It is a least conforting to see that by a huge percentage Americans are finally realizing that the policies of the Chimperator and his GOP enablers have done serious, serious harm to the nation. Moreover, they seem to understand that a change in direction is desperately needed. How this will translate in the upcoming November elections will be interesting. Unfortunately, I will not hold my breath waiting for the out come since I do not have an overriding confidence in the American public being able to see the real picture. The fact that the Chimperator was re-elected in 2004 is a case in point. Here are highlights from the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/us/04poll.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin):
Americans are more dissatisfied with the country’s direction than at any time since the New York Times/CBS News poll began asking about the subject in the early 1990s, according to the latest poll. In the poll, 81 percent of respondents said they believed “things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track,” up from 69 percent a year ago and 35 percent in early 2002.
A majority of nearly every demographic and political group — Democrats and Republicans, men and women, residents of cities and rural areas, college graduates and those who finished only high school — say the United States is headed in the wrong direction. Seventy-eight percent of respondents said the country was worse off than five years ago; just 4 percent said it was better off.
Only 21 percent of respondents said the overall economy was in good condition, the lowest such number since late 1992, when the recession that began in the summer of 1990 had already been over for more than a year. In the latest poll, two in three people said they believed the economy was in recession today. The unhappiness presents clear risks for Republicans in this year’s elections, given the continued unpopularity of President Bush. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they approved of the job he was doing, a number that has barely changed since last summer.
In assessing possible responses to the mortgage crisis, Americans displayed a populist streak, favoring help for individuals but not for financial institutions. A clear majority said they did not want the government to lend a hand to banks, even if the measures would help limit the depth of a recession. Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they would support raising taxes on households making more than $250,000 to pay for tax cuts or government programs for people making less than that amount. Only 38 percent called it a bad idea.
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