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Subscribe to RSSNBC's Chuck Todd and the National Journal's Major Garrett discuss the latest NBC News/WSJ poll.
The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that the approval rating for Congress has tied its all-time low in the history of the survey, while its disapproval rating has tied its all-time high.
According to the poll, only 12 percent of registered voters approve of the legislative branch's job. The only other time it was that low was in Oct. 2008.
In addition, a whopping 82 percent disapprove of Congress' job, and the only other time it reached that level was in Aug. 2011 -- which was right after the bruising debt-ceiling fight.
Much of this survey was conducted before two controversial or embarrassing incidents for House Republicans.
On Sunday, Aug. 19, Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) -- who is the GOP's nominee in Missouri's Senate race -- explained his opposition to abortion even in cases of rape by saying: "If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut [the pregnancy] down."
Also on Sunday, Politico first reported that House Republicans last year took a dip in the Sea of Galilee in an evening involving alcohol; one member, Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) was nude.
The NBC/WSJ poll also shows that 36 percent view the Republican Party in a positive light, versus 45 percent who view it negatively.
By comparison, 42 percent have a favorable view of the Democratic Party, while 40 percent have a negative opinion. Both sets of numbers are similar to last month's.
The full NBC/WSJ poll -- which was conducted Aug. 16-20 of 1,000 registered voters (300 by cell phone) -- will be released at 6:30 pm ET.
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MyDrain: In a perfect world,they could have but remember the House and Senate have to agree on a law such as the health care bill.When is the last time Repubs and Dems agreed on anything major ??
They will continue not to agree on anything as long as Obama the divider is in office. There will just me more of the same if Obama wins re-election, bickering, name calling, spite, bitterness etc.. This is the atmosphere Obama will continue to create as long as he is President! Great leader!!
Dee Patriot It wasn't Obama who said he would say no to everything on his first night in office!! The Republicans PLANNED, that night, to deny him anything. They wanted to make it so bad, they would be guaranteed the White House, no matter what it did to this country!! The Republican and Tea Party are the ones who have tried to divide us!! And, people like you, have fallen for it!! Obama 2012!!!
Obama controlled the White House, both houses of Congress, and a super majority. The only thing that denied Obama was his abject incompetence.
i agree with you and the rest of the people around the country it is time to Vote all the Republicans out of office.
Yes, that is the answer because Obama and the Dems are doing such a great job with 8.3% unemployment, debt creaping up to a new high of 16 trillion, etc... Yes, sure, they sure have earned your respect for doing such a great job. Let's just continue to allow Obama and all the Dems in office to finish off this country!!
The American people can see how vile and childish the Republican and Tea Parties are!! They are the party of no. No hope. No plans for the future. No compassion for the struggling and poor. No recognition of women as equals. No individual thinkers. AND, hopefully, NO chance of winning anything this fall!
Tell me Theresa, what has Obama done to help the struggling and the poor?? last I heard, the poor are getting poorer! I think I missed something!
The only reason Obama hasn't accomplished what he said he wanted to is because of the obstructionists (i.e., Tea Party). Their stated goal from Day 1 has been to get Obama out no matter how the country suffers. They are traitors.
Forcing a bill that extended the unemployment benefits for workers, that your party wanted to deny, for one thing! Health care that keeps you from being denied coverage for pre-existing conditions for another. Closing the doughnut hole for seniors, saving them thousands of dollars in out of pocket costs. Forcing pharmaceutical companies to lower their prices and bargain across state lines, also something your party wanted to deny. Should I go on, or is that enough?
OVUgirl, Great answer. Blaming someone else for Obama's failures. Just like Obama would do. Typical lib post! People not buying it anymore!! Sorry!
Do you even know the definition of a traitor, OVU. What the dems and repubs do is called politics and one party is as guilty as the other. Once again (sigh) in 2006 Obama spoke against raising the debt limits and he and every democrat voted against it while all the republicans voted to raise the debt limit. Then in 2011, each party reverse their vote. WHY.............because it is called P O L I T I C S. Each is as guilty as the other. And not being about to see that is completely moronic.
Obama controlled the White House, the Senate, the House, and a super majority. He didn't accomplish anything because he is a complete incompetent.
nibor Can you say filibuster? The Republican and Tea Party sure can!!! They did it 237 times in the first two years of the Obama Presidency! And, he did not have a SUPER majority!! There are 3 Independents in the Senate!!! The party you believe in is a fraudulent party. They lie. Distort. Cheat. And you are falling for it!!
Good job brainwashing on Theresa and OVU....now they are good little lemmings following the leader over the cliff.
