OT-Bush's disapproval rating worst of presidents in 70 years

[mikemarrs]

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has set a record he'd presumably prefer to avoid: the highest disapproval rating of any president in the 70-year history of the Gallup Poll.

In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday, 28 percent of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing; 69 percent disapprove. The approval rating matches the low point of his presidency, and the disapproval sets a new high for any president since Franklin Roosevelt.

The previous record of 67 percent was reached by Harry Truman in January 1952, when the United States was enmeshed in the Korean War.

Bush's rating has worsened amid "collapsing optimism about the economy," says Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies presidential approval. Record gas prices and a wave of home foreclosures have fueled voter angst.

Bush also holds the record for the other extreme: the highest approval rating of any president in Gallup's history. In September 2001, in the days after the 9/11 attacks, Bush's approval spiked to 90 percent.

In another record, the percentage of Americans who say the invasion of Iraq was a mistake reached a new high 63 percent.



Assessments of Bush's presidency are harsh. By 69 percent-27 percent, those polled say Bush's tenure in general has been a failure, not a success.

The telephone poll of 1,016 adults nationwide has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Low approval ratings make it more difficult for presidents to maneuver, limiting their ability to get legislation passed or boost candidates in congressional elections.

The White House declined a request for comment.

Bush has had dismal ratings through most of his second term. His approval rating hasn't reached as high as 50 percent since May 2005. He's been steadily below 40 percent since September 2006.

Views of Bush divide sharply along party lines ' more so than for previous presidents.

Among Republicans, 66 percent approve and 32 percent disapprove. Disapproval is nearly universal - 91 percent - among Democrats. And 23 percent of independents approve, 72 percent disapprove of the job he's doing.

[Enigma869]

I'm just trying to figure out who the 28% group of jackasses are How the hell ANYONE can approve of ANYTHING this moron does is beyond my level of comprehension. Bush has overseen the absolute worst collapse of the U.S. economy I've ever witnessed (and yes, I hold him directly responsible for much of it). I can only hope that our next president (regardless of party affiliation) works tirelessly to correct the endless wrongs that have occurred throughout Bush's ABYSMAL tenure!


John from Boston

[conversationpc]

I'm just trying to figure out who the 28% group of jackasses are How the hell ANYONE can approve of ANYTHING this moron does is beyond my level of comprehension. Bush has overseen the absolute worst collapse of the U.S. economy I've ever witnessed (and yes, I hold him directly responsible for much of it). I can only hope that our next president (regardless of party affiliation) works tirelessly to correct the endless wrongs that have occurred throughout Bush's ABYSMAL tenure!


John from Boston

I don't approve of Bush's job performance overall but this isn't the worst economy overall that I've witnessed. Mid 80s to early 90s in the area I lived in at the time was worse than this.

[Enigma869]

I don't approve of Bush's job performance overall but this isn't the worst economy overall that I've witnessed. Mid 80s to early 90s in the area I lived in at the time was worse than this.

Well, perhaps your eyes saw something else back then. It doesn't change the fact that this is the absolute WORST housing collapse in the history of our nation (it's on the nightly news EVERY night). That's to say absolutely nothing about the fact that energy costs are at an all time high (and climbing EVERY day) and many food products have increased in price over 200% just in the past 12 months! For me, this is as bad as I've ever seen it. I can only hope that the next guy sitting in the corner office is FAR more competent than Bush ever was! I also hope that I NEVER see a president this dreadful again, in my lifetime!


John from Boston

[Michigan Girl]

I'm just trying to figure out who the 28% group of jackasses are How the hell ANYONE can approve of ANYTHING this moron does is beyond my level of comprehension. Bush has overseen the absolute worst collapse of the U.S. economy I've ever witnessed (and yes, I hold him directly responsible for much of it). I can only hope that our next president (regardless of party affiliation) works tirelessly to correct the endless wrongs that have occurred throughout Bush's ABYSMAL tenure!


John from Boston

I don't approve of Bush's job performance overall but this isn't the worst economy overall that I've witnessed. Mid 80s to early 90s in the area I lived in at the time was worse than this.

There are some areas that are being hit worse than others TODAY!! But you are right, what we are experiencing now is no worse than it was in the time period you are referring to!!

[conversationpc]

I also hope that I NEVER see a president this dreadful again, in my lifetime!

