And who am I to argue with that?
Jack starts with a mention of Congress' low approval ratings:
When your approval rating is only 14 percent, there's nowhere to go but up. Unless you're the Democrat-led Congress. A Rasmussen poll released Tuesday indicated the approval rating for Congress has declined by 36 percentage points from last year's "high." Just 9 percent of respondents said Congress was doing a "good" or "excellent" job, while 52 percent of us think it's doing a "poor" one. That's the lowest rating ever.And this is the press release from Rasmussen regarding the numbers. I am not sure where Jack gets 14 from the numbers. There is a "14" in the press release but it's not tied into any approval/disapproval setting. It's this sentence:
Much of the dissatisfaction with Congress is due to its unwillingness to do anything about the soaring price of gasoline. "Right now, our strategy on gas prices is 'Drive small cars and wait for the wind,' " a Democratic congressional aide told The Hill newspaper.
Just 14% believe members are genuinely interested in helping people.Which is not much good news to the Congress.
In any case, according to Politico there's some doubt that reality is adequately reflected in the poll numbers. Take a look:
Rasmussen didn’t ask respondents whether they approved or disapproved of Congress; it asked respondents to rank Congress’ job performance as excellent, good, fair or poor.Something to ponder, I guess. Something else to ponder (and something else Jack left out when he pointed out the low approval ratings for "the Democrat-controlled Congress":
Add those up, and you get 9 percent.
But 36 percent of Rasmussen’s respondents said they consider Congress’ job performance to be fair. Is that approval or disapproval?
Rasmussen CEO Scott Rasmussen said that’s a fair question but one without a clear answer. His best guess: If you converted the thinking behind the answers into the binary results of most polls — approval or disapproval — then Congress’ approval rating might actually be as high as the mid-20s. [emphasis added]
Despite these negative attitudes towards Congress, Democrats continue to enjoy a double digit lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot.Any idea why Jack left that part out? Anyone? Here's an important point from that poll:
Democrats continue to lead Republicans by double-digits in the Rasmussen Reports generic congressional ballot. When given the choice, 47% of voters nationwide would vote for their district’s Democratic candidate, while 34% would choose their Republican candidate.So despite mostly everyone disapproving of the way Congress is doing its job, a plurality (by 14 points) would STILL vote for the Democrat in their district than the Republican.
In any event, Jack quickly jumps off the bash Congress bandwagon and has some very kind words to say about the McCain campaign:
Some Republicans in Congress are crooks, and many are cowards. But few are idiots. For idiocy, you have to look to the campaign of Sen. John McCain.I didn't write that, Jack Kelly did.
He then quotes the New York Times' William Kristol and then The King James Bible (I Corinthians 14:8) to try to kickstart McCain.
Unfortunately it leads back to offshore drilling and ANWR.
Didn't we already cover this?
While Jack Kelly offers up this advice to McCain:
The winning theme is obvious. We're paying roughly twice as much for gas as we should have to pay because the Democrats in Congress won't let us develop our energy resources. Sen. Barack Obama opposes drilling for oil, mining for coal, building nuclear power plants. If he's elected president, gas prices will rise to $5 a gallon or higher.The government's own experts say that starting to drill for oil NOW on the outer continental shelf (OCS) won't have a significant impact on prices until 2030 and that impact on prices will be insignificant.
Says so here.
As I said, we've covered this all before.
Some weeks deconstructing Jack is easier than others.
John K: Oh yah, the Democratic led congress with approval ratings of 9%. LMAO. Tell me again how this country is liberal. LOL
ReplyDeleteOil companies say they can add barrells of oil to the supply within 8 to 18 months.
Now Mike Branicle went on Cramer and parroted that 10 year line. Cramer challenged him on this and of course Barnicle had no idea of where the number came from to which Cramer produced the figures from the oil companies saying 8 to 18 months. They said this on CSpan also.
But it fits the lefty template to say 10 years. Of course the left wing kooks never mention that alternative energy isn't coming on line till way past 2030. Way past it. So the question is what happens in the meantime. Well according to Hussein Obama, we suffer because it makes the liberals feel good. LMAO
John K: Yep 9% boy you lefties really did a good job in congress. Must be Rove's fault.LOL LOL LOL
ReplyDeleteAnd yet...Americans still want Democrats to control the House and the Senate...if that's what 9% approval gets us, I'll take it.
ReplyDeleteAnd what's that say about Republicans and conservatives that even with such low numbers they will still lose seats in the House and Senate this year?
But, I mean, if that's what the oil companies say...well, then...they surely wouldn't just being saying that because they stand to gain more than anyone else...
T. Boone Pickens, a life-long Republican, would disagree with you strongly as to how far we are from fully utilizing solar, wind and hydroelectric power.
Of course, if we spent as much money on researching alternative fuels as we have bailing out corporations and giving handouts to Big Oil, we might get somewhere.
Keep swinging away, man...
