| HOME FAQs SHOPPING CENTER ADVERTISE TERMS OF USE All contents © 2007 by MyBestYears.com. No portion may be used in print, for broadcast or on the Internet without prior permission. Contact: admin@MyBestYears.com |
|
Polls in August showed a slight increase to 18
percent.
The Gallup News Service reported on Sept. 21,
"Americans remain deeply dissatisfied with the
way the nation is being governed today, fueled
in large part by the negative sentiments of
Democrats and Independents. The current
level of satisfaction is the lowest it has
been this decade, and is as low as at any
other point at which the question was
asked since September 1973. There is no
indication that Democrats have become more
pleased with governance as a result of their
takeover of Congress after last November's
election."
Gallup continues: "There is a deep divide in the response to this governance question by
partisanship. While more than 6 out of 10 Republicans (63 percent) say they are
satisfied with the way the nation is being governed, only 18 percent of Independents and
Democrats agree. While this partisan rift as been evident in each poll conducted since
2001, it has become more exaggerated in recent years. For example, there was a gap of
29 percentage points between the satisfaction level of Republicans and Democrats in
September 2001, compared to a 45-point gap today. One might have expected that
Democrats' satisfaction with the way things are being governed in the nation would have
improved this year, given that Democrats took control of the House and Senate at the
beginning of 2007. But this did not occur—Democrats are as negative now as they have
been in the past two years."
And therein lies the tale!
The Democrats' low opinion of themselves is a result of their own negative
intellectual and political policies.
While they were expending their energies in a hate George Bush campaign over the
previous two years, they were energizing Republican resistance with their hate rhetoric.
This may explain the 45-point gap today in the satisfaction level between Republicans
and Democrats.
It could be argued that their hate Bush campaign was largely responsible for the massive
defeat of Republicans in the last election.
It could be argued as well that hate itself has a debilitating effect on the
intellect. Enthusiasm for the Democrat victory was therefore diminished,
depriving the victors of the expected euphoria at winning control of both
houses of Congress. This has led to the Democrats' low opinion of their ability
to govern the United States.
The first female Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.,
heralded the "First 100 Days" of reform legislation. The momentum generated by the
publicity surrounding the First 100 Days sputtered out. In its place were scores of
oversight hearings.
WashingtonPost.com reported early on that the 110th Congress has made it "clear that
revelation, not legislation, is going to be its real product. Within a matter of weeks House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer held a news conference to
celebrate the fact that the House already had conducted more than 100 oversight
hearings on executive agencies."
As reported in the New York Times on Aug. 26, in the first eight months the House has
held 605 oversight hearings while the Senate has held 308.
The House has passed only 90 substantive measures and 363 symbolic. The Senate
has passed only 32 substantive measures and 235 symbolic.
By August recess, finger pointing on both
sidesreached a high with at least the
blogger community rating the 110th
Congress performance as an F.
President George Bush pointed out this week
that Congress has not passed next year's
budget which is due October 1. The 2007 farm
bill also goes lagging.
The very worst part of the 110th Congress' inability to act centers around two
crisis issues in the United States.
Those issues are illegal immigration and energy independence.
Illegal immigration is steadily eroding our nation's culture, increasing crime rates and
creating unassimilable population pockets in the nation. Lack of a viable energy program
is threatening the very survival of America's present robust economy. With respect to
these two vital issues, it is as though there is no government.
Continued non-governance of the nation will lead to one solution only—a national
emergency will have to be declared by the President of the United States to address the
most pressing of the issues: energy independence.
A serious threat or a substantial reduction in imported oil, now representing 75
percent of total petroleum used daily in the United States will eventually
require such an action. Prudence dictates that the President act sooner rather than
later.
percent.
The Gallup News Service reported on Sept. 21,
"Americans remain deeply dissatisfied with the
way the nation is being governed today, fueled
in large part by the negative sentiments of
Democrats and Independents. The current
level of satisfaction is the lowest it has
been this decade, and is as low as at any
other point at which the question was
asked since September 1973. There is no
indication that Democrats have become more
pleased with governance as a result of their
takeover of Congress after last November's
election."
Gallup continues: "There is a deep divide in the response to this governance question by
partisanship. While more than 6 out of 10 Republicans (63 percent) say they are
satisfied with the way the nation is being governed, only 18 percent of Independents and
Democrats agree. While this partisan rift as been evident in each poll conducted since
2001, it has become more exaggerated in recent years. For example, there was a gap of
29 percentage points between the satisfaction level of Republicans and Democrats in
September 2001, compared to a 45-point gap today. One might have expected that
Democrats' satisfaction with the way things are being governed in the nation would have
improved this year, given that Democrats took control of the House and Senate at the
beginning of 2007. But this did not occur—Democrats are as negative now as they have
been in the past two years."
And therein lies the tale!
The Democrats' low opinion of themselves is a result of their own negative
intellectual and political policies.
While they were expending their energies in a hate George Bush campaign over the
previous two years, they were energizing Republican resistance with their hate rhetoric.