You will if Hillary or Obama is elected...and probably McCain, for that matter.

[bluejeangirl76]

I don't approve of Bush's job performance overall but this isn't the worst economy overall that I've witnessed.

Well, it's the worst one I have witnessed, but that's probably because I'm only 31. LOL!

I actually heard on the radio that places in the US are starting to accept Euros because our own dollar value is just so absolutely shitty right now.

[Michigan Girl]

I must have missed where the President went out and signed all of those millions of loan papers for people who couldn't affors the house they were trying to buy. I also missed where he personaly instructed those unscupulous loan officers to steer people into loans they couldn't possibly afford down the road. It's totally disingenious to blame this housing problem on Bush, but go ahead and be a lemming like the rest of the uneducated world who learns their "facts" from CNN or NBC et al.

I MISSED it too!!!! I already said what I had to say about this in another thread, (Greenspan or something of the sort) I try to avoid repeating myself!!

[AlteredDNA]

I must have missed where the President went out and signed all of those millions of loan papers for people who couldn't affors the house they were trying to buy. I also missed where he personaly instructed those unscupulous loan officers to steer people into loans they couldn't possibly afford down the road. It's totally disingenious to blame this housing problem on Bush, but go ahead and be a lemming like the rest of the uneducated world who learns their "facts" from CNN or NBC et al.

I MISSED it too!!!! I already said what I had to say about this in another thread, (Greenspan or something of the sort) I try to avoid repeating myself!!

Yes, we've (sadly) been down this thread before, re: Blame Bush for everything bad - Housing / Gas Prices / etc...

[conversationpc]

I must have missed where the President went out and signed all of those millions of loan papers for people who couldn't affors the house they were trying to buy. I also missed where he personaly instructed those unscupulous loan officers to steer people into loans they couldn't possibly afford down the road. It's totally disingenious to blame this housing problem on Bush, but go ahead and be a lemming like the rest of the uneducated world who learns their "facts" from CNN or NBC et al.

I MISSED it too!!!! I already said what I had to say about this in another thread, (Greenspan or something of the sort) I try to avoid repeating myself!!

Yes, we've (sadly) been down this thread before, re: Blame Bush for everything bad - Housing / Gas Prices / etc...

He certainly deserves his share of it but not quite what the left would have you believe.

[Michigan Girl]

Testifying at a Senate Banking Committee hearing Jennie Haliburton, told of how she took out a mortgage on her home a few years ago. She told her mortgage broker that she could afford a payment of $700 a month. He convinced the retiree to bump that up to $800, and Haliburton took the loan without realizing even that payment would rise. "Next thing I know, I'm paying $1,100 a month," she testified.

Another consumer, Al Ynigues, told the committee he trusted his mortgage broker, a longtime music student of his. "I asked for a 30-year fixed," said Ynigues, "but as I was signing the papers I found out I could not get a fixed. The broker told me not to worry, that the rates could go lower." Ynigues has seen his payment go from less than $2,100 to more than $2,300 already, and he's afraid it will go higher yet.

These borrowers are far from alone. Janis Bowdler, a policy analyst with the National Council of La Raza, says the mortgage market is not working well for minorities. In the Latino population; foreclosure rates are at a record high.

Bowdler said that many families are steered to inappropriate subprime products.

Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat from New Jersey, reported that 52 percent of African Americans receive subprimes and 47 percent of Latinos do as well. Many, however, could qualify for a prime rate loan.

This kind of steering is not only pervasive, it's deliberate, according to testimony from consumer rights attorney Irv Ackelsberg. "This fraud infested market has been producing little social benefit," he says. "Mortgage origination practices are run over by greed."

Also covered in the Greenspan thread !! I am in the business and I know this is a fact. However, it is not true of ALL Mortgage Companies....not those of us that want to stay in business anyway!!!

[Gin and Tonic Sky]

It will be intereresting to see what the historians have to say about Bush. Contemporary opinions sometimes are justifies, sometimes not.
for example-
People hated Truman- they were very wrong about that.
On the other hand, people hated Carter they were probably right about that.