GCCal As opposed to you righties who say the same thing over, and over, and over. Your party is like the Stepford party!! You get all your talking points from Rush Limbaugh or Fox, who lie incessantly about everything!!! Even they have had to start saying how wrong your party is!!! It must be killing people like you that the truth is coming out. Even though Romney and his Super Pacs have done everything to sell the lies!!!
Read carefully Theresa:
1) Never listen to Fox or Limbaugh
2) Obama has super pac also.
3) Some people can actually think as opposed to those of you who are so brainwashed you can not see the cliff coming up.
Oh, we see the cliff...and we see who is driving the bus. That would be the Tea Party.
Wait a minute! A year ago approval of Congress was a pathetic 11%. And after all the gaffes, all the DO-NOTHING over debt, no budget, Wiener Gate, this latest boob Akin...I read where approval has hit a "new Low?" These numbers don't add up. I was expecting to see the new numbers being in the negative column.
Nothing is going to change until we get big money (corporate and the wealthy) out of politics ... and that will never happen. Get used to the rich getting richer and the continued extinction of the middle class. All the Republicans and most of the Democrats want only two classes - the rich and the worker-slaves - in this country.
Dee:That's where you are DEAD wrong !! It was the 2010 elections that put all the tea baggers in !! Bill Clinton and MANY others have stated they have never seen a Congress like this one,and guess what their rating proves it.
Correct! The 2008 approval numbers of both houses confirm it.
even with these ratings, the bulk of these bought dogs will be re-elected. the american middleclass will continue to vote against their own best interests.
The influx of republicans to congress in 2010 was for nothing but to serve as a chess piece to stop all forward progress,...and wait till they could regain the presidency and continue/finish their destruction of the American middle class.
The middle class must stand up for themselves in 2012. The GOP is not in your corner.
and where the Liberals are will make you constipated.
Attention Everyone !!!! (I'm banging my gavel on the table). As long as BOTH parties have 50% of the country blaming the other 50% and vice versa, none of the politicians have to worry about anything. Until enough of us decide that enough is enough, we will all be dragged down by our apathy. Why would anyone believe anything any of them say in the first place ? If enough of us demand that certain things be done and throw out the ones that won't do the job they were hired to do, there will be changes. Believe me, none of these career politicians want to have to face the prospect of getting a real job. I look at all of these posts and it saddens me when I read some of the venomous, hateful things people say to one another. How can you say that ? Have you met that person ? Do you really know what that person is like ? I read posts from the "liberal left" that make my blood boil. I read just as many posts from the "radical right" that are just as cruel, insensitive, or just plain wrong. And the sad truth is, the whole time you are denigrating each other, "our" politicians are sitting back, laughing, because they know a divided country is the key to being elected forever with no accountabliity and never having to answer to anyone. "United we stand, divided we fall". Truer words were never spoken.
I think when the approval ratings of Congress drops below 75% that all politicians in Congress Senate and house; Reuplican and Democrat should be given pink slips with no retirement and not allowed to hold a political ogffice again . Then have each state vote for new Senators and House Reps.
This would ensure that the Politians get off their over paid butts and actually work for the people instead of special interests and big corporations.
We could have cleaned this mess out in 2008.
Ah, no Robin, this crap started in 2010 when a bunch of ignorant Americans voted teabaggers into both houses. That's a fact.
O&Joe 2012
Ah, no AlaskaGirl....it is not fact....it is just made up bullsh_t by another liberal freeloader.
Ah yes Congresses Blame Game of Endless Finger Pointing So that Nobody Actually gets Punished at the Polls has broken down into another "Endless Not" Campaign trying to Differentiate the UN Differentiable with their Nasty Toxic Spewing Political Partisans Posting more of Their UN Criminal is better than Their UN Criminals NONSENSE....
Well in Bailout Barry the "Hero" of Goldman Sachs case that is actually true....For he is an admittedly PROVEN LIAR & MASS MURDERING Secret Supporter of Al-Qaeda in Libya & Syria and only Good Lord knows where else!
Judge THEM by what they DO not by what they SAY.....The King Bee and the Rest of these Wall Street Owned UN Criminals in Washington DC..... Have been PROVEN over and over again to ONLY work for Wall Street & Military Industrial Corporations and not US!
Again the Cure to the Blame Game of the Bankster Spread Disease of Partisanship is a Total Political Body Transplant!
Refuse to Re-Elect ANY Incumbent for just like Bumbling Barry NONE of THEM work for US...NOT ONE!
Republicans are greedy, selfish, sexist, racist bigots. Other than that, they are fine.
Well no one ever said a liberal had much intelligence to tell the difference between truth and lies.
