Republican Lawmakers Plan Ambitious Agenda As Voter Anger Rises.

Source: Washington Post

As voter anger continues to grow in leaps and bounds, Republican leaders are set to try a hail-Mary pass in an attempt to resurrect a Republican-controlled Congress which is now labeled as out of touch, corrupt, and dysfunctional.

The reality of the situation is now setting in, and it looks like an upheaval similar to what happened to the Democrats years ago may happen this November the 2nd, unless the Republicans can pull some miracles and turn away the resentment and rage that are growing more and more every day against them.

Members of Congress will return to Washington next week to face deep challenges including a budget morass in the House and an immigration quagmire in the Senate, while new polls indicate that voters increasingly view the legislative branch as dysfunctional.

How well Republican leaders navigate their way through the legislative mess could greatly influence the outcome of the midterm elections in November, suggests a poll released yesterday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

"The American public is angry with Congress, and this is bad news for the Republican Party," the authors of the poll concluded.

That "miracle" for the GOP goes as follows:

1.) Republicans moderate what changes in prior legislation that spends too little on health, education, and workforce programs.

2.) Reauthorizing the laws that govern the nation's intelligence agencies.

3.) Approving changes to rules governing lobbying.

4.) Funding of home district pet projects or more commonly known as earmarks.

5.) Revamping of telecommunications laws.

6.) The annual defense policy bill.

7.) A bill to extend some expiring tax cuts from President Bush's first term.

8.) Several healthcare bills which would allow small businesses to pool together to buy health insurance, expand tax-free health savings accounts, and improve the portability of health insurance from one employer to another.

9.) The $106.5 billion emergency spending bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as ongoing Gulf Coast hurricane relief.

10.) The immigration reform bill.

11.) Votes on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and a permanent repeal of the estate tax.

And let's not forget the much anticipated "no confidence" vote for Donald Rumsfeld that the Democrats plan to the floor ASAP.

A poll ran by the non-partisan Pew Research Center for the People and the Press showed the following:

About 41 percent of those polled said Congress has accomplished less than usual, compared with 27 percent who said so just before the midterm elections in 2002 and 16 percent who believed that in 2000.

Fifty-six percent of those polled said they would consider which party controls Congress when they vote in November. Previous polls back to 1998 never cracked 50 percent on that question. And 53 percent said they do not want to see most lawmakers reelected this year. In 2002 and 2004, fewer than 40 percent responded that way.

On the positive side for Republicans, 57 percent of respondents say they would like to see their member of Congress reelected, but 28 percent do not -- a level of personal opposition not seen since October 1994, on the eve of the Republican congressional landslide.

28% say they don't want their member of Congress re-elected this November.

This number is very similar to the numbers the Dems faced in 1994 before they were ousted from control of Congress.

Hm, one has to wonder what is in the cards for those who control Congress and whom the public is very pissed at right now all across the board.

Good luck, Republicans, all the breaks are going against the Grand Old Party, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

What's that popular saying that's true even in politics..."Karma is a bitch, ain't it?"

That couldn't be any truer right now.

Tags: [Republicans], [GOP], [Republicans need to make major changes to gain back voter approval], [voters mad at Congress right now], [very low polling numbers for Congress], [just like the Democrats in 1994], [time for freshmen Democrats?]