[lights1961]

I'm just trying to figure out who the 28% group of jackasses are How the hell ANYONE can approve of ANYTHING this moron does is beyond my level of comprehension. Bush has overseen the absolute worst collapse of the U.S. economy I've ever witnessed (and yes, I hold him directly responsible for much of it). I can only hope that our next president (regardless of party affiliation) works tirelessly to correct the endless wrongs that have occurred throughout Bush's ABYSMAL tenure!


John from Boston

history will prove iam right in supporting BUSH. and frankly just because the media has hyped this anger for 8 years + everyone in the DEMOCRATIC party .. iam surpirsed that his support is at even at 10%.. It should be a negaitve number. So When MCCAIN wins in NOVEMBER--that will be the benchmark.






Rick

[mistiejourney]

I don't approve of Bush's job performance overall but this isn't the worst economy overall that I've witnessed. Mid 80s to early 90s in the area I lived in at the time was worse than this.

Well, perhaps your eyes saw something else back then. It doesn't change the fact that this is the absolute WORST housing collapse in the history of our nation (it's on the nightly news EVERY night). That's to say absolutely nothing about the fact that energy costs are at an all time high (and climbing EVERY day) and many food products have increased in price over 200% just in the past 12 months! For me, this is as bad as I've ever seen it. I can only hope that the next guy sitting in the corner office is FAR more competent than Bush ever was! I also hope that I NEVER see a president this dreadful again, in my lifetime!


John from Boston

Hi John - I was wondering how old you are, only because by the early 80s, interest rates on home loans were in the double digits. We got into our tiny fixer upper on the VA loan we were able to get as hubby was a Marine. Truly, the early 1980s were not that great - and it may be because of my profession (nursing), but I actually am better off now than I was then, with two little kids and a hubby in college full time.

It will be interesting to look back at this era in about 20 years and put it in historical perspective. I've lived through Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush and we always land on our feet no matter who is in office. Our country, our system, is bigger than any one person and the economy is cyclical.

I have my political preferences, and some things will be bad and some things will be good no matter who is in office.

Geeze, I sound like an old grandmother!

[Gibby]

9-11 really has determined much of his presidency. It's been a while since any president has seen a tougher term. He's made mistakes for sure but he is certainly not a moron. No matter who the president is, we need to respect just how incredibly difficult the job can be. The economy will rise and fall no matter who sits in the office - it is moronic to think otherwise.

No matter what you think of President Bush, we have never had a more classy and graceful first lady in a long long time.

[RossValoryRocks]

I don't approve of Bush's job performance overall but this isn't the worst economy overall that I've witnessed. Mid 80s to early 90s in the area I lived in at the time was worse than this.

Well, perhaps your eyes saw something else back then. It doesn't change the fact that this is the absolute WORST housing collapse in the history of our nation (it's on the nightly news EVERY night). That's to say absolutely nothing about the fact that energy costs are at an all time high (and climbing EVERY day) and many food products have increased in price over 200% just in the past 12 months! For me, this is as bad as I've ever seen it. I can only hope that the next guy sitting in the corner office is FAR more competent than Bush ever was! I also hope that I NEVER see a president this dreadful again, in my lifetime!


John from Boston

The housing collapse, the energy costs and food costs have NOTHING to do with who is president. They are a result of a free market economy. The internet bubble blew up...the housing bubble did the same...and the oil and energy bubbles will do the same as well.

There is a ton to be disgusted with Bush about but at least pick the right things that he has control over to some extent.

[Arkansas]

Interesting around here. Arkansas doesn't really seem to be hit very hard. We've all been solid middle class, with only a few rich people and many poor people. I guess the unfortunate have learned to deal with their situations because we're so rural. Everyone has a garden and lots of family. The cost of living hasn't really increased, per se, in spite of high gas prices, but I fear that'll change with $4 gas because most everyone drives several miles to work. But the housing crunch isn't bad here. Home prices are dropped a bit, but the market is still strong. (Ok, northwest arkansas got too ambitious and some are now paying for it, but that's really a small percentage of the state.)

Long story short, although we're a Dem state (inherently), we're still a conservative state. There aren't a whole lot of people that live outside their means. Sure, we've had better economies at different times, but since we've always had our own little bubble, we seem to be okay.

But maybe I'm jaded. Perhaps Rip or someone else will correct me.


later~

[MJM1959]

So to recap, Bush II went from the being most popular president to becoming the least popular. Wow! That's a mighty impressive achievement. At one point in time he had the country in his pocket and yet he still manages to fuck it up. Unbelievable!

