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The News and the Voters…
America reacts to the
stalemate in Washington
The News…
Newsmax: WASHINGTON — A grim-faced President Barack Obama convened
fresh talks Saturday with congressional leaders aimed at averting a
national financial default in just 10 days, shortly after the latest
comments from both sides suggested no breakthrough was in sight.
Obama: "We can come together for the good of the country and reach a
compromise. We can strengthen our economy and leave for our children a
more secure future," the president said. "Or we can issue insults and
demands and ultimatums at each another, withdraw to our partisan
corners and achieve nothing."
Boehner: "If the White House won't get serious, we will," Boehner's
office said. A statement from the office noted that Obama has said he
wants an agreement that will take care of the problem through the
November 2012 elections. "It would be terribly unfortunate if the
president was willing to veto a debt limit increase simply because its
timing would not be ideal for his re-election campaign," according to
Boehner's office.
S&P from Newsmax: Officials from Standard & Poor’s and other
credit rating agencies told a gathering of Republicans this week that a
default on the nation’s debt by the federal government could lead to a
“death spiral” in the bond market.
Politico: House Speaker John Boehner hopes to avert a crisis in the
Asian markets by making an affirmative statement within 24 hours about
negotiations on a plan to raise the debt limit and cut spending, he
told GOP colleagues on a Saturday afternoon conference call. Boehner
said he's still trying to squeeze out between $3 trillion and $5
trillion in spending and avoid using the so-called "McConnell plan"
that would give the president the authority to raise the debt ceiling,
subject to congressional disapproval, according to GOP sources on the
call.
The Voters…
Rasmussen...
What They Told Us:
Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls
Saturday, July 23, 2011
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday
shows that 23% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that
Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-two percent
(42%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index
rating of -19.
Economic confidence was down, down, down this week, and therein, for
now at least, lies the tale of the next presidential election.
For the third time this month, consumer confidence has fallen to the
lowest level of the past two years. The Rasmussen Consumer Index, which
measures the economic confidence of consumers on a daily basis, fell
another point on Friday to 67.7. That’s the lowest level of confidence
recorded since July 2009.
The Rasmussen Investor Index, which similarly measures daily investor
confidence, fell on Saturday to the lowest level since December 2009.
News from the housing sector is equally grim. Belief among Americans
that purchasing a home is a family’s best investment is weaker than
ever. Only 43% believe buying a home is the best investment a family
can make, down from 47% last month and the lowest level of confidence
in home-buying ever recorded. As recently as last September, 60%
felt that way.
Confidence that home values will improve over the next year also has
fallen to the lowest level ever found. Just 11% now believe the value
of their home will go up over the next 12 months. Prior to this survey,
the number who expected their home values to rise during the next year
ranged from 15% to 31%.
For the second month in a row, fewer than half of America’s homeowners
believe the value of their home is worth more than the amount they
still owe on their mortgage. That’s just the third time this finding
has fallen below 50% since late 2008.
After falling to a two-year low last month, the number of Americans who
expect to pay higher interest rates next year has returned to levels
found earlier in 2011. Fifty-seven percent (57%) believe they will be
paying higher interest rates in a year’s time, up eight points from
June. Prior to last month, this finding ranged from 50% to 59%
since July 2009.
Only 21% of Likely U.S. Voters say the country is heading in the right
direction. This matches the lowest level measured during Barack Obama’s
presidency.
President Obama now earns his lowest level of support yet against a
generic Republican candidate in a hypothetical 2012 election matchup. A
generic Republican picks up 47% of the vote, while the president gets
41%.
The race is closer when the Republican nominee has a name. Former
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney runs essentially even with the
president now. In April, Obama held a five-point edge over Romney.
The president enjoys a modest 44% to 39% lead in a matchup with Texas
Governor Rick Perry. If Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is the
GOP nominee, Obama leads 46% to 39%. Congressman Ron Paul may be a long
shot to win the Republican presidential nomination, but he runs
competitively with the president for now. Paul picks up 37% of the
vote, while the president earns 41%. Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of
New York City, trails Obama by five, 44% to 39%.
But the real story in the numbers is that the president continues to
earn between 41% and 49% of the vote no matter which Republican is
mentioned as a potential opponent. This suggests that the race remains
a referendum on the incumbent more than anything else. If the economy
substantially improves before November 2012, the president will be
heavily favored to win reelection. If the opposite happens and the
country endures a double-dip recession, just about any Republican
challenger would be favored. If the economy stays as it is today, the
race could be very competitive.
A good measure of the president’s reelection prospects is his Job
Approval rating among likely voters. His final vote total is likely to
be very close to his final Job Approval figures.
The crushing federal budget deficit and its impact on the economy are
at center stage these days in Washington, D.C. where the president and
Congress are wrangling over how to avoid defaulting on the nation’s
debt. But most voters are worried that a deal to increase the
government’s debt ceiling will raise taxes too much and won’t cut
spending enough.
Even if the president and Congress can agree on a plan to raise the
debt ceiling that raises taxes on the wealthy and cuts spending, just
45% of voters think it’s even somewhat likely that the government will
actually cut as much as it agrees to cut. Seventy-five percent (75%)
also expect the deal to lead to a middle class tax hike.
Why the skepticism? As Scott Rasmussen explains in a column this past
week in the Politico : “Based on the history of the past few decades,
voters have learned that politicians promising unspecified spending
cuts should be treated with all the credibility of a six-year old boy
caught with his hand in the cookie jar promising to be good for the
rest of his life.”
Defense spending, one of the near untouchables in the federal budget in
the past, is sure to be on the chopping block as Congress looks for
ways to cut the deficit. Nearly one-half of Americans now think the
United States can make major cuts in defense spending without putting
the country in danger. They believe even more strongly that there’s no
risk in cutting way back on what America spends to defend other
countries.
Most voters don’t care much for the way either political party is
performing in the debt ceiling debate. Fifty-eight percent (58%)
disapprove of the way the president and congressional Democrats are
acting, but 53% also disapprove of how congressional Republicans are
handling the debate.
Voters now see congressional Republicans as slightly more partisan than
their Democratic counterparts and are more pessimistic about the
overall level of partisanship in Washington than they have been in
nearly a year. Still, Republicans lead Democrats on the Generic
Congressional Ballot as they have every week since June 2009.
The majority of voters continue to favor repeal of the national health
care law and believe it will increase the federal deficit at the very
time the president and Congress are trying to find ways to make
significant cuts in government spending. Voters also expect the law to
make health care costs go up.
After all, 69% of voters believe greater free market competition
between insurance companies would do more to reduce health care costs
than more government regulation. If the government’s got to be involved
in health care decisions, most voters think it’ll be cheaper if it’s
states rather than the feds.
Read it with links at Rasmussen
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