A poll, run on the OpEdNews.com website, responded to primarily by 300 left leaning respondents (7% radical, 54% progressive, 24% liberal, 12% moderate, 3% conservative) asking if Nancy Pelosi put impeachment back on the table, showed that 23% of respondents would be satisfied with impeachment and give a positive rating for congress. The poll also found that 26% thought the congress is hopeless and the US is toast.
Among this polling group, only one person out of the more than 300 who responded to the poll gave congress a positive approval rating. Keep in mind these are people who are have high levels of political awareness and interest.
This is good and bad news to congress. The good news is that by starting impeachment hearing, ratings would go up dramatically (23% overall, 28% for Democrats). Better news is that people have not given up hope and would be willing, with some more positive actions by congress to give them a positive rating (51% overall, 58% for democrats, . 45% for independents. )
That whopping 51% with hope that congress could do more that would satisfy them raises a big question.
What does congress need to do to get a positive rating?
The nice thing about the net is we can get an answer, right here, in the comments for this article. YOU the reader can complete the article, filling in the things you want congress to do so that you could cast a positive response in a poll regarding congress.
I'd like to see comments discussing specific actions or resolutions congress, particularly the house, since that was what the poll covered, could do that would turn you from dissatisfied to giving a positive rating for congress.
Try to describe things that are actions that can be taken, in addition to resolutions that stop or block things.
The demographics suggest that lower income, less educated respondents are least satisfied with congress. Men and women responded identically, with 23% saying they'd switch to a positive rating if impeachment came back into play, but men were less willing to give positive ratings if other things were changed-- 30% to 21% saying congress is hopeless and US is toast.
If possible, in your comments, talk about how the changes you want congress to make will affect you and the people and communities you care about.
To our knowledge, OpEdNews.com is the only site on the web that provides crosstabbed demographic analysis for user created polls.
Methodology and disclaimers: This is a non-scientific poll. Respondents were self selected and not representative of the general population. Demographic data was not provided by all of the respondents. This is a project of populum.com and is still in the experimental phase. Criticism and suggestions for improvement to the poll process are welcome.
Rob Kall is executive editor and publisher of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc, inventor . He is also published regularly on the Huffingtonpost.com. He is a frequent Speaker on Politics, Impeachment, The art, science and power of story, heroes and the hero's journey, Positive Psychology, Stress, Biofeedback and a wide range of subjects. He is a campaign consultant specializing in tapping the power of stories for issue positioning, stump speeches and debates. He recently retired as organizer of several conferences, including StoryCon, the Summit Meeting on the Art, Science and Application of Story and The Winter Brain Meeting on neurofeedback, biofeedback, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology. See more of his articles here and, older ones, here.
To learn more about me and OpEdNews.com, check out this article.
and there are Rob's quotes, here.
To Watch me on youtube, having a lively conversation with John Conyers, Chair of the House Judiciary committee, click here Now, wouldn't you like to see me on the political news shows, representing progressives. If so, tell your favorite shows to bring me on and refer them to this youtube video
My radio show, The Rob Kall Show, runs 9-10 PM EST Wednesday evenings, on AM 1360, WNJC and is archived on www.whiterosesociety.org Or listen to it streaming, live at either www.wnjc1360.com or here.
A few declarations.
-While I'm registered as a Democrat, I consider myself to be a dynamic critic of the Democratic party, just as, well, not quite as much, but almost as much as I am a critic of republicans.
-My articles express my personal opinion, not the opinion of this website.
Here are 6 areas for work: 1) slashing military spending
(including dismantling the empire's worldwide array of military bases)
2) single payer healthcare
3) crackdown on Wall Street -- the people behind this "mortgage crisis" should be in jail for life, rather than directing national policy
4) serious crackdown on Bush administration criminals, & their Democratic enablers. It's not enough to just "put impeachment back on the table" -- that could simply lead to phony hearings like the Warren Commission & 9-11 Commission. The effort must be serious.
5) End the 2-party duopoly. Give alternative parties a serious chance to be elected to Congress. The range of debate must be greatly broadened.
6) Break up or nationalize corporations & oligopolies that have achieved a death-grip over the national life, such as the oil companies & Wall St.
Yes, I'm well aware that Congress would never consider these things in a million years (& my list is not intended to be exhaustive). But you asked!
by
Richard Mynick (2 articles, 3 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 1104 comments)
on Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 11:20:05 AM
i forgot about universal healthcare, and electoral reform needs to include eliminating the Republocrat stranglehold, opening up the political process to ALL human beings, not just corporate cronies and sycophants
by
Better World Order (4 articles, 404 quicklinks, 25 diaries, 874 comments)
on Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 11:35:39 AM
* Conduct a FULL investigation of 9/11 with public hearings and Bush and Cheney under Oath, starting with that 70% of the families questions that were ignored by the 9/11 Commission
* Abolