At least according to Rasmussen:
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 45% of likely U.S. voters now think a group of people selected at random from the phone book would do a better job addressing the nation’s problems than the current Congress. That’s up 12 points from October 2008, just before the last congressional elections. Thirty-six percent (36%) disagree, and another 19% are not sure.
White or yellow pages?
For Kindle and with free ePub version. Only $9.49 Great reading.
Here is what Gary Shapiro CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) said: Dvorak's writing sings with insight and clarity. Whether or not you agree with John's views, he will get you thinking and is never boring. These essays are worth the read!
Subscribe to Main Blog feed here:
Subscribe to Comments too (below):
Bad Behavior has blocked 5827 access attempts in the last 7 days.
Greg Allen, why do you think the Republicans lost in 2008? What do you think the Tea Parties are all about? It is a revolt against the established Rinos that now run the Republican Party, gave us John McCain, and spend like drunken Democrats. Those guys are on the ropes.
Just listen to McCain (currently campaigning for re-election) talk about how he is “Arizona’s last line of defense” against the “extreme” left wing Obama administration. A short time ago, he was the Republican that ran as a moderate Democrat … and lost. That speaks volumes about how things have changed in the last year.
As for a wall between Mexico and the U.S., a wall would still be 1000 times cheaper than extending medical benefits to 25 million illegal aliens.
#3 what fantasy-land have you been living in? Qualified people my ass. These thieves don’t know anything except how to win an election, then they learn how to steal public money after getting elected. Qualified people my ass, that’s the funniest thing I’ve read in months. The only thing our system has proven is that we sell our elected offices to the best alcoholic adulteress crooks we can find and let them run our country for us.
What a concept – qualified people running for office, I can’t quit laughing.
#4 doesn’t mater who gets elected or re-elected. Once they are in the system they are a slave to it, and they cant change anything for the better good.. only to help mega corporations help themselves.
oops i meant to respond to #5.. not 4
#6 this is why we still have the electoral collage. Even back 200+ years ago our founding fathers believed the public was too stupid to properly elect officials to office.
Yep – I agree – let’s replace the 45% who are GOP – they’re the ones Hell-bent on ruining the country. They HOPE America fails – so they can profit from it. God knows they can’t win an election fair and square. If we get rid of them we have a fighting chance. They spent eight years with their hero AWOL Bush at the helm and look where that got us!
“How can I say this? The House has 97% re-election rate, and a 23% approval rating.”
Yep, that says it.
If direct democracy is too radical for you, at least think about putting a limit on how many people a single representative can represent. I would recommend no more than 50,000. If nothing else, it would make buying the whole lot a bit more expensive. And of course, it should be that they have lived in the district for 20 years or more.
#25 – You are forgetting a very important thing in your little diatribe.
Health Care should NOT be an industry. Anyone who believes so is morally bankrupt to the highest order.
Being and remaining healthy is NOT something that anyone should be forced to pay large sums on. When Nixon gave the greenlight for greedy corporations to start charging the obscene he created the perfect environment for the corrupt health insurance industry to bankrupt an entire generation.
You know what should happen is we should have limited terms on all Congressmen. That way special interests groups would not have it so easy on controlling a Senator or House member.
Some of these people have been in office way too long.
Yes! see http://www.posterchildrenfortermlimits.com
http://dumptheincumbent.com/
#32 So you don’t want qualified people running the government? Instead you prefer random phonebook picks as topic suggests? I never indicated those in Congress now are largely qualified.
In a way you’re part of the problem. The voting public has an attention deficit disorder. Therefore, the pick something that rings familiar or has a catchy tag line.
#9 Have you actually bothered to find out what the Senate and House bills are going to do to the tax payers or have you walked the path of the blindly partison?
Those bills have no resemblance to what happens when honest and intelligent people try to do the right thing.
They are what happens when vastly over sized pieces of legislation are completely sold out to every special interest group in the nation to the point that the voters are totally shafted and most people end up much worse off than if nothing had been passed.
#39, Health Care should NOT be an industry. Anyone who believes so is morally bankrupt to the highest order.
And how do you propose to deliver the health care? Robots or Slaves?
Greg Allen, you assure us there is no liberal majority. Then how are the policies implemented by a smaller Republican majority, the acts of conservatives?
#43 – At least you’re admitting the current crop is not qualified. How do we get qualified people? The skills it takes to win one of our PR driven elections are completely different than those it takes to be a good legislator/administrator.