This may explain the 45-point gap today in the satisfaction level between Republicans
and Democrats.
- In actuality, the Democrats had no campaign
platform. They advanced no causes or
issues of any consequence during the
campaign. This is the stuff that makes up
platforms.
Therefore, in January 2007, when the 110th
Congress was organized, the Democrats
discovered they had nothing on their plate.
It could be argued that their hate Bush campaign was largely responsible for the massive
defeat of Republicans in the last election.
It could be argued as well that hate itself has a debilitating effect on the
intellect. Enthusiasm for the Democrat victory was therefore diminished,
depriving the victors of the expected euphoria at winning control of both
houses of Congress. This has led to the Democrats' low opinion of their ability
to govern the United States.
The first female Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.,
heralded the "First 100 Days" of reform legislation. The momentum generated by the
publicity surrounding the First 100 Days sputtered out. In its place were scores of
oversight hearings.
WashingtonPost.com reported early on that the 110th Congress has made it "clear that
revelation, not legislation, is going to be its real product. Within a matter of weeks House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer held a news conference to
celebrate the fact that the House already had conducted more than 100 oversight
hearings on executive agencies."
As reported in the New York Times on Aug. 26, in the first eight months the House has
held 605 oversight hearings while the Senate has held 308.
The House has passed only 90 substantive measures and 363 symbolic. The Senate
has passed only 32 substantive measures and 235 symbolic.
By August recess, finger pointing on both
sidesreached a high with at least the
blogger community rating the 110th
Congress performance as an F.
President George Bush pointed out this week
that Congress has not passed next year's
budget which is due October 1. The 2007 farm
bill also goes lagging.
The very worst part of the 110th Congress' inability to act centers around two
crisis issues in the United States.
Those issues are illegal immigration and energy independence.
Illegal immigration is steadily eroding our nation's culture, increasing crime rates and
creating unassimilable population pockets in the nation. Lack of a viable energy program
is threatening the very survival of America's present robust economy. With respect to
these two vital issues, it is as though there is no government.
Continued non-governance of the nation will lead to one solution only—a national
emergency will have to be declared by the President of the United States to address the
most pressing of the issues: energy independence.
A serious threat or a substantial reduction in imported oil, now representing 75
percent of total petroleum used daily in the United States will eventually
require such an action. Prudence dictates that the President act sooner rather than
later.
| This GUEST eCOLUMN is used by MyBestYears.com with special permission from E. Ralph Hostetter, a crusading newspaper editor, owner and publisher for a half-century, and a champion of individual liberty. In his columns Hostetter consistently warns of the harmful erosion of our constitutional rights. Born and educated in Maryland, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1941 and was assigned in 1943 to the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps at Harvard University, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in 1945. He was released from World War II service in 1946 with the rank of Ensign. Recalled into the U.S. Navy in 1950 during the Korean War, he served as a Naval Intelligence Officer until released in 1952 with the rank of Lieutenant, Senior Grade. Hostetter is chairman and publisher of American Farm Publications Inc., Easton, Md., and former president and owner of TriState Publishing Company, Elkton, Md., a chain of 13 community newspapers. He was elected to the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association Newspaper Hall of Fame in 1990. The New Jersey Agricultural Society awarded Hostetter its highest award, the Gold Medallion, in 2003. Hostetter is also Vice President of the Strasburg Rail Road Co. (PA), Chairman of Ambassador Travel Service (DE), Chairman, Southside Virginia Auto Auction, (VA) and owner of Camelot East Farms, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Active in civic affairs, Hostetter is presently a member of the Board of Directors of Free Congress Foundation, Washington, DC. In nearly 50 years of travel, Hostetter has made three round-the-world trips, visiting 113 countries, including traveling to Antartica, going through the Northwest Passage on a Russian ice breaker, and to the North Pole on an atomic-powered Russian ice breaker. He married the former Edith White of North East, Md., in 1947 and they have five daughters, one son and 13 grandchildren. |
E. RALPH HOSTETTER
...Missing in Inaction
It’s almost as though Congress has dropped out of
sight, or maybe the leadership has followed its own
advice to the troops in Iraq and led both Houses over
the horizon. One wag suggested we be prepared to
order some 500-plus milk carton photos.
At best, Congress has not been doing its job and the
public knows it.
Congressional public approval dropped to 14
percent in June, the lowest since the Gallup
organization started taking polls.
...Missing in Inaction
It’s almost as though Congress has dropped out of
sight, or maybe the leadership has followed its own
advice to the troops in Iraq and led both Houses over
the horizon. One wag suggested we be prepared to
order some 500-plus milk carton photos.
At best, Congress has not been doing its job and the
public knows it.
Congressional public approval dropped to 14
percent in June, the lowest since the Gallup
organization started taking polls.
Comments? Feedback?
Email MyBestYears GUEST eCOLUMN
Email MyBestYears GUEST eCOLUMN
| Ralph Hostetter welcomes comments by email. Send to eralphhostetter@yahoo.com |
| House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid...resting on their laurels? |
|