[conversationpc]

So to recap, Bush II went from the being most popular president to becoming the least popular. Wow! That's a mighty impressive achievement. At one point in time he had the country in his pocket and yet he still manages to fuck it up. Unbelievable!

He had a lot of help from the Republican-controlled Congress up until last year and now the Democratic-controlled congress is just doing a bang-up job as well.

[Arkansas]

So to recap, Bush II went from the being most popular president to becoming the least popular. Wow! That's a mighty impressive achievement. At one point in time he had the country in his pocket and yet he still manages to fuck it up. Unbelievable!

He had a lot of help from the Republican-controlled Congress up until last year and now the Democratic-controlled congress is just doing a bang-up job as well.

Yeah, what was all that 'first 100 days' crap? Any new progress report on that? Anyone?


later~

[Michigan Girl]

I don't approve of Bush's job performance overall but this isn't the worst economy overall that I've witnessed. Mid 80s to early 90s in the area I lived in at the time was worse than this.

Well, perhaps your eyes saw something else back then. It doesn't change the fact that this is the absolute WORST housing collapse in the history of our nation (it's on the nightly news EVERY night). That's to say absolutely nothing about the fact that energy costs are at an all time high (and climbing EVERY day) and many food products have increased in price over 200% just in the past 12 months! For me, this is as bad as I've ever seen it. I can only hope that the next guy sitting in the corner office is FAR more competent than Bush ever was! I also hope that I NEVER see a president this dreadful again, in my lifetime!


John from Boston

Hi John - I was wondering how old you are, only because by the early 80s, interest rates on home loans were in the double digits. We got into our tiny fixer upper on the VA loan we were able to get as hubby was a Marine. Truly, the early 1980s were not that great - and it may be because of my profession (nursing), but I actually am better off now than I was then, with two little kids and a hubby in college full time.

It will be interesting to look back at this era in about 20 years and put it in historical perspective. I've lived through Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush and we always land on our feet no matter who is in office. Our country, our system, is bigger than any one person and the economy is cyclical.

I have my political preferences, and some things will be bad and some things will be good no matter who is in office.

Geeze, I sound like an old grandmother!

YES, you are dating yourself....and ME as well!!!
I remember those days....I bought my first house at 23 and interest rates were at 15 & 16%....I was BRAND NEW in mortgage banking and I can tell you that we never thought we'd see single digits again. We decided on an ARM w/a five year lock option...GOOD CHOICE!!! As we know now, rates steadily went DOWN, DOWN, DOWN!!! I don't remember where I was when Kennedy was shot nor do I remember, PERSONALLY, the effects of each of these administrations, but I do know from studying them that there was GOOD and BAD in all of them!!! I DO, however, remember being in TEARS when Nixon gave that last speech and I didn't even know why!!!...I LOVED HIM!!

[FishinMagician]

I'm just trying to figure out who the 28% group of jackasses are How the hell ANYONE can approve of ANYTHING this moron does is beyond my level of comprehension. Bush has overseen the absolute worst collapse of the U.S. economy I've ever witnessed (and yes, I hold him directly responsible for much of it). I can only hope that our next president (regardless of party affiliation) works tirelessly to correct the endless wrongs that have occurred throughout Bush's ABYSMAL tenure!


John from Boston

does Hoover and reagan mean anything to anyone? the economy has been far worse off

[SteveForever]

consider the source on these polls too, most people don't really make the time to take polls unless they have an agenda
or out of work....

[Rick]

YES, you are dating yourself....and ME as well!!!

I didn't know you two were dating.

[Michigan Girl]

YES, you are dating yourself....and ME as well!!!

I didn't know you two were dating.

[Enigma869]

Hi John - I was wondering how old you are, only because by the early 80s, interest rates on home loans were in the double digits. We got into our tiny fixer upper on the VA loan we were able to get as hubby was a Marine. Truly, the early 1980s were not that great - and it may be because of my profession (nursing), but I actually am better off now than I was then, with two little kids and a hubby in college full time.

It will be interesting to look back at this era in about 20 years and put it in historical perspective. I've lived through Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush and we always land on our feet no matter who is in office. Our country, our system, is bigger than any one person and the economy is cyclical.