I have a lot of idea on how to fix the legislative process, But I don’t have a better idea on how to get the right people in in the first place either. Just askin’.
L. Neil Smith had a series of sci-fi books where the President was chosen randomly by lottery. If they did a crappy job, they were forced to serve a second term. Has merit. When you really look at the job, no one in their right mind would really want it.
I’ve always felt that, like the military, politicians should be drafted, not elected. It would take a lot of graft and corruption out of the equation.
#26
> There was never EVER
> any proposal to “tear
> down the entire
> healthcare industry.”
I disagree. What the liberals were originally proposing would have effectively dismantled the entire health insurance industry and turned the health care industry on its ear. There are changes that could have been made that would not have required such a drastic change.
#30
> It is crazy-talk to
> claim that the GOP
> are fiscal conservatives.
I never made that claim. I said that of the people in Congress that are not fiscal conservatives most of them are Democrats and some (many would also work here) are Republicans.
Claiming that voting for the war relates to fiscal conservatism is disingenuous. For example, I do not consider FDR to lack fiscal conservatism because of WWII. I do claim he lacked fiscal conservatism because of other decisions he made. It all comes down to understanding the global strategy against terrorism and how Iraq fits into that strategy. If you do, then the war isn’t part of the discussion because it was necessary. If you don’t, then the war is a superfluous expense.
In short, it comes down to the determination of necessity. It is still in line with fiscal conservatism to spend money on necessities. The catch is in our interpretation of “necessity.”
#36
As long as we can replace 100% who are Democrat, sure.
#3,
THEN EXPLAIN Qualified??
there is NO education for being a politico..
how about being able to beat certain GAME programs..
Sim LIFE
Sim city
Civ 3-4
I doubt that MOST of these guys could learn CAUSE and affect.
I doubt most have even run a business PROPERLY.
But if you want REAL change.. LOOK at the HIRED persons, that have been there for YEARS that are controlling EVERYTHING.
Understand something interesting.. THe BOSS isnt the MAIN person. He tells others what needs to be done, and OTHERS do the work.
In this senerio, these folks are ALMOST as bad as cloistered MONKS..all they hear is WHAT is fed to them. They get isolated and Self protective, and only hear what is FED to them by the GROUPS around them..
WHO do you believe, What of them being in Washington for 6 months of the year..When they get home they HIDE, then hang with friends from THOSE GROUPS.
The ONLY reasons they GOT the job, was BECAUSE of those groups.. HANG with the GROUP. they KNOW the best.
Who do you believe??
congress and reps, USED to be paid a Stipend(an allowance) only for TRAVEL and room and board while IN WASHINGTON doing their job. THEN they would go home and work at ANOTHER JOB. this changed in about the LATE 60’s(?).. These folks USED to be middle class. NOT now.
ANd if you look around in your STATE governments, you will find that these GROUPS have slowly backed certain people. WITH money.
Those groups have made running for a ELECTED position VERY expensive. YOU cant run UNLESS you get the GROUP to help you. and they WONT help you, unless you FOLLOW what they wish you to do..
hehehe
It’s a RASMUSSEN poll. The people he polls skew Republican and OLD. This same group also wants to keep Gubmint out of Medicare.
I have yet to figure how to vote for the
lesser of to weavels!
So we’re back to the “one term” limit issue. Only they’re not calling it that. But what else could it be, really? And not a bad idea too.
But, “When Congress is outlawed, only outlaws will run Congress”, essentially. I’m sure the well moneyed lobbyists have a contingency plan ready to deal with this minor inconvenience. Like, just plying the whole damn party(s) with so much money, that even newly minted politicians will be pre-compromised. And then there are those post-term job offers. That they can count on, if they’re “bad” little boys and girls. Of course, if all the present politicians get kicked out of office, now. How are they going to invent even more future jobs for the next generation of sellouts? Eventually, system will rupture from having to support so many useless lobbyist, consultant, and vice president jobs. GOOD!
Blah blah blah, YOUR ALL IDIOTS! We’re trusting the FAT CATS (Banks, Walmart, Corporations) who pay off the politicians. You idiots keep voting for either the Republicans or the Democrats, thinking your team’s gonna win. The media turns this into a friggin blue vs. red game. YOU IDIOTS keep voting for your favorite colors and it’s sickening. YOU IDIOTS think you have a point that the media spoon feeds you. Heaven forbid you vote outside the colors, BECAUSE THEN YOUR VOTE WON’T COUNT! Keep whining tools, because that’s what makes you feel better. god help us all