Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Why is the approval rating for Congress so low?

nonplussed · 10-17-2007, 07:11 PM

In reading another thread about holding Democrats accountable I saw a comment about the very low approval rating for Congress in the polls. The author of the comment took this to be evidence of the public's dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party's performance. Is it really?

I think not. And I think it is worthy of a thread of its own.

If a pollster asked me about Congress I, too, would say that I disapprove of its performance. But I blame the Republicans for that. They are using the filibuster to block bills in the Senate at something like three times the all time record pace.

It is just not true that the Democrats control Congress. They do control the House, and get bills passed there all the time. But the Senate is 50-49 Republican controlled (not 51-49 Dem). I say that because Joe Lieberman is a Republican for all practical purposes and Tim Johnson has been incapacitated for the entire term. No wonder they can't stop the war or do much of anything to undo the damage caused by conservative rule

So who is more to blame for the poor performance of the current Congress: The Democratic Party or the Republican Party?

10-17-2007, 07:11 PM	#1 (permalink)
nonplussed Tilted	Why is the approval rating for Congress so low? In reading another thread about holding Democrats accountable I saw a comment about the very low approval rating for Congress in the polls. The author of the comment took this to be evidence of the public's dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party's performance. Is it really? I think not. And I think it is worthy of a thread of its own. If a pollster asked me about Congress I, too, would say that I disapprove of its performance. But I blame the Republicans for that. They are using the filibuster to block bills in the Senate at something like three times the all time record pace. It is just not true that the Democrats control Congress. They do control the House, and get bills passed there all the time. But the Senate is 50-49 Republican controlled (not 51-49 Dem). I say that because Joe Lieberman is a Republican for all practical purposes and Tim Johnson has been incapacitated for the entire term. No wonder they can't stop the war or do much of anything to undo the damage caused by conservative rule So who is more to blame for the poor performance of the current Congress: The Democratic Party or the Republican Party?