Not going to help; it's one (war) party with two faces.
"Congress, mired by its partisan bickering, finding few fans" August 12, 2011|By Peyton M. Craighill and Rosalind S. Helderman, Washington Post
WASHINGTON - Cloning sheep. Cloning humans, even. Caning teen vandals. Believing that aliens have descended from space and abducted humans.
These are all things that, at one time or another, have enjoyed more public backing than Congress is getting right now.
Even President George W. Bush, at his lowest of lows during the 2008 financial crisis, was more popular than the men and women who currently occupy Capitol Hill.
Ragging on Congress, with its sluglike reaction times and inspiring displays of public bickering, has long been a favorite national pastime.
But recent polls indicate Congress’s approval ratings have sunk to record lows. That is pretty bad for an outfit that has been around since 1787.
A recent CNN poll found that just 14 percent of Americans surveyed approved of how Congress has been doing its job.
And a new Washington Post poll found that only 17 percent of Americans surveyed thought their representative should be reelected in 2012....
Yup, it is STILL an ANTI-INCUMBENT MOOD!
A survey from Gallup in June showed that Americans have more confidence in banks and even HMOs than in Congress....
Yeah, because at least then we know we are talking to their ma$ter$.
The causes of the revulsion are obvious and bedeviling: a constitutional system set up to promote divided and gridlocked government.
That is such a misrepresentation of the Constitution!
The AGENDA-PUSHING POINT is OBVIOUS! Thing isn't any good anyway, so why bother having one (not that the government follows it, mind you)?
You know, I never saw anything in there about politics being the exclusive arena of Democrats and Republicans, either.
General anxiety about a lagging world economy that makes Congress’s clashes appear even more reckless. A media environment that caters to partisans and spotlights conflict.
I hold them responsible for much of what is wrong.
And, maybe most important, a political class that reflects deep divisions among the people it represents about the proper size and scope of government.
That's the CONVENTIONAL MYTH anyway, even when we are UNITED on an END to the WARS, CORPORATE WELFARE and WALL STREET BAIL OUTS, and are FOR a GOOD, DECENT, SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH SYSTEM!
“If the Constitution was designed to create gridlock, and we’ve discovered the Congress and the president are in gridlock now, who should we really blame here?’’ asked Charles Stewart, a political scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Constitution was designed to make it difficult to go to war, but that hasn't seem to stop our leaders. That the type of gridlock you talking 'bout?
And now he is blaming the long-dead founders?
But that doesn’t mean Congress couldn’t give image improvement a try.
You can put perfume and a hat on a turd, but it still smells like s***.
Second chances are quintessentially American, and there are many examples of hated companies and personalities who have turned things around that Congress could look to.
Toyota appears to be rebounding from a series of reputation-damaging recalls. Football player Michael Vick is back on top after serving time in prison for his involvement with a dog-fighting ring. Few people even remember that Tylenol’s image took a hit after seven people died in 1983 from ingesting pills that had been poisoned, without the company’s knowledge, with cyanide.
Public relations managers say the keys to a turnaround are easy to explain, though not necessarily easy to replicate: Be humble. Apologize. Most important, examine why your reputation has tanked and make real changes - not traits people readily associate with politicians.
You know, if they did that and reversed direction -- really reversed direction -- I would forgive.
But they show no inclination of doing that at all.
“It can’t be window dressing,’’ said Jesse Derris, a crisis consultant for the public relations firm Sunshine Sachs....
From athletes to movie stars, there’s always one tried-and-true route to image improvement....
--more--"
They JUST DON'T GET IT!
It is NOT ABOUT IMAGE, it is ABOUT SUBSTANCE and ACTION!!
"Free trade, patent reform before Congress after recess" August 08, 2011|By Jim Abrams, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - When Congress gets back to work after Labor Day it will have the chance to achieve something that has largely eluded it for the entire year, passing legislation that might actually create jobs....
After they spent decades giving tax breaks to destroy them?
And WTF have they been waiting for anyway?
The stage is set for Congress to approve and President Obama to sign three big free-trade agreements and the most significant overhaul of the patent system in 60 years....
That won't be creating jobs here.
The trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama could have an even more direct impact on jobs. The administration says ratification of the Korea agreement could mean 70,000 new jobs from increased exports, with more jobs possible from opening up Korea’s service market to American firms.
The three deals will increase exports by $13 billion annually “and create jobs here at home, and that’s why we’ve been fighting so hard to get it done,’’ said Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat.
Are you tired of the promises yet?
Some labor groups disagree, saying free-trade agreements make it easier for US companies to ship jobs overseas.
Yeah, they get one sentence.
The free-trade agreements were all signed during President George W. Bush’s administration but have been in political limbo as the Obama administration negotiated to get more concessions from the Koreans on US auto sales and compel Colombia to improve its labor-rights record.
More recently, the White House has held up sending the deals to Congress, insisting that votes on the trade bills be accompanied by renewal of economic stimulus act provisions that expanded a program that helps workers displaced by foreign competition....
But it is creating jobs.
--more--"
Yup, same old Congress.
So which one do you want representing you?