If Republicans would take off their hoods, perhaps they could see the truth. They wouldn't recognize it, but at least they could see it for a change.
and they are selfish and greedy as well and they call it conservative .
Believe it was the dems who wore the "Hoods" and yes they were selfish and greedy as well.
congress puts the brakes on progress . a no bainer
Currently unnecessary.
The american people are not stupid. This is the opportunity we have been waiting for. Both houses will have republicans licking their wounds as the door hits them in the a$$ on the way out.
Could Willard have been any dumber than choosing Paul Ryan? Mr. Flip Flop Extraordinaire?
The American voter, in their infinite lack of wisdom, will re-elect the vast majority of the di**-heads that are in the congress/senate now.
When the dems had their ass handed to them in the mid-term election, the reps thought it was because we believe the reps are right. I think not, I believe we were trying to send the message, "work together or get the hell out". So what do they do? They fight, they finger point, they back stab, they waffle, they flip flop, they lie, cheat and steal. They would step on grandma to get/stay in office.
I for one will not vote for a single incumbent. We need to fire every sorry assed one of them. We would be better served by honest amateurs than the corrupt swine we have now.
Congress and the senate are NOT beholden to the voters, they are all about slobbering on the boots (and other parts) of their ultra rich corporate masters. If you had employees like this you would fire them or go bankrupt.
If we are too complacent, jaded, or downright stupid to dump the lot of them then we deserve the hosing we are sure to get.
We put them in office, we can damn well put them out. They are incompetent at best, criminally incompetent at worst.
VOTE EVERY INCUMBENT OUT OF OFFICE, YES, EVEN THE ONE YOU VOTED FOR!!!! Damn, I hope we do the right thing.
Yes, and that incumbant starts with Barack Obama.
Dee, obviously you blame EVERYTHING on Obama, which is your right. I challenge you to name one president who could get anything accomplished in the atmosphere the president has been saddled with. I have NEVER, in 56 years of life seen a party willing to watch the U.S. go down in flames rather than allow one thing Obama proposed happen.
I will almost certainly vote for Obama again. The repugs have not come up with anyone that I consider even remotely capable of doing the job.
All the right seems to offer is the same crap that got us here in the first place. The middle class made this country great, not the massive corporations, who are NOT people.
We have a lot of work to do.
Happy, I am sorry but Obama has created the atmosphere he has been saddled with. Travelling constantly from state to state, giving divisive speeches about how bad the Republicans are instead of going back to Congress and work with the parties to compromise to get anything done is not good leadership at all. I have a problem when his extreme liberal ideology is more important to him than the needs of this country! Go ahead and vote for him again if you think that is the answer for the middle class, just answer yourself 2 questions, What has he done for the Middle and working class to improve their situation and what will he do differently in his second term to improve the economy. Obviously his policies have failed, why give him another chance to raise the debt even more and increase unemployment even further. How is this helping the Middle class as they continue to struggle to get jobs???
Yes, we have a lot of work to do to undo the damage Obama has caused in his first term with his anti business job killing regulations, bad solar energy decisions and investments that cost the taxpayers billions and refusal to make the hard decisions needed to tackle this danagerus and unsustainable debt! Yes, there is a lot of work to do and it starts with new leadership and a different direction!
Dee, I do not believe that Obama is the answer to all the problems we face. I could easily have been swayed to vote repub IF they had picked a candidate with anything new to offer. They chose Romney, who is not even getting enthusiastic reviews from his own party.
Romney is the best the repubs could do? That is pathetic. I don't think he has any clue whatsoever about what the middle/lower classes go through, none. I think he is so pro corporation, big business, wealthy, that he will do what helps them, not what helps the middle class.
As for what Obama has done, the health bill, unemployment benefit extension, he has helped the elderly poor. I believe he would have done much more but the reps just want him gone, they came right out and said it. Their number one goal was to make Obama a one term president. Sounds just a bit obstructionist to me.
I would still like to know which president could have prospered in the vile atmosphere Obama has had. I think Obama is BY FAR, the better of the choices we have for president.
You kick some Ass, happyatheist55! Rock it hard!!!
O&Joe 2012
Master Romney & Ryan the people of this country know better, hell we been watching the GOP & Teabagers doing this for the last 4 years and before President Obama even took OFFICE , then you want to turn it around and say it's President Obama > really , even the stupid know better! Your a disgrace and a liar! ! Expose of GOP Obstruction and Negativity: The Party of Hell No, Look up this video: REVEALED:THE GOP STRATEGY
"the people in this country know better"? Well, about half of them are going to vote for a guy who wears magic underwear and thinks that when he dies he is going to become a god and get his own planet to rule. So, at least that half doesn't know better.
