Another Messaging Problem For Democrats: 71% of Americans Think That It’s Important That Republicans Should Listen to TEA Party

It looks like the Democrats have another messaging problem. Despite the left’s attempt at trivializing and demonizing the TEA party for the past year or so, 71% of all Americans still believe that it is important for the Republicans to listen to the grassroots movement, according to a new Gallup poll:

About 7 in 10 national adults, including 88% of Republicans, say it is important that Republican leaders in Congress take the Tea Party movement's positions and objectives into account as they address the nation's problems. …

Although few Democrats (6%) are supporters of the Tea Party or even have a favorable view of it (11%), more than half say it is important that the Republican Party take the Tea Party’s positions into account. Why this is the case is unclear, although Democrats may simply feel that the opposing party should pay attention to all of its constituencies.

Perhaps underscoring the same principle, Republicans overwhelming feel their leaders should take the Tea Party’s positions into account, even though barely half are self-identified as Tea Party supporters."

This poll is especially telling, if you consider when the poll was taken. Ed Morrissey explains:

I’d somehow doubt that Democrats are really all that concerned about whether the GOP listens to “all its constituencies.” Their party leaders and the media spend most of their time sneering at the “teabaggers,” and dismissing them as cranks, or worse. The flip side to this analysis is that 44% of Democrats would think it unimportant for politicians to pay attention to their constituents, which seems unlikely to be the case.

“New survey” is somewhat relative. While Gallup published these results today, the survey itself was taken between January 14 and 16, within a few days after the shooting in Tucson and the media’s rush to smear the Tea Party as an unindicted co-conspirator. If those numbers were ever going to suffer, it would have been that week. Yet majorities in all party affiliations think that their ideas deserve important consideration, including 53% of Democrats, 72% of independents, and 88% of Republicans.

So, all of the left’s demagoguing and their attempt at convicting Palin and the TEA party for the Tucson Tragedy in the court of public opinion has fallen on deaf ears. Hopefully, the Democrats will stop their pointless finger-pointing, but I doubt that will ever happen. They’re hoping that if they repeat it long enough that people will eventually start to believe it, but they don’t seem to be having any luck.

Senate Republicans Hold It Together, Pork-Filled Omnibus Bill Killed

The Senate Republicans were able to hold it together and force Harry Reid to back down and pull the omnibus bill full of Christmas goodies to various special interests because of a lack of support:

Sen. GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has long been known as an effective whip, and Thursday night he showed his prowess as he effectively stripped Democrats of the GOP votes needed to pass the $1.2 trillion omnibus spending bill, killing the measure for good.

A visibly frustrated and angry Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, lashed out, saying that he had nine GOP senators supporting the measure, but that suddenly the support evaporated.

"This action taken by my friends on other side of aisle going to cause people to lose their job," Reid predicted.

"There's only one reason why cloture is not being filed...He doesn't have the votes.," McConnell chided, as he referred to the term for the process to shut down a filibuster. "And the reason he doesn't have the votes is because members on this side of the aisle increasingly felt concerned about the way we do business."

A McConnell aide said the leader "worked the phones" for days, pressing his members to quash the bill which contains $8 billion in earmarks (1% of the overall bill), several that belonged to the leader, himself, before he agreed to a pork moratorium.

Tempers flared in the chamber quickly, as Republicans gloated.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, crusader against pork, tweeted all day Wednesday and Thursday with earmarks he found in the bill, from money for disease-resistant wine grapes to a ceramics museum in Biloxi, Miss. And Thursday night, with a big grin, he praised GOP members for ditching the deal.

Two cheers for the Republicans for, actually, standing up for Republican principles. This bill needed to be tossed out and started anew. Hopefully, they will be able to do another one soon. Hold the pork, though.

They needed to do this to keep or regain the confidence of the people that elected them to turn things around. The GOP has been just as bad in this area over the last decade as the Democrats, which is why they got the boot in 2008. Luckily, the TEA Party was able to wake up the Grand Old Party this past year before were exiled into oblivion forever.

They are still are on probation with the voters. So, they need to keep working on being the fiscally responsible and cutting spending, if they ever want to get regain our trust for good.

We Aren't Spending Enough: House Raises Deficit Spending Ceiling By Another $1.9 Trillion, Receives No GOP Support/Update: Democrats Applaud

One week after Obama declared a "spending freeze" on "non-security discretionary spending", the House has voted to spend $1.9 Trillion morethan we have ever spent before:

The House on Thursday voted to allow the government to go $1.9 trillion deeper in debt — or about $6,000 more for every U.S. resident.