I have my political preferences, and some things will be bad and some things will be good no matter who is in office.

Geeze, I sound like an old grandmother!

I'm 37. As for the early 80's and what the interest rates were...I've heard MANY people refer to that period of time. I've worked in the mortgage industry for many years, and tell anyone who brings up that issue that it was a complete anamoly. The truth of the matter is that there is a huge S&L scandal during the time you're referring to, and there were CD (certificates of deposits) accounts were paying out double digit interest rates! It was all ridiculous and none of it made any sense. The other thing most people neglect to mention when referring to the "double digit" interest rates that they paid on their homes back in the early 80's is that the price of a house back then was less than what a car would cost you today!


John from Boston

[Enigma869]

I must have missed where the President went out and signed all of those millions of loan papers for people who couldn't affors the house they were trying to buy. I also missed where he personaly instructed those unscupulous loan officers to steer people into loans they couldn't possibly afford down the road. It's totally disingenious to blame this housing problem on Bush, but go ahead and be a lemming like the rest of the uneducated world who learns their "facts" from CNN or NBC et al.

Listen...just because someone doesn't agree with your point of view doesn't mean that they're an "uneducated lemming", as you suggest! I can assure you that I'm highly educated, and like you, have an opinion! I certainly don't blame Bush entirely for the housing collapse. In fact, most of the blame lies squarely at the feet of the banks and the people buying homes they couldn't afford! Blaming a loan officer for a consumer's ignorance is simply a cop out. I bought a home long before I worked in the mortgage industry and NEVER, EVER, EVER signed ANYTHING that I didn't understand, and didn't push away from the closing table, until I understood EXACTLY what I was signing and what the forms meant! People MUST be responsible for their own actions. Rule number one is don't believe anything a sales person tells you in ANY industry, because EVERY single one of them is completely full of shit!


John from Boston

[Michigan Girl]

Hi John - I was wondering how old you are, only because by the early 80s, interest rates on home loans were in the double digits. We got into our tiny fixer upper on the VA loan we were able to get as hubby was a Marine. Truly, the early 1980s were not that great - and it may be because of my profession (nursing), but I actually am better off now than I was then, with two little kids and a hubby in college full time.

It will be interesting to look back at this era in about 20 years and put it in historical perspective. I've lived through Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush and we always land on our feet no matter who is in office. Our country, our system, is bigger than any one person and the economy is cyclical.

I have my political preferences, and some things will be bad and some things will be good no matter who is in office.

Geeze, I sound like an old grandmother!

I'm 37. As for the early 80's and what the interest rates were...I've heard MANY people refer to that period of time. I've worked in the mortgage industry for many years, and tell anyone who brings up that issue that it was a complete anamoly. The truth of the matter is that there is a huge S&L scandal during the time you're referring to, and there were CD (certificates of deposits) accounts were paying out double digit interest rates! It was all ridiculous and none of it made any sense. The other thing most people neglect to mention when referring to the "double digit" interest rates that they paid on their homes back in the early 80's is that the price of a house back then was less than what a car would cost you today!


John from Boston

YUP!!! That was when the ol S&L's went defunct!!! We aquired MANY of those loans, I remember it well!!
The prices of homes WERE less than what a car costs today....but the prices of homes today are triple(or more) of what a car costs today. So what I'm trying to say is~ I guess I don't understand what you're saying...If you reply...remember, I'm 47...I'm on the verge of being an old lady...BE KIND!!!

[conversationpc]

I'm 37.

"I'm 37. I'm not old"

[Enigma869]

YUP!!! That was when the ol S&L's went defunct!!! We aquired MANY of those loans, I remember it well!!
The prices of homes WERE less than what a car costs today....but the prices of homes today are triple(or more) of what a car costs today. So what I'm trying to say is~ I guess I don't understand what you're saying...If you reply...remember, I'm 47...I'm on the verge of being an old lady...BE KIND!!!

What I am saying is that just because interest rates in the early 1980's were double digits doesn't mean that things were far worse then, than they are now! Interest rates cannot be the barometer, when most people could buy homes for less than $50K, when rates were so high. No matter how bad the economy gets, you'll NEVER, EVER, EVER see double digit interest rates again in our lives! Housing would have to go down another 75% (which isn't happening) for that to ever become a reality!


John from Boston