Obama's Scorecard

[WPB Dawg Fan]

Interesting article today:

 

Obama approval rating sinks to 50 percent: poll

AFP

 

by Michael Mathes Michael Mathes – 1 hr 55 mins ago

 

WASHINGTON, Aug 6, 2009 (AFP) – US President Barack Obama's approval rating has slumped to 50 percent, the lowest since his inauguration, according to a poll released Thursday on the eve of his 200th day in office.

 

Quinnipiac University said the president's job approval rating dipped to 50 percent, versus 42 percent who disapprove -- a reflection of growing unease over Obama's handling of the economy, which sank into a devastating recession last year prompting his administration to unleash a deficit-stretching stimulus package, and health care which faces a critical overhaul in Congress.

 

The figure is a substantial drop from the 57-33 percent approval rating he had on July 2, and far less than the numbers he enjoyed in the honeymoon first 100 days of his tenure.

 

The poll of 2,409 registered voters nationwide found they disapproved 49-45 percent of the way Obama was handling the economy, and disapproved 52-39 percent on his handling of health care, but approved 52-38 percent of his foreign policy.

 

While Republicans disapproved of the Democratic president's job performance by an expectedly large margin of 77-16 percent, the poll found that Americans disapproved 59-29 percent of how Republicans in Congress were doing their job and that they trusted Obama over Republicans 47-36 percent to fix the economy and 46-37 percent to deal with health care.

 

"The president is right on the magic 50-percent threshold in public approval because of bad grades on the economy and even worse grades on health care," said Peter Brown, assistant director of Quinnipiac's Polling Institute.

 

"The good news... is that American voters still see him as better able to handle the economy and health care than Republicans in Congress," Brown said. "The bad news is his margins are shrinking."

 

On July 21 a USA Today/Gallup poll found Obama's approval rating was 55 percent six months into his presidency, one point lower than that of his predecessor George W. Bush at the same point in his tenure.

 

Another poll released Thursday revealed better numbers for Obama, the nation's first black president, but showed the same downward trend as Quinnipiac's.

 

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation telephone poll of 1,136 adult Americans -- including what it described as an "oversample of African-Americans" -- said 56 percent of respondents approved of the way Obama was handling his job, compared with 40 percent who disapprove.

 

In late June, that figure stood at 61-37 percent, according to CNN.

 

The Quinnipiac poll said 93 percent of respondents described the US economy as "not so good" or "poor," with just 28 percent saying it is improving, and 29 percent saying it is getting worse. Forty-one percent saw no change.

 

The survey also found that "by a 49-33 percent margin, voters think his policies will help the economy, but they believe, 36-33 percent, that Obama's policies will hurt their personal financial situation," Brown said.

 

The poll conducted July 27 to August 3 had a margin of error of two percentage points.

 

Obama has hit the road in recent weeks, traveling to parts of the American heartland to push his efforts to stabilize the economy and his bid to reform health care.

 

He has pledged to overhaul the US health care system. He and most Democratic lawmakers want to introduce a public coverage option, while many Republican members of Congress and some conservative Democrats are against the idea.

 

On Tuesday a Harris Interactive online survey showed a majority of Americans are in favor, 52-30 percent, of having a government-run health care option as proposed by Obama.

 

Quinnipiac also showed that Obama was licking his wounds in the wake of a race scandal in which he said police "acted stupidly" when a white officer arrested prominent black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates at the scholar's own home last month.

 

By 46-37 percent, respondents said Obama himself acted "stupidly" in the dispute, and by a margin of 62-26 percent they said Obama should not have intervened at all.

 

He is taking some hits to his teflon armor.

 

I will be interested to see how these numbers are effected as more and more people come to realize that almost his entire financial staff are saying that the middle class are going to end up getting taxed. In fact, Obama himself has been quoted as saying the American people must be willing to do 'whatever' must be done....but of course that is just opening the door for the tax hike.

 

For those of you who believed that it wouldn't happen...sorry, but reality stinks....don't it just.

 

You can't spend $1 Trillion on the banks...several hundred billion on the auto industry...and then add in another trillion plus on healthcare and expect to raise taxes on only 5% of the population.

 

Further...if you read into the way the healthcare is going to be offset...there are multiple examples of the 'cost cutting' actually being a 'reduction in services'. Add to that, I wonder how many of you are ready to change your choice of MD's to your choice of ARNP's...as the Nurse Practitioner is going to be the #1 choice of primary care under the Obama plan....do some research and you will see we already have a 30% shortage of primary care MD's...and the payments from Medicare (and obviously from any other government paying system) are only 80% for ARNP's as comparted to MD's....so do the math.

 

I am not saying ARNP's are not good practitioners...but they DO NOT have the same education. But, if that is what the insurance will pay for...I guess only the rich will have the choice to see an MD. Sound like a 2 tier health care? It should.

 

I am in the healthcare business and I know for a fact how often services are denied by government run Medicare/Medicaid. In fact...every time they add a new service to the coverage...they take one out. There is a specific amount of money they want to spend...and they play with denials to make sure that they stay within that budget.

 

There is a very high likelihood that the NEW HEALTHCARE will do the exact same thing. DENIALS to your healthcare services will become common place...and you will be forced to accept lesser services (unless you want to pay for the more expensive ones). Just an example...if you come in with leg pain and the MD suspects a clot...he does an ultrasound of your legs. Unless he finds the clot...YOU end up paying for it. BUT, he HAS TO DO IT or he risks a lawsuit if you had the clot. So, either YOU pay for it...or the HOSPITAL eats it in 90% of the cases. Then the hospital has to raise rates on other things to make up for the loss...so YOU end up paying for it anyway.

 

Just saying...look before you leap. This heathcare plan is going to cost middle America in taxes...and in actual out of pocket costs...and in services.

[calfoxwc]

GREAT ARTICLE !

 

We should all be deeply concerned. There was a ton of talk and reports about how the Obama health care takeover, eventually,

 

of all health insurance, CANNOT be afforded before the election.

 

It was figured out once before, that if you took ALL of the money from ALL of the notorious "Top 5% of Americans"...

 

it STILL wouldn't be enough to even begin to pay for Obamacare.

 

But more troubling - is the serious hurt on millions of Americans who will eventually LOSE the great health care plans

 

they worked for years to earn and have for retirement.

 

Like I posted elsewhere, in Brittain, they are so broke, they quit paying for desperately needed pain pills...

 

you know, "lowering costs".

 

Well, history was made. But when the radical Obamachange comes home to roost more and more, more and more

 

Americans will also be seriously changing their minds about it being "good history".

 

If this passes, we are all in serious trouble.

[Westside Steve]

you know, "lowering costs".

 

Just heard the post office is looking to "lower costs" which means a lot less service and fewer branches and employees.

 

And the post office doesn't answer to stockholders.

 

Welcome aboard Doc.

WSS

[WPB Dawg Fan]

I am confused by the utter silence of the liberal wing on these subjects.

 

Are there no reports or stats to deny the reality...or have they not been vetted yet?

[choco]

the exact reason why i question the GOP's attack machine....

 

 

obama's gonna hang himself on his own failures.....should just sit back and watch the carnage as the Dims did with shrub.