Obama's Approval Rating Surging

[giblets]

Recent polls by Gallup show an approval rating of 50% and a disapproval rating of 41%. The RCP average is currently 50.5 approve, 43.0 disapprove. Clearly Obama's re-election chances have turned the corner, and it's no surprise. Some of his accomplishments:
- universal healthcare
- repeal of don't ask, don't tell
- end of iraq war
- START treaty
- stimulus bill
and many more.

Obama 2012

[KrazyHorse]

Given that all of those other than start and dadt we passed during a period of declining popularity, on what basis do you think it appropriate to insinuate that they are popular legislative victories?

[KrazyHorse]

The US is rapidly heading toward a debt crisis, and Obama is certainly not helping its fiscal position. Budget deficits of the order of 10% of GDP are unsustainable even in the relatively short term, and they appear to have become the norm.

[giblets]

Given that all of those other than start and dadt we passed during a period of declining popularity, on what basis do you think it appropriate to insinuate that they are popular legislative victories?

None, I think they're accomplishments so I think they will help Obama, but I don't necessarily have evidence that they were popular at the time.

[SlowwHand]

If American voters put Obama in for a second term, they deserve the screwing that they get.

[KrazyHorse]

Just because you think they were accomplishments doesn't mean that anybody else does, or that they will aid his electoral chances.

Saying so makes me think you might be insane.

[Wezil]

I guess it would depend on the alternative. With the right candidate Obama is beatable but I expect the Republicans will nominate a lunatic of some sort.

Speaking of which, I really, really, really want Sarah Palin to get the nomination. You just can't buy that kind of hilarious.

[giblets]

Well, I wouldn't say it's 'insane' to think that public opinion of the healthcare bill might be better a year from now.

[KrazyHorse]

That's not what you said, for god's sake:

I think they're accomplishments so I think they will help Obama

Anything "might" happen a year from now. And whether or not the public grows fond of the health care bill is going to have precious little to do with whether or not it was a good idea.

People are at their stupidest when making decisions which

1) mostly affect people who are very far away and very different from them in ways that those people cannot easily communicate or aggregate
2) they are not given sufficient incentive to think about

i.e. when they vote

[giblets]

The poll finds that 40 percent of those surveyed said they support the law, while 41 percent oppose it. Just after the November congressional elections, opposition stood at 47 percent and support was 38 percent.

As for repeal, only about one in four say they want to do away with the law completely. Among Republicans support for repeal has dropped sharply, from 61 percent after the elections to 49 percent now.

Just to show I'm not nuts

[KrazyHorse]

Holy ****, you idiot. The nuts part was not claiming that over time people would come to have a better opinion of the bill. The nuts part was claiming that this had something to do with whether or not the bill was a good idea.

Jesus ****ing christ, grow a ****ing brain.

[giblets]

Holy ****, you idiot. The nuts part was not claiming that over time people would come to have a better opinion of the bill. The nuts part was claiming that this had something to do with whether or not the bill was a good idea.

Jesus ****ing christ, grow a ****ing brain.

Well excuse me. I didn't realize you thought it was insane to think that people prefer good legislation.

[Kuciwalker]

1) How the hell is the average voter supposed to know which legislation is good?

2) Why would people prefer good legislation over legislation that benefits them at someone else's expense?

[giblets]

1) I don't want to get into a discussion of what makes legislation good so I'm just going to say that I think the healthcare bill got a worse reputation than it deserved and public opinion will improve over time after Republican noise making wears off some. How do people figure out if legislation is good? I guess by acquiring a basic understanding of what the piece of legislation does and then making a value judgment?

2) You sound like a misanthrope. Since when were people all just a bunch of pleasure seeking machines?

[EPW]

I openly admit that I really dont know much about these issues, and am willing to change my opinion on any of them. But heres my impressions that Ive developed:
- universal healthcare
There's some good in it, but from a cost-benefit analysis it is a complete disaster.
- repeal of don't ask, don't tell
Good, small potatoes though.
- end of iraq war
Obama deserves no credit.
- START treaty
This looks good, but I don't really know anything about it.
- stimulus bill
I don''t know, probably bad.
Credit Card reform
Good, maybe?

Okay, that was totally useless.