The measure, approved 217-212, would raise the cap on federal borrowing to $14.3 trillion. That's enough to keep Congress from having to vote again before the November elections on an issue that is feeding a sense among voters that the government is spending too much and putting future generations under a mountain of debt to do it.

The legislation only passed by 5 votes. After you take into account that not one Republican voted for the bill, Pelosi would have had keep her fellow Democrats in line and not have too many defections in order to pass it. She barely managed to get just enough. However, not all Democrats were amused by this passing:

"I can't think of a more reckless or irresponsible act. Defaulting is not an option," said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. "If the United States defaults, investors will lose confidence that the U.S. will honor its debts in the future.

There had to be a provision added to the bill in order to get just enough Democrats on board to pass the bill. However, it seems to be punishing the wrong people, if Congress overspends the ceiling, the American people:

To help win passage, Democrats are also adopting — in a vote later Thursday afternoon — budget rules designed to curb a spiraling upward annual deficit — projected by Obama to hit a record $1.56 trillion for the budget year ending Sept. 30. The new rules would require future spending increases or tax cuts to be paid for with either cuts to other programs or equivalent tax increases.

If the rules are broken, the White House budget office would force automatic cuts to programs like Medicare, farm subsidies and unemployment insurance. Current rules lack such teeth and have commonly been waived over the past few years at a cost of almost $1 trillion.

So, if you are a farmer, a senior citizen, or unemployed, screw you. They're going to steal your money and spend it on whatever they want to spend it on. Congress can spend your money better than you can. To be fair, Medicaid, Social Security and food stamps will be exempt from the cuts, but the cuts that would be made would hurt those who are hurting from the bad economy the most. They should find somewhere else to cut spending.

The article goes on to point out that, in a few years, taxes would have to be raised in order to pay for this spending frenzy.

This spending orgy is getting way out-of-line. We need to be spending less on frivlous pet projects not spending more.

Update: The Democrats applaud getting the ability to spend more of your children's money:

Gallup: More Americans Want Government Out of Healthcare Than Ever, Gallup Doesn't Know Why...Genius

The debate over government intrusion into our healthcare has brought the issue to the forefront of voters' minds and has forced them to take a real good look at the issue. I don't think what people have concluded is not what Obama and the Democrats had in mind:

More Americans now say it is not the federal government's responsibility to make sure all Americans have healthcare coverage (50%) than say it is (47%). This is a first since Gallup began tracking this question, and a significant shift from as recently as three years ago, when two-thirds said ensuring healthcare coverage was the government's responsibility.

Gallup has asked this question each November since 2001 as part of the Gallup Poll Social Series, and most recently in its Nov. 5-8 Health and Healthcare survey. There have been some fluctuations from year to year, but this year marks the first time in the history of this trend that less than half of Americans say ensuring healthcare coverage for all is the federal government's responsibility.

Gallup went on to understate the fact that there has been a considerable drop, in the last few years. Ed Morrissey breaks it down:

Significant? I’d say.  In 2006, the survey found a 69%/28% split in favor of it being the federal government’s responsibility, or more than 2-1, the apex for statists on health care.  In 2007 the gap narrowed to 64-33, and when Obama got elected a year ago, it had drifted to 54-41 — still better than Obama’s eventual margin of victory.

They found that ever since America is in the "midst of robust debate on a potentially imminent healthcare reform law" support for government has plummeted, but the truly remarkable thing is that they are still totally clueless as to why this support has fallen so far:

The reason behind this shift is unknown. Certainly the federal government's role in the nation's healthcare system has been widely and vigorously debated over the last several months, including much focus on the "public option." These data suggest that one result of the debate has been a net decrease in Americans' agreement that ensuring all Americans have healthcare coverage is an appropriate role for the federal government.

The pollsters had a couple of huge oversights. First, they didn't ask any follow-up questions like: "Why are you against it?". They only asked about their general feelings about it. Also, they only focused on the difference between the Republicans and Democrats. They didn't seem to care about how independents felt. The loss of independent support is probably a huge reason why it has dropped.

Exit thought: With about 70% Democrats still hanging on to the idea of government-run healthcare but most of the rest of America disagreeing, which party is really out of the mainstream?

What Gives? Rasmussen: Shows GOP Numbers Dwindling, While Conservative Numbers Are Still High

Democrats believe that the falling numbers of voters that call themselves Republicans and the election of Barack Obama are signs that America is becoming more liberal. However, there are a couple of Rasmussen polls that are very telling on what the real story is behind the GOP decline.