Really not nice to talk about President Obama like that OVU
Muslims don't wear magic underwear.
What a wonderful comeback. Geez your intelligence really fits in with the radical left wing. By the way, what religion is Harry Reid again......listening.......
but they will vote Obama anyway.
Unsurprising with an ALEC owned Majority of Retaliban in congress passing ALEC written laws. Retaliban means 'we can be sold to the highest bidder' as evidenced by the fascist NDAA Act that the DC Retaliban 97 passed for their ALEC owners. Today, they are renewing their declaration of War on Women, attempting to pass fascist style Voter Laws, 21 in two weeks alone!!!!! 436 bills in 2 years to lower taxes on the top 5%, after the MAJORITY TAXPAYERS gave them trillions in bail outs and they turned around and made trillions in foreclosed property off the very same MAJORITY! 227 bills declaring War on Women in 2 years. 136 Bills to disband social services, another 137 to disband medicare/medicaid! 2010 Retaliban majority Appropriations Committee (The Shell Gamers) committed a CRIMINAL ACT by 'reallocating' the Iraq-Afghan Soldiers War Pension to the UNITED STATES POST OFFICE BUDGET because the MILITARY was using SIXTY PERCENT of the ENTIRE US BUDGET!!!!! Now, because of the Retaliban Party, the USPS is 5 Billion dollars in the hole and can be back-tracked to the Retaliban Party and what they consider their own personal party MILITARY as well as their ALEC owners! So yeah, 82% of americans do not approve of fascism, using US Military to invade countries for US Oil Robber Barons like Bush and Rice, using 60% of the entire budget to fight their Oil Robber Baron wars, let alone millions of lives, being lied to about the USPS, running a CULT member for president. Jeez, the list goes on and on............ The Retaliban Party is attempting to create DumbF*ckistan right here in America. They will be stopped!!!!
"The essential difference between liberals and conservatives is that liberals could not exist without conservatives to defend their freedoms and support them economically. Conservatives, on the other hand, could exist and live quite well without liberals"
Amen
I wish the conservatives would do just that - perhaps on the melting Arctic ice cap.
Oh the sky is falling, the sky is falling, the sky is falling. Say anything enough and the liberal mind will take it as gospel.
Noone in Congress or the White House should get any salary, benefits or retirement. And they should be prohibited from becoming a lobbiest or in any other way of influencing other government officials -elected, appointed or hired - once they are out of office.
I will give you this.......salary, benefits, and retirement benefits for all federal employees should be adjusted to get in line with the private sector. Lobbying, yes I agree.
But what you are saying just does not make any sense......you don't want anyone in Congress or the White House and that suggests all the staff should work for free. Wow, I just cannot believe someone is that stupid.
Corrected:
But what you are saying just does not make any sense......you don't want anyone in Congress or the White House and that suggests all the staff to be reimbursed and they should work for free. Wow, I just cannot believe someone is that stupid. That is a new low even for a far left radical wing nutjob.
I hereby nominated your post as the most stupid on this vine.
GCCal ... I think your special ed teacher is looking for you.
OVU.....my, my,,,,,you are so inept in your posts that I suspect there is a mental problem in your head.
Simply, the Congress is broken and needs a major fix. By putting party ahead of country, both party representatives in the Congress are not doing the job Americans elected them to do. As a result, the middle class is disappearing, the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. Additionally, our infrastructure is crumbling, our health system is a joke and wrought with fraud, the NRA gun lobby has gotten too powerful with Congress unwilling to address any responsible gun control legislation and with its moral compass way off course hypocrisy in the body is overwhelming. If it were up to me, Congress should be dissolved and a new Constitutional Convention convened to pave the way for a newly sworn in Congress outlawing gerrymandering in the states as well as all PAC money and especially the Citizens United entities who are making a mockery of our current political system. Absent this happening, the only other answer is an out and out revolution of the people.
Let's see. They do nothing to force our president to enforce our immigration laws. Can't agree on the national debt until the last minute. Have done nothing to help recoup the lost pensions stolen by our own banks and mortgage companies. Can't seem to understand nor do anything to cut the size and the waste of our government.
And this should suprise anyone that their ratings are low. Throw all of them out. Democrats and republicans and vote in some new people.
Agree 100%
Obama has tried repeatedly to work with Congress, yet our current Congress is determined to do nothing. I sincerely hope the "new low" is a reflection of the frustration with the "do nothing" tactic. I hear people complaining about the government yet they don't seem to mind driving on our roads, visiting our national parks, or asking for help in the event of a disaster.
