Obama's Approval Rating Dips to New Low
(CBS)
President Obama's job approval rating has fallen to 46 percent, according to a new CBS News poll.
That rating is Mr. Obama's lowest yet in CBS News polling, and the poll marks the first time his approval rating has fallen below the 50 percent mark. Forty-one percent now say they disapprove of Mr. Obama's performance as president.
In last month's CBS News poll, 50 percent of Americans approved of how the president was handling his job, while thirty-nine percent disapproved.
Analysis: The Irony Behind Obama's Poll Numbers
Mr. Obama still receives strong support from Democrats (eight in ten approve of his performance), but his approval rating among Republicans is only 13 percent. More importantly, Mr. Obama's approval rating among independents has declined 10 points in recent months – and it now stands at just 42 percent.
Domestic issues – and not his response to terrorist threats - appear to be driving the president's approval rating downward.
Just 41 percent now approve of his handling of the economy, which Americans say is the nation's most pressing issue. Forty-seven percent disapprove. The president's marks on handling health care, with reforms still under debate in Congress, are even lower – just 36 percent approve, while 54 percent disapprove. Both of these approval ratings are the lowest of Mr. Obama's presidency.
Meanwhile, both parties in Congress receive even lower marks than the president on handling health care. Few Americans think the reforms in Congress hit the right note on expanding coverage, lowering costs and regulating the health insurance industry. (Read more on the health care poll results>)
(CBS)
While some Republicans have criticized the president and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano's responses to the attempted Christmas Day terror attack, most Americans don't share their opinion.
In the poll, 57 percent of Americans approve of the way the Obama administration has responded to the attempted attack, and 29 percent disapprove. Views are highly partisan – 75 percent of Democrats approve, while just 41 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of independents do.
More Findings from the Poll:
• Fear of another terrorist attack has increased since the attempted attack on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam on Christmas Day. Now, 26 percent think another attack on the United States within the next few months is very likely, up from 12 percent just before the latest incident. This is the highest percentage that has felt an attack was very likely since March 2003, just after the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
• While most Americans (56 percent) have at least a fair amount of confidence that the government will protect its citizens from future attacks, just 15 percent are very confident. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, more expressed confidence.
• Few Americans – just 19 percent - think U.S. intelligence agencies are doing all they could to monitor the actions of suspected terrorists. Seventy-six think they could be doing more.
• Most Americans support conducting full body scans on travelers using a digital x-ray machine, a device some airports are now using. Seventy-four percent agree these machines should be used because they provide a detailed check for hidden weapons and explosives and reduce the need for physical searches. Just 20 percent think these machines should not be used because they would produce an image of a passenger's naked body and are an invasion of privacy.
• Over half of Americans think the U.S. should continue to keep the Guantanamo Bay prison open. Thirty-two percent think it ought to be closed and the prisoners there transferred somewhere else.
• The American public continues to volunteer the economy and jobs as the most important problem facing the country (44 percent), with health care a distant second (14 percent). In the wake of the attempted terror attack on Christmas Day, the percentage that cites terrorism as the most pressing issue has risen to seven percent from zero percent early last month.
• The public's overall assessment of the condition of the national economy remains grim – 82 percent of Americans say the economy is in bad shape. Looking ahead, 31 percent of Americans think the economy is getting better, while 19 percent think it is getting worse. Forty-nine percent now say the economy is staying the same.
Read More:
Poll: Obama Health Care Marks hit new Low
Poll: Most Americans Say Keep Gitmo Open
Poll: 3 in 4 Support Airport Body Scans
Analysis: The Irony Behind Obama's Poll Numbers
CBS News Poll Database
Read the Complete Poll
This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,216 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone January 6-10, 2010. Phone numbers were dialed from random digit dial samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.
This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
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Is there a road back? That is the question. Sex and greed (dishonesty)are why we are at the breaking point today.
It does not look like there is any "real" possibility to turn the ship around.
Barack Obama is part of the problem just like others before him.
