[quote]New Poll Finds Bush Priorities Are Out of Step With Americans
Americans say President Bush does not share the priorities of most of the country on either domestic or foreign issues, are increasingly resistant to his proposal to revamp Social Security and say they are uneasy with Mr. Bush’s ability to make the right decisions about the retirement program, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. . .
On Social Security, 51 percent said permitting individuals to invest part of their Social Security taxes in private accounts, the centerpiece of Mr. Bush’s plan, was a bad idea, even as a majority said they agreed with Mr. Bush that the program would become insolvent near the middle of the century if nothing was done. The number who thought private accounts were a bad idea jumped to 69 percent if respondents were told that the private accounts would result in a reduction in guaranteed benefits. . .
Notwithstanding Mr. Bush’s argument that citizens should be given more control over their retirement savings, almost four out of five respondents said it was the government’s responsibility to assure a decent standard of living for the elderly. . .
63 percent of respondents say the president has different priorities on domestic issues than most Americans. Asked to choose among five domestic issues facing the country, respondents rated Social Security third, behind jobs and health care. And nearly 50 percent said Democrats were more likely to make the right decisions about Social Security, compared with 31 percent who said the same thing about Republicans. . .
58 percent of respondents said the White House did not share the foreign affairs priorities of most Americans. . .
Sixty percent of respondents - including 48 percent of self-described conservatives - said they disapproved of how Mr. Bush was managing the deficit. And 90 percent of respondents described the deficit as a very or somewhat serious problem. . .[/quote]
As an end of term approval rating it would put him in the company of Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, and Richard Nixon.
Just to gaul you a little Clinton has the highest.[/quote]
Perhaps.
However, it is relevant to the title of this thread, which states that MOST Americans do not agree with Bush.
Anyway, good leaders frequently have relatively low approval ratings. That’s because they are not kissing up to anyone and instead are doing what they believe is best.
Its easy to have good approval ratings when you tell everyone just exactly what they want to hear.
[quote=“Tigerman”]That’s because they are not kissing up to anyone and instead are doing what they believe is best.
[/quote]
But unfortunately this isn’t the case with Bush, who kisses up to big business and the religious right like there’s no tomorrow. And there probably won’t be at the rate he’s going.
Why do you say he kisses up to big business? Tyco, Worldcom, Enron, the California power deregulation fiasco, probably even Martha Stewart and Grasso (NYSE) scandals all began under Clinton and flourished most greatly, but were ended under Bush who refused to support them, give them loans, etc. etc. Many were in fact Bush supporters who donated money to his campaign and he STILL refused to help them. Are you sure that you are not basing your perceptions on media images of what Bush is like. I mean if these scandals all began under Clinton, where was the media reporting back then? If they were all cleaned up under Bush, then how can that be a bad thing?
As to religion, I think that you are somewhat confused. Bush may have the support of the religious right and why is that a bad thing? Do you also have a problem with the Democrats having the support of the amoral, immoral, mindless, godless, communist left? And the issues that most people seem to vent hysterically about on the left: abortion, school prayer and homosexual marriages are not going to get worse under Bush. Abortion is not going to be banned, prayer will not be back in US schools. In fact, the issue of whether religion can be present at alll in certain venues is being discussed now for the first time in the Supreme Court. This did not happen under Clinton or Carter. Finally, gay marriage is more present and available now under Bush than it ever was under Clinton so…er… I fail to see what your problem with Bush would be.
As an end of term approval rating it would put him in the company of Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, and Richard Nixon.
Just to gaul you a little Clinton has the highest.[/quote]
Perhaps.
However, it is relevant to the title of this thread, which states that MOST Americans do not agree with Bush.
Anyway, good leaders frequently have relatively low approval ratings. That’s because they are not kissing up to anyone and instead are doing what they believe is best.
Its easy to have good approval ratings when you tell everyone just exactly what they want to hear.[/quote]
That’s an easy way to have it both ways. If your guy has high approval ratings, he’s obviously on the right track because he’s in touch with most Americans. If his poll numbers are low, he’s a good leader because he isn’t kissing ass.
I like Bush and I wish he’d say “Nuklar” and “We’re gonna smoke 'em out” in every speech.
The man has his word. And he keeps it. I don’t care about his past…mine isn’t much better. But his present condition, and mine for that matter, are what’s important.
Bush thought it was “uniquely American” and “fantastic” that someone was working three jobs (presumably because that is what she needed to do to survive in any meaningful fashion) and found it humorous to enquire as to whether she “got any sleep.” That man is either mind bogglingly stupid or an absolute genius at recognizing how mind bogglingly stupid half of the American people are. I honestly don’t know which.
I think he does. The companies you cited generally brought themselves down (they were not ended by Bush).
Let’s not forget Halliburton (which was given the no-bid Iraq contract) nor his new tax bill which further reduced corporate tax, one year tax breaks for mulitnationals allowing them to pull profit from other countries back into the USA at a fraction of the usual tax bracket. Tobacco growers received a hefty buyout plan. Actually if you read it, the list is quite long.
He also reportedly made $15 million off the Texas Rangers deal with the help of $135 million in corporate welfare from Arlington taxpayers; took $4.5 million from the business interests clamoring for “tort reform” and rewarded them with laws that make it harder to sue irresponsible businesses; and invited oil industry executives to develop a do-nothing public relations response to the “grandfathered” air pollution problem in Texas.