One reason for this is that while Republican voters overwhelmingly consider themselves conservative, only 56% of conservative voters consider themselves to be Republicans. In other words, nearly half of all conservatives nationwide reject the Republican Party label.

I would be included in that group. Whenever I'm asked what party that I'm affiliated with, I just say that I'm a conservative. I do vote for Republicans, most of the time, but I feel that many of them have gone to Washington to change it but Washington changed them. Many conservatives believe that the GOP has lost its Republican roots.

What about the rest of the Americans that don't call themselves Republicans?

Of all the non-Republicans in the nation, 31% consider themselves at least somewhat conservative while 37% say they’re political moderates.

So, it seems that America hasn't moved that far to the left. We are still a center-right nation. People believe that it is the GOP that has moved to the left, and the the rise of the conservative Doug Hoffman and the fall of the liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava in the NY23 race seems to confirm this theory. The people of the 23rd district of New York have picked the conservative over the "moderate". On Tuesday, if the polls hold up, they will choose Hoffman over the Pelosi-backed Bill Owens.

Valerie Jarrett: GOP Becoming More Extreme & Marginalized, Dems Reaching Out/ Tell That to Pelosi, Reid

Valerie Jarrett has been very vocal lately. First, she criticized Fox Newsfor being biased while dodging the question about MSNBC’s liberal bias. Today, she said that the conservative revolt that chased the liberal Republican Scozzafava out of the NY23 race shows that the Republican is becoming more extreme and marginalized:

White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that the rise of a Conservative Party challenger in a closely watched upstate New York House election shows that the Republican Party leadership is “becoming more and more extreme, and more and more marginalized.”

“It’s rather telling when the Republican Party forces out a moderate Republican and it says, I think, a great deal about where the Republican Party leadership is right now,” Jarrett said when asked about the GOP candidates’ decision to suspend her campaign, making it more likely the Conservative will win Tuesday’s special election.

I think that this is rather ironic that she is saying that Republicans are becoming more extreme because Hoffman won the heartsof the average conservative more than Scozzafava could ever win them over. However, on the other flip of the coin she said absolutely nothing about the Democratic party becoming more extreme and marginalized, when Pelosi and Reid thumb their noses at more moderate Democrats like Lieberman, Landrieu Stupak, etc, when they express doubts about the health care plans. In fact, she claimed quite the opposite:

“We’re going to try to include as many people to be a part of our governing process — being open, being transparent,” Jarrett continued.

So, basically, she is saying that Democrats are trying to be inclusive and wants to "include as many people" in governing. How inclusive was Pelosi and Reid being when they shut out Republicans during conference of the porkulus bill?

Exit question: I'm going to let Amanda Carpenter ask it this time. She had a very interesting question that I would love to have Valerie Jarrett, White House, and other Democrats answer:

As Valerie Jarrett bashes GOP for becoming "extreme" by pushing out moderate Scozzafava, how much WH is loving Joe Lieberman right now??

Well, Ms. Jarrett?

Senate Republicans Able to Fight Off Democrats Earmark Overspending For Now

Senate bogs down over $410 billion spending bill
By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – The Senate, tied up in a fight over a huge omnibus appropriations bill, will have to pass a stopgap spending measure Friday in order to avoid a partial government shutdown.

The Senate worked late on Thursday trying to pass the $410 billion appropriations bill, which was denounced by Republicans — and a handful of Democrats — who said it was bloated and filled with wasteful, pork-barrel spending projects. Democratic leaders were forced to postpone a final vote on the measure until Monday under pressure from GOP senators who complained that Democrats hadn't allowed them enough opportunities to offer amendments.

With the vote postponed, senators need to pass a stopgap spending measure by midnight Friday to prevent a shutdown of most domestic agencies. Midnight is when a temporary law that keeps the government in business, mostly at 2008 levels, expires.

Before canceling the vote, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he was one vote short of the 60 needed to close debate and free the bill for President Barack Obama's signature.

Democrats and their allies control 58 seats, though at least a handful of Democrats oppose the measure over its cost or changes in U.S. policy toward Cuba. That meant Democrats needed five or six Republican votes to advance the bill.

None of the GOP's amendments is expected to pass, but votes on perhaps a dozen are now set for Monday night, Reid said.

The huge, 1,132-page spending bill awards big increases to domestic programs and is stuffed with pet projects sought by lawmakers in both parties. The measure has an extraordinary reach, wrapping together nine spending bills to fund the annual operating budgets of every Cabinet department except for Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs.