Democrat, Republican, just call them Republocrats, they are not the answer.
When will People get off the couch and get back to work?
An hours pay for an hours work.
No under the table deals???
Human nature is the complete reason the ship is sinking and there is no way to change it.
Hasta luego amigo.
don't worry we all make mistakes. i never voted for obama but
you not the only one that made a mistake. the only thing bother me was people was treating OBAMA like he was JESUS here on earth. so now lets just hope for a good president in 2012.(GOOD LUCK)
GET Obama out of the white house....
he change me good.I AM ON SOCIAL=SECURITY never gave us a raise
the first of the year. how does he think us people that is getting a monthly income will live? one thing about it. he fooled a lot of people but I DID NOT VOTE FOR THAT child to run our country. we need a man that knows how to run this country. YES WE CAN do not vote for him in 2012 GET HIM OUT BEFORE HE DESTROYS THE USA.
The Answer to all the above is 'False'.
Socialism is a type of Collectivism. The key assumption made is that the individual belongs to the community and therefore belongs to the collective. Also they believe that the individual is inherently bad and will let their neighbor starve for example so to prevent this, the community must give all they have to the government and the government will divide it equally among the needy and the poor.
Some would argue that socialism is for the greater good and they have good ideas. Our current president Barrack Obama has socialist views. Obama?s socialist current movement is to spread the wealth by dividing it among the people in our society. In addition the modern socialist believes by dividing the wealth, nobody will be poor and nobody will be rich. Currently the democratic senate and president want to stop the selling of guns in the United States. They believe that by taking away all the guns in America then it will lower the crime rate. They have good intentions but even they know that it is a long, difficult process. Though they do have good ideas, many do not follow in their ways.
Although the socialist have good intentions and their beliefs are for the greater good, many would argue that it should not be allowed because of previous failures socialism has had on other countries. For example, Berlin lived in relative poverty under socialism compared to the capitalist west Berliners. In 1961 the Berlin Wall was constructed. The Berlin Wall was not made to keep people out but rather to keep people in. After its erection nearly five thousand people tried to escape over the Berlin Wall. Very few did but people were like being kept in a cage. The Berlin wall was heavily guarded almost like they would be guarding a nuclear weapon. The people of Berlin tried to rise up ageist that terrible obstacle. Some people spent years digging a tunnel under the wall. That really shows how the people of Berlin wanted to escape from the country that had put chains on their feet to keep them under their socialist rule. It is also a similar story in Korea.
The democrats and socialists want to take away guns from the American people. Their motive for doing this is they think that taking away guns will lower the crime rate and keep people safer but in reality, gun control laws have failed because the people who give their guns up after a request from the authority, are people who are not criminals. The criminals will be the only people who have guns because they will act like they do not have guns, so they feel better about doing more crime knowing the normal citizen does not have something to defend them self with. Also, many people will not give their guns up to the UN when they come to America to take the guns away. That will cause many problems for not only the authority but the American people. I know many people who never break the law but once said to me that It is their right to bear arms and and will not give their guns up until they are dead.? Twenty eight out of twenty nine people who own guns use them for hunting or competition. Why take away a tradition passed down generations. Fathers spending time with their kids to teach them about the safety of guns. What we gun lovers say, guns don't kill people, people kill people. Should we take away cars? They have been used to kill. Does that make scene, this is another reason socialism should not be allowed because socialist take away freedoms from people to give themselves a more peace of mind thinking that they are making their country safe
When there are periodic failures of the capitalist system, as there always will be, it is well that these facts are remembered. It is also a fact to date, in democratic elections, none of these countries which have discarded socialism has voted to return it. Capitalism is still the best economic system know to humanity. As every student knows Smith provided the conceptual framework of capitalism. It has been improved and elaborated throughout its long history, and though the world has changed enormously, the fundamentals described by Smith have still remained intact. Clearly socialism is another failed conceptual idea and needs to not return. Many political masters agree that it does not work well enough compared too Capitalism.