Poll: Half of Americans think Congress is corrupt

[babylonsister]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/19/congress.poll/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Half of all Americans believe most members of Congress are corrupt -- a figure that has risen 12 points since the start of the year -- and more than a third think their own representative is crooked, according to a new poll released Thursday by CNN.

According to the poll, a majority disapproves of how both parties are handling their jobs in Congress. Just 42 percent approve of how the Democrats are doing in Congress, while 54 percent disapprove. The GOP fares even worse -- only 36 percent approve of their performance in Congress, while 61 percent disapprove.

Pollsters from Opinion Research Corp. interviewed 1,012 Americans from Friday through Sunday. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

In January, 22 percent of those polled said they believed their own member of Congress was corrupt, a number that has jumped to 36 percent since then.

The dismal ratings come almost three weeks before midterm elections will give voters a chance to either change the face of the legislative body or leave it the way it is.

more...

[welshTerrier2]

1. and the other half ...

"KNOWS" Congress is corrupt ...

[babylonsister]

2. Ba-da-bing! nt

[welshTerrier2]

4. heh ...

well, let me make a more serious response to your post ...

the Dems have been pushing this whole "culture of corruption" thing and rightfully so ... DeLay, Abramoff, Ken Lay, Weldon, and a cast of thousands ... send 'em all to jail ... if the American people hear these stories on the news and criticize those who abuse their power for personal gain, i think that's just great ... and that's what your poll indicates ...

unfortunately, however, these are the "little" crimes ... it doesn't mean they're unimportant but they do distract us from the larger, systemic crimes that serve special interests instead of the national interest ... i call them "little" crimes because they generally involve one or two individuals receiving cash or other material forms of compensation for "political favors" ... for example, they've accepted trips or cash or meals in exchange for influencing legislation ...

our government, our democracy and all our institutions are badly broken ... the corruption the American people are not adequately educated about goes way beyond the "little" crimes of graft and bribery ... we are suffering from institutional corruption ... in the end, as a bottom line, the results of this corruption are that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer ... such a trend could have come about through legitimate processes but it did not ... it came about through the systematic opposition to the best interests of the American people ...

Democrats have been far too reticent about educating the American people on the issue of systemic, institutional corruption ... we cannot allow the military-industrial complex to continue raping our national wealth when so many genuine spending priorities exist ... Democrats have been cowered into "standing tough on defense" ... we should certainly have all the defense we require; to pad the pockets of massive multi-nationals with spending on weapons systems we don't need makes the country weaker, not stronger ... and our foreign policy and our military has not been deployed to better America; they've been deployed to benefit greedy multi-national corporations and their largest shareholders ...

that's the "big" corruption ... that's the obscenity ... this gets to the heart of the matter which is that the motives of many in power are both corrupt and immoral ... it is war worse than someone getting caught with their greedy little hands in the cookie jar; we are witnessing the wholesale selling out of the American people ...

and that is the corruption the American people need to understand ... unfortunately, right now, i don't think they understand the depth of the problem or the power of the real enemy we face ... it should be our job and the job of the Democratic Party to tell them the truth ...

[babylonsister]

5. Nice post!

The media is complicit in the cover-up of all the crimes, petty and larger. Even if/when Dems take over, I don't know if that is fixable. But I think the citizens of the US who are not aware of the corruption would be appalled if they ever became enlightened. The magnitude of crimes committed is mind-boggling. I would welcome having the truth see the light.

I think one of the first steps the Congress needs to take, after adjusting the min. wage and voting for stem cell research, is to make serious, severe ethics reforms. That should include chopping pensions off if someone gets convicted of a crime while on the job. It would happen in the real world, why not there? And that might go a long way towards making crooks think twice before crossing the line.

[welshTerrier2]

6. my little campaign ...

i've been pushing the following idea on DU for roughly two years or so and have gotten absolutely ZERO support ...

one of the real problems we've seen with republicans in total control of the government is that Democrats, the so called opposition party, had no forum to act as a check and balance and no means to bring republican abuses to the public's attention ... one of the major deficiencies in the Senate rules that does an incredible disservice to the American people is that the minority party is not allowed to call hearings and is not able to exercise subpoena power ...

this, by definition, is poor governance ... i understand that Democrats are angry at the way we've been treated by the republicans in the Congress ... but, continuing a process that blocks investigations by the minority party virtually guarantees institutional corruption in the Congress ...

one of the very first acts of a Democratically-controlled Congress, and we could get some good brownie points for doing it, should be to overturn the rule and let the minority party call hearings and issue subpoenas ... the current rules tie the hands of the opposition party ... that's no way to build a system of checks and balances to ensure the government is obeying the law and acting in the best interests of the American people ...

[babylonsister]

8. Makes great sense to me, but I wonder

how forgiving the Dems will feel after being shut out for so long?
After seeing how Dems were treated, re: hearings in closets, I'm all for treating the minority
as humans and to let them have a venue to investigate whatever they feel is necessary. As for
subpoena power, I guess that would depend on the issue in question.
There has got to be a better way, because the current way obviously isn't working. But think
of all the issues that will need to be addressed; this may fall into the 'bottom of the list'
category.

[welshTerrier2]

9. "may fall into the 'bottom of the list'"

i'll give you a guarantee on that ... in fact, i have no hope this idea will ever see the light of day ...

it's too bad too ... minority voters deserve to be represented and these rules prevent them from outing the abuses of the majority party ... and we call ourselves a democracy ...

[Greyhound]

12. The problem is that it would then allow the minority to tie up the whole

process forever.

I think the only possible solution is to remove all private money from the system.

[Greyhound]

11. Bill Moyers said it, "our current political system is nothing more

than legalized bribery".

[Warpy]

3. What the HELL is wrong with the other half?

Are they still Bushrooms, living in the dark and dining on bullshit---and liking it?

It's worse than you think. Check out the Rolling Stone online: "Time to GO." It's an inside look at just how bad this rubberstamp Congress is and why. It's scathing.\

Their site appears to be down right now, but should it come back to life later today, the link is http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/12055360/cover_story_time_to_go_inside_the_worst_congress_ever/1

[Jack Rabbit]

7. Only half?

The Republican majority that has led Congress since 1995 is the sleaziest bunch since the Gilded Age.

[HelloDubya]

10. The other half aren't paying attention

Enough said