Poll: America Faults Congress' Bickering

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Too much bickering and not enough legislating.

That, in just a few words, explains why public approval of Congress' job performance has fallen 11 points since May, to 24 percent, its lowest level in a year, an Associated Press-Ipsos poll finds.

That's lower than for President Bush, who isn't exactly "Mr. Popularity," either.

Hear the people:

"I disapprove of all the fighting that they do all the time. ... They're not making George Bush do anything. They're not doing anything themselves," added Tammy Lambirth, a Democrat and data researcher from San Antonio.

"They're not addressing the issues that are worth addressing," Steve Wofford, a moderate Republican and software consultant from Scottsdale, Ariz., said of Congress.

"They've abandoned all the social issues. They don't want to deal with universal health care. They don't want to deal with the problems in our education system. It just goes on and on," lamented Rod Butler, a Democrat from Redondo Beach, Calif., who teaches music at a university.

The 24 percent approval rating for Congress matched its previous low. That came in June 2006, five months before Democrats won control of the House and Senate due to public discontent with the job Republicans were doing.

Just two months ago, 35 percent approved of Congress' productivity.

Poll respondents from both political parties say they're tired of the bickering between Congress and the White House, and they want the two branches of government to work together on such issues as education, health care and the Iraq war.

The latest fight involves Bush's refusal to hand over documents and let former White House aides answer questions from the Democratic-controlled Congress about the firing of U.S. attorneys. The dispute could end up in federal court.

"They don't approve of anything he does," Theresa Holsten, an unemployed Republican from Lawton, Okla., said of Congress. "He can't do anything right, according to what some people say. It irritates the living daylights out of me."

While the public's approval of Congress has dropped 11 points since May, the percentage of Democrats who are turning up their noses at Congress like Lambirth nearly doubled. Among Republicans, though, not so much.

Approval among Democrats fell 21 points, down from 48 percent in May to 27 percent.

It remained low among Republicans, at 20 percent, and has not changed significantly in the past two months.

Republican pollster Whit Ayres noted that three-fourths of the country is unhappy with how things are going.

"The longer the Democrats are in control of Congress and people remain dissatisfied with the direction of the country, the more responsibility the people place at the Democrats' feet," he said.

Among other survey findings:

•Bush's marks on his handling of the economy and domestic issues like health care, education and the environment, held steady, at 37 percent on the economy and 33 percent on domestic matters. Last month, Bush was at 37 percent approval for his stewardship of the economy, and 32 percent on domestic issues.

•On handling of foreign policy, including terrorism, 38 percent approved, compared with 35 percent last month.

•On handling the Iraq war, 31 percent approved, compared with 28 percent last month.

•One-fourth of the people, or 26 percent, said the country is headed in the right direction. Last month, 21 percent said the country was on the right track.

The telephone survey of 1,004 adults was conducted July 9-11 in English and Spanish by Ipsos, an international public opinion research company. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.


This is what some of us have been saying for a while. REASONABLE people of any party are getting tired of investigations and the threat of investigations being seen as the sole purpose of the congress now.
The effort to get Bush is taking priority over issues that need to be addressed.
And it ain't just republicans pissed at congress.
It also isn't just about Iraq.
Time to do some legislating and get on with the business of being a country.