Schieffer's Take on Obama's Decreasing Ratings

CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer discussed some of the reasons behind President Obama's decreasing approval ratings today on CBS' "The Early Show," citing concerns with the economy as the main catalyst.

"I mean, one of the most interesting numbers in this poll… was that nearly 7 out of 10 people have some concern about losing their jobs," said Schieffer. "Now, when you have that kind of a number there where that many people are uncertain about whether they're going to lose their job, there's no way the president's approval rating is going to stay very high."

Schieffer pointed out that even though Mr. Obama passed the stimulus package in addition to other programs aimed at improving the economy, the American people have yet to see any progress or a direct impact on their lives.

Schieffer also agreed with Vice President Joe Biden's earlier statement on the economy being worse off then the Obama administration first thought.

"Maybe they didn't want to say how bad that it really was…but when you come down to it, the economy is in terrible shape," Schieffer explained.

Quickly touching upon the approval rating's impact on Mr. Obama's plans to overhaul the health care system, Schieffer stated, "it's pretty well a consensus around Washington now, he's not going to get this done by the August recess, which was sort of the deadline they set. I think health care is in big trouble right now."

But because over 50 percent of the nation still holds a favorable view of Mr. Obama, Schieffer says that the president is "a long way from being unpopular."

You can check out the full interview with Bob Schieffer above.

[AWilliams21]

This quote is a joke... "But because over 50 percent of the nation still holds a favorable view of Mr. Obama, Schieffer says that the president is "a long way from being unpopular.", because as the data is being collected, it is showing that more and more Obama voters are becoming quite dissatisfied with the Obama administration. As mentioned by many, he has made many broken promises, and certainly does not have near the experience necessary to partake in the role of The President of The United States. Unfortunately, so far his administation is failing according to the dramatic, yet consistent decrease in overall national ratings. I do believe that sadly this is the result of the many American voters who voted on race alone. Hopefully, smart Americans can see that not everyone should be encouraged to vote, we (Americans) need educated voters or unfortunately, America ends up getting a president such as Barack Obama.

[pistolpeteg]

the economy was in absoluate shambles when obama became prez, and no one could have realistically expected him to turn it around immediately. it just doesn't happen like that. it took years of bad policies to put is in this situation. economists were predicting a 10% unemployment rate late this year even before the election. the question is, can he start to piece this mess back together in the next few years. by no means is he perfect, but his success this term will in no way depend on what his approval rating is today, tomorrow or even the next day.

[impeachbhb]

The economists who predicted 10% unemployment were wrong. Obama assured us it would stay below 8% because of his stimulus bill. Obama also said the stimulus bill had to be passed quickly or our economy would collapse. Now he tells us it was never meant to be a quick fix. He uses his sky is falling technique to get a socialist political agenda passed in a so called stimulus bill. Obama is the ranks number 3 on the list of outstanding liars who became President. He may get to number 1 before the end of his first and only term.

[cdegolier]

Could the drop possible be people who voted for him are finally realizing what a horrible mistake it was.

[ibsteve2u]

Schieffer: "[O]ne of the most interesting numbers in this poll? was that nearly 7 out of 10 people have some concern about losing their jobs"

The Democrats have not done enough to educate the American people on why the economy is in such trouble.

In my view, this economy results from the policies of trickle-down economics, inequitable free trade, deregulation, and an energy policy that seems to be designed to sacrifice the American people upon the altar of corporate and individual profits.

Most of those policies were driven by Republicans...but they had the cooperation of a number of Democrats, which include the "blue dogs", of course.

The Democrats' relative silence on the core issues afflicting our economy - other than a oft-repeated admission that we need jobs without any accompanying explanation of how we are going to compete with offshore workers whose cost of living is 1/20th of ours and whose nation's fixed infrastructure maintenance and defense costs are 1/200th of ours - leads me to suspect that they have no real plan to correct the economy's misalignment.

That misalignment - that diversion of the stream of wealth into the hands of the few in America - took the Republicans 30 years to achieve.

Since it doesn't appear that the Democrats have any attention to address the core issues, I do not see how the future offers any hope of improvement. Correcting 30 years of Republican assaults upon America's middle class and working poor would be difficult at best, but if you never start, it is impossible.

That, in turn, causes me to ask "Why not?"...and forces me to suspect that too many Democrats are joined at the hip to the Republicans regardless of what their mouths say.

And given that 7 of 10 Americans live in fear of losing their jobs, I conclude that I am not alone.

[ibsteve2u]

(*Since it doesn't appear that the Democrats have any INTENTION to address the core issues...

Either insufficient coffee, or I shouldn't be watching multiple news networks at the same time.)