As for the ten year number, the link provided in the post goes to an Energy Information Administration report that states the existing ban on drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) will expire in 2012. Now the report, from at least a year ago, expected the ban to be renewed at that time, but it goes on to state that if it is not, they estimate it would take another five years of exploration to get oil into the market. So nine years now according to a Bush administration agency report.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the oil companies already know where to drill off the coast of California or Virginia, or maybe their reports are badly out of date. I have to say that if a the ban was lifted today, it would exert a downward pressure on the world oil futures market. That doesn’t mean the price of oil would go down, it might only mean the price would rise more slowly. In fact, to some extent the new oil inputs might cause the price to continue to rise because speculators on the international market might think we would resume driving at our old level, and start buying pickups and SUV’s again. But any hiccup, any slowdown in oil production because the oil the companies thought was there wasn’t, any oil spill, any bottleneck in gasoline production because we lack the refining capacity … would be a reason to increase the price tremendously, as the speculators see the US buying even more foreign oil to meet its out of control demand. Which is fine with the oil companies, by the way. They would love to be in the position of selling even more oil, at an ever higher price. Hell, they might give the Iranians some missiles, just to get another ten dollars per barrel.
Meanwhile, Jack Kelly, after that paragraph that tells John McCain to explicitly blame the democrats for higher gas prices, goes on to say “Nuance is important in policy making, but can be disastrous in political campaigning.” So Jack Kelly is telling McCain to lie on the campaign trail, to say one thing while campaigning, but then do something completely different in office. Because the American people will understand. If McCain does it, its important. If Obama does it, its flip flopping.
John K: Nope the 9% says people are fed up with both Democrats and Republicans. This congress is up for grabs.
ReplyDeleteJohn K: But if Jaywillie is proud of Democrats controlling govt then step up. Take some pride in what the Democrats have done in Pittsburgh and PA. Scandals and indictments in the State House. A city broke and losing population. City schools drop out factories. Come on Jaywillie, step up already and take some pride in what the Democrats have accomplished in SW PA. LMAO
ReplyDelete"Nope the 9% says people are fed up with both Democrats and Republicans. This congress is up for grabs."
ReplyDeleteGood. Let's get some libertarians in there and put this morbidly obese and trigger-happy congress on a diet and tranquilizers.
John K: Not opposed to libertarians at all. Just not libertarians acting like liberals. My vote is still between Barr and McCain but never that kook Ron Paul.
ReplyDeleteThis Congress is up for grabs?
ReplyDeleteThat's the statement of someone with, at best, a vague grasp on reality.
The only way it is "up for grabs" is this one: How many Republican seats will Democrats grab?
I expect at least a 20-seat pickup in the House, and enough Senate seats to bring the Democrats close to 60 (but they probably won't make it, especially because Sen. Lieberman is likely to be kicked out of the caucus early and emphatically on Nov. 5).
And on election day we will have more Democrats than non-partisans, more non-partisans than Republicans, and a declining group of people willing to be identified as Republicans.
Up for grabs? Drunken posting is not nearly so dangerous as drunken driving, but it tends to make the author appear to be exceptionally dumb.
John K: Then step up there and take pride in this Democrat congress infin. Post a banner. Next time Obama comes to town put up a banner that says McCain is old. Remind people with pride that gas prices have doubled under the Democrat congress. And that there are more troops in Iraq now than there were when Rumsfield ran the show. And take pride with the local Democrats. After all they ran the city in bankruptcy. Kucinich bankrupted Cleveland. Hmm seems to be a trend. But something the Democrats should take pride in.
ReplyDeleteSo infin what happens if the Demcorats retain congress. Promises for more of the same. LOL LOL LOL LMAO Pelosi/Reid are fools. This congress is up for grabs.
Um, yeah, we're talking about Congress, not Democrats in SW PA, which I have no problem being critical of.
ReplyDeleteI assume, John K., you do not coddle the balls of every Republican out there?
You really should try not putting words in other people's mouths because you only succeed at putting your foot in your own.
John K: Jaywillie, Well then step up and take pride in your Democratic run congress. I already gave you some of their achievements.
ReplyDeleteYou haven't impeached the President, nor the VP. Nor have you gotten any war crimes against Rumsfield (France dropped theirs). And funniest of all, Rove ignored you guys. LOL LOL LOL So step up Jaywillie, take pride in these Democrats. Gas prices doubled since Pelosi said she would do something about it in Oct 2006. LOL LOL What a bunch of incompetents and Jaywillie thinks that 9% approval is cool. Run that billboard in Pittsburgh that says McCain is too old. LOL LOL
That's clever...trying to blame Pelosi and the Democrats for high gas prices...just like they can't accept the blame for ignoring warnings that we'd be attacked! So much personal accountability...
ReplyDeleteI seem to recall a certain asshole occupying the White House; once we get him out of the way, we can start to repair the damage that conservatives have done to this great country.
I'm not quite stupid enough to play along with your trivial rhetorical games, John.
That the Democrats have put themselves in position to pick up more seats in the House and Senate, as well as the Presidency, is good enough for me because I know we can't accomplish anything so long as a cocksucker like George W. Bush sits in the White House.
Why is it John that with 9% approval Americans still want Democrats to control the House and Senate?