Personally, I want to hear solutions to the problems we all face that don't include a reliance on trickle down economics. I am an accountant and have worked for "small" businesses for over 35 years. Not once in those years has the tax rate been a factor in the decision to hire employees or create new jobs. It's never even been a part of the discussion.
We expect our leaders to be civil and bipartisan, yet can't seem to do the same for ourselves. Just curious, at what point did we devolve into a nation of hatred and intolerance? When did we lose our manners, civility and respect for others? Are we at our best only when we can face a common enemy? The current state of vitriol is disheartening at best.
This is not a “do nothing” congress. Hundreds of anti abortion bills have been introduced and 80 or 90 have been passed in the house. Republicans are determined to protect the unborn. Sadly, they don’t give a damn about the already born.
Both sides of the 'isle' and the Tea Baggers now 'serving' in Congress appear to have the same feelings of 'entitlement' as those who are un-willing to get off their duff and work for a living.................otherwise we would have'short term limits' for 'public service' with NO pensions and No 'paid-for' healthcare when they are done 'serving'.
Why did you feel it necessary to single out the "Tea Baggers" as you call them. You automatically included them in your "Both sides of the 'isle' comment.
Real America can not stand the Tea Party and the folks envolved. I used to be a Republican until these radicals came along and hijacked the party. I have never voted Democrat in my life. I will for the first time come November. I see crazy and it's my former party, Republicans/Tea Party.
Everyone to their own. However, the Tea Party is nowhere near as radical as the Occupy people who the dems defended. And you speak for yourself, not Real America.
I voted for the person for many years. Voted for Kennedy and thought he was a great President. Voted against Ford because he pardon the criminal Nixon. Then Clinton came along and I will never vote for a democrat again. Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and several other completely changed my mind. I would however vote for an independent or green party candidate if I though they could do the job. However, I am a firm believer that Obama and party is the worst thing this country has ever seen. Even in my state of California it is the dems (long before Arnold) that have driven the bus off the cliff with their spend and tax bullsh_t.
You should google and read what Peter Grace and the Grace Commission said about taxes in 1984. That is the reason the teaparty was born.
Dubya spent way more than Obama. Where was your Pee-farty then?
GCCal
I share your feelings about the Clinton democrats. And it has only gotten worse.
Whoa....the wisdom and intelligence of peachesncream just surface.
that's right peaches, somehow unfunded wars didn't seem to bother them...
Unfunded wars! Republican economics - start a war and then cut taxes. Start another war and cut taxes again. Republican economics is that when your expenses go up dramatically, you must voluntarily cut your income. And the Bush financial advisors now work for Romney. Should be interesting if he wins.
I believe you shouldn't be paid until your term is over however long it is. After that, we Americans get to vote if they get paid based on performance and results.
Then the country would descent into choas......no pay, benefits or retirement is not the way to go whereas reasonable pay, benefits and retirement to match the private sector seems to be a reasonable request.
So you say, keep paying them for doing nothing? How conservative of you? Not seeing a consistency with you. Getting what you paid for first and foremost in my book. No work, no pay. BTW, take away the health benefits. That's too rich and they should set an example by cutting those benefits. If they are living high on the hog, we'll know from their background what's going on. Too much pocket lining. Make them wait or force them to pay it back to us if they produce nothing.
Congress is not doing "nothing" . When they start just rubber stamping Obama's partisan politics proposals, then I will agree they are doing nothing.
Most of his stuff does pass after Democrats take his partisan politics out.
Don, they promised jobs. I voted for those "jobs". They didn't produce what they promised. There was only one focus, stop the president at all cost. That's childish and unprofessional. Take their pay away. I was a Republican Don. What about people like me? I'm crap while they cause more harm to our country? And please Don, don't place the blame on Democrats. It was the party in the minority that supposed to lead and be successful.
No Sunset that is not what I said. If you really want to interpret my meaning it is this......reasonable reimbursements will weed out all the get rich people in Congress. Then maybe we will have people who really care about doing the right thing. And further to your answer to Don, ever since I can remember every Congress has been partisan. That is the real reason nothing gets done that should be done.
And I certainly do not blame the dems for all our problems (I know this was directed at Don) because it takes to to tango and that is what these two parties have been doing all for one reason - to stay in Power.
I sick of all the special money flowing into congress. It's rude to America. Both sides. However, I do want to mention one thing. Don, your in the 12%. Small group but you must see your thing.
I would like to remind you that republicans in congress have a slightly higher approval rating according to Real Clear Politics.
Rick there is a real problem with democrats these days.