to bail out corporate medicine while excluding the "public option" -- then the public will rightly blame Democrats, who have no excuse for failure except their own cowardice and corruption. The punishment inflicted by angry voters is likely to be reduced majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives -- or even the restoration of Republican rule on Capitol Hill.