The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Does Congress Know What It’s Doing?

Posted on | May 24, 2010 | 11 Comments

A Rasmussen poll finds that seven out of 10 likely voters said “nuh-uh” when asked, “How confident are you that Congress knows what it’s doing when it comes to addressing the country’s current economic problems?”

Of those surveyed, 29% said, “Not very confident,” while 43% said “Not at all confident.” (Evidently, “Are you freaking kidding me?” wasn’t one of the options.) But what about the people who said they were confident in Congress is dealing with the economy? Doug Bandow has questions:

Who are the other three of ten, and, more important, why are they allowed to vote? Especially the six percent who are very confident that Congress knows what it is doing. The latter folks desperately need professional help. And they shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a ballot box!

The depressing thing is that these demented fools evidently constitute 53% of the electorate in Pennsylvania’s 12th District.

Category: Congress, Economics

Comments

11 Responses to “Does Congress Know What It’s Doing?”

  1. Marianne7
    May 24th, 2010 @ 2:21 pm

    One more time. in PA-12, in which 66% of those WHO CHOSE A PARTY AFFILIATION are democrats, the democrat won in a special election that FORBID all independents the vote. I think PA-12 might be a big surprise to Dems in November.

  2. Marianne7
    May 24th, 2010 @ 9:21 am

    One more time. in PA-12, in which 66% of those WHO CHOSE A PARTY AFFILIATION are democrats, the democrat won in a special election that FORBID all independents the vote. I think PA-12 might be a big surprise to Dems in November.

  3. Joe
    May 24th, 2010 @ 2:56 pm

    Is that true? A Special Election that forbid indies from voting? Marianne7, they can only do that in a primary, not a general election. Are you sure about that?

    I hope you are right about a surprise in November, but it will be a very uphill battle.

  4. Joe
    May 24th, 2010 @ 9:56 am

    Is that true? A Special Election that forbid indies from voting? Marianne7, they can only do that in a primary, not a general election. Are you sure about that?

    I hope you are right about a surprise in November, but it will be a very uphill battle.

  5. ak4mc
    May 24th, 2010 @ 4:03 pm

    Especially the six percent who are very confident that Congress knows what it is doing.

    Those are Senators, Representatives, and their various official and campaign staffers, plus a handful of lobbyists who’ve poured money down the Buy A Congressman rathole for the last three and a half years and still HOPE! to get some worthwhile ROI before the bottom drops out this November.

  6. ak4mc
    May 24th, 2010 @ 11:03 am

    Especially the six percent who are very confident that Congress knows what it is doing.

    Those are Senators, Representatives, and their various official and campaign staffers, plus a handful of lobbyists who’ve poured money down the Buy A Congressman rathole for the last three and a half years and still HOPE! to get some worthwhile ROI before the bottom drops out this November.

  7. Christopher Renner
    May 24th, 2010 @ 9:08 pm

    Marianne7, independents were not forbidden to vote in the PA-12 special election, though they had less incentive to go to the polls. By my count they were about 6,300 votes out of 135,000 total cast in the special election.

    That said, Burns got far more Dem votes than anyone opposing Murtha ever got. But he’ll have to do better in November to win the seat.

  8. Christopher Renner
    May 24th, 2010 @ 4:08 pm

    Marianne7, independents were not forbidden to vote in the PA-12 special election, though they had less incentive to go to the polls. By my count they were about 6,300 votes out of 135,000 total cast in the special election.

    That said, Burns got far more Dem votes than anyone opposing Murtha ever got. But he’ll have to do better in November to win the seat.

  9. Replace Them with What? « Obi’s Sister
    May 24th, 2010 @ 6:59 pm

    […] 70% of Americans believe Congress doesn’t know what it’s doing. Case in point: now they want to tax current oil revenues to “finance” clean up of future oil spills that they won’t know how to handle, either. […]

  10. Liz
    May 25th, 2010 @ 3:02 am

    Don’t forget – the Special Election in PA-12 also had some “help” from our illustrious governor, Fast Eddie Rendell, who purposely scheduled it on the same day of the regular primary for the senate and the governor/lt. gov races. I seem to remember reading exactly that, and, like the irritating pol that he is, I even remember hearing Rendell admit that he did it specifically to drive turnout. And ::: of course ::: the turnout he is talking about is to benefit … guess which party?

    And remember: this was a special election to fill out the remainder of John Murtha’s term, but it was also a regular election for the PA-12 House seat in and of itself. So Mark Critz, the Dem, is the one who was elected to finish Murtha’s term, but in the November general election, both Critz AND Tim Burns(R) will be on the ballot for PA-12. Obviously, whoever wins (hint: hope it’s Burns) will be the congressman for an entirely new term.

    In the general election in PA, you can be a D, R or I and vote for anyone you want. But in the primary, you’re stuck with having to be a D or an R, which I would imagine rankles some Independents. But that’s the way it is.

  11. Liz
    May 24th, 2010 @ 10:02 pm

    Don’t forget – the Special Election in PA-12 also had some “help” from our illustrious governor, Fast Eddie Rendell, who purposely scheduled it on the same day of the regular primary for the senate and the governor/lt. gov races. I seem to remember reading exactly that, and, like the irritating pol that he is, I even remember hearing Rendell admit that he did it specifically to drive turnout. And ::: of course ::: the turnout he is talking about is to benefit … guess which party?

    And remember: this was a special election to fill out the remainder of John Murtha’s term, but it was also a regular election for the PA-12 House seat in and of itself. So Mark Critz, the Dem, is the one who was elected to finish Murtha’s term, but in the November general election, both Critz AND Tim Burns(R) will be on the ballot for PA-12. Obviously, whoever wins (hint: hope it’s Burns) will be the congressman for an entirely new term.

    In the general election in PA, you can be a D, R or I and vote for anyone you want. But in the primary, you’re stuck with having to be a D or an R, which I would imagine rankles some Independents. But that’s the way it is.