The measure was written mostly over the course of last year, before projected deficits quadrupled and Obama's economic recovery bill left many of the same spending accounts swimming in cash.

And, to the embarrassment of Obama — who promised during last year's campaign to force Congress to curb its pork-barrel ways — the bill contains 7,991 pet projects totaling $5.5 billion, according to calculations by the GOP staff of the House Appropriations Committee.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Obama's opponent in the presidential campaign, called the measure "a swollen, wasteful, egregious example of out-of-control spending" and again criticized Obama for pledging to sign the measure despite his earlier promises on such spending.

"It doesn't sound like he's willing to use his veto pen to back up his vow," McCain said.

The pet projects — called earmarks — run the gamut. They include $190,000 for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyo., $238,000 to fund a deep-sea voyaging program for native Hawaiian youth, agricultural research projects, and grants to local police departments, among many others.

While earmarks have come under attack from conservative watchdog groups and cable television commentators, lawmakers in both parties seek them, arguing that they best know the needs of their states and home districts. Under a long-standing tradition, Republicans get about 40 percent of them since they are the minority party.

Several lawmakers took to the floor during the week to defend their projects, including Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who backed $1.7 million for pig odor research. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., promised $3.8 million to preserve and redevelop part of old Tiger Stadium to help revitalize a distressed area of Detroit.

By a 52-42 vote Thursday, Democrats cleared the way for the Obama administration to reverse a rule issued late in the Bush administration that says greenhouse gases may not be restricted in an effort to protect polar bears from global warming. Another Bush administration rule that reduced the input of federal scientists in endangered species decisions can also be quickly overturned without a lengthy rulemaking process.

The big increases — among them a 21 percent boost for a popular program that feeds infants and poor women and a 10 percent increase for housing vouchers for the poor — represent a clear win for Democrats who spent most of the past decade battling with President George W. Bush over money for domestic programs.

Generous above-inflation increases are spread throughout, including a $2.4 billion, 13 percent increase for the Agriculture Department and a 10 percent increase for the money-losing Amtrak passenger rail system.

Congress also awarded itself a 10 percent increase in its own budget, bringing it to $4.4 billion. But the House inserted a provision denying lawmakers the automatic cost-of-living pay increase they are due next Jan. 1.

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My Thoughts

The Senate GOP had small victory last night when they were able to stop Harry Reid from cramming another pork-filled spending orgy down the country's throat, at least for now.

They are going to try to cut some of the spending down, but it'll be a tough fight to say the least. They must keep the turncoat caucus (Specter, Snowe, and Collins) from being defecting and try to get some of the blue dog Democrats to say no to pork.

This is a battle that is very important for the Republican leadership to win.

Mostly Senate Democrats Keep Pork from Questionable Lobbyists in Bill

Mar 4, 11:06 PM EST
Senate votes to preserve earmarks in spending bill
By ANDREW TAYLOR
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Democrats on Wednesday preserved pet projects sought by a lobbying firm under federal investigation and tried to nail down support for big domestic spending increases in hopes of passing a wrap-up budget bill by week's end. Democrats defeated, by a 52-43 vote, an amendment to strip 13 projects that the PMA Group has pressed for. The firm, now disbanded, is accused of illegally using straw donors to funnel campaign cash to lawmakers.

At the same time, Democrats sought a few GOP votes for the $410 billion bill after two Democrats came out against it over the cost and two more threatened to withhold support over changes in U.S. policy toward Cuba.

Democrats and their allies control 58 seats in the Senate, but 60 votes will be needed to close debate and free the measure so President Barack Obama can sign it. Democrats probably will need votes from perhaps five or six Republicans if the measure is to pass Thursday night or Friday.

Democratic leaders were cautiously optimistic Wednesday night they could do just that. Passage would allow lawmakers in both parties to get the thousands of pet projects they crave and award above-inflation budget increases for education, nutrition programs, transportation and foreign aid.

The spending bill wraps together the budgets for 12 Cabinet departments and other agencies. The measure was written mostly over the course of last year, before projected deficits quadrupled and Obama's economic recovery bill left many of the same spending accounts swimming in cash.

The White House promises Obama will sign the bill despite unhappiness over the 8,000 or so homestate pet projects.

Democrats Evan Bayh of Indiana and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin said they will vote against the bill; both urged Obama to veto it.

"There's just a disconnect between what people are having to go through in their daily lives - tightening their belts, economizing where they can - and what they see the government is doing," Bayh said in an interview. "I just think it's tone deaf and, substantively, we do need to get the deficit under control."

Democratic leaders appeared to be holding onto other Democrats, and some GOP leaders acknowledged that the bill is going to pick up GOP votes that would prove critical.

"I just don't know whether we have enough votes to stop it," said Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., the No. 3 GOP leader.

The measure contains budget increases, on average, of 8 percent for the domestic agencies it covers, far more than they received under the Bush administration.

Democratic Sens. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Bill Nelson of Florida are considering whether to oppose the legislation because it would ease rules on travel to Cuba and make it easier for Cuba to pay for imported food and medicine.

The House passed the bill last week, and Senate Democratic leaders want to follow suit by Friday. That's when a temporary law that keeps the government in business, mostly at 2008 levels, runs out. The bill needs to be enacted by midnight on Friday - or a stopgap bill must be passed in its place - to avoid a shutdown of most domestic agencies.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., worked into overdrive to keep the bill free of floor amendments that would force the measure into negotiations with the House, delay enactment or possibly kill the measure outright.

That meant a difficult vote on an amendment by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., to kill 13 "earmarks" requested by lawmakers for projects sought by the PMA Group. The Justice Department is investigating whether the company reimbursed some employees for campaign contributions to members of Congress who requested such projects.

PMA is a classic example of the "pay to play" style that has brought discredit to the earmarking process. The firm charged big fees to help companies and universities negotiate the earmark process and awarded lawmakers who sponsored pet projects such as Reps. John Murtha, D-Pa., and Peter Visclosky, D-Ind., many thousands of dollars in campaign cash.

"The Senate decided to defend business as usual at the earmark favor factory," Coburn said after the vote.

Reid said lawmakers, not lobbyists, are responsible for every earmark in the sprawling measure and that they are willing to be held accountable under recent rules requiring greater transparency in the earmarking process.

The only Republicans so far to announce support for the bill are Thad Cochran of Mississippi, the Appropriations Committee's top Republican; Richard Shelby of Alabama; and Olympia Snowe of Maine. Several other Republicans have said they may support it, including Sens. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee.

The Cuban provision cited by Menendez and Nelson would restore travel rules permitting people to visit relatives in Cuba once every 12 months. President George W. Bush imposed rules in 2004 that limited travel to just two weeks every three years and confined visits to immediate family members.

The bill also would lift restrictions on financing imports of U.S. food and medicine into Cuba and effectively reverse Bush administration rules requiring "cash-in-advance" payment

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My Thoughts

I am glad to see some Dems like Evan Bayh come to oppose the ridiculous earmarks, but I am disheartened to see some Republicans leaning toward it.

The bill also includes controversial provisions that would make it easier to travel to and trade with Cuba.

GOP Losing The Porkulus Battle, But Winning The War?

Generic Congressional Ballot Parties Now Neck-and-Neck on Generic Congressional Ballot Are Republicans winning the public relations battle over spending in the $800-billion-plus economic stimulus package? Democrats and Republicans are nearly even in this week's edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone surveys found that the Democrats' lead is down to just one percentage point. Forty percent (40%) of voters said they would vote for their district's Democratic candidate while 39% said they would choose the Republican.

This marks the lowest level of support for the Democrats in tracking history and is the closest the two parties have been on the generic ballot.

Only four percent (4%) said they would vote for a candidate from another political party.

Last week , 42% said they would support their Democratic candidate, and 38% said they would vote Republican.

Over the past year, Democratic support has ranged from a low of 40% to a high of 50%. In that same time period, Republicans have been preferred by 34% to 41% of voters nationwide.

Voters not affiliated with either party support the GOP more by a 34% to 28% margin, while another 29% are undecided. Twelve percent (12%) of Democratic voters say they would vote for a member of the opposite party, while 8% of Republicans say the same.

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My Thoughts

While the "Porkulus" Bill gets rammed through Congress by Obama and the Democrats, support for the GOP has quietly risen over the length of the bill's debate.

With the people's support for the bill dropping like a stone in most polls, people are starting to show signs of disenchantment with the Democrats in Congress. Obama is still on his honeymoon with the voters, but recent cabinet tax and lobbyist scandals have taken some of the shine of his presidency. In time, this might catch up to him as well.

The Democrats tout the one poll that shows support for them while ignoring all of the others. According to a recent Gallup poll, Obama has a 67% approval rating for the way in which he is handling the government's efforts to pass an economic stimulus bill. Democrats in Congress have a 48% approval, and 31% for the GOP.

However, the Rassmussen polls have consistantly showed support going down. Gallup's own poll a couple weeks ago said that 54% of Americans think that the bill should be dramatically changed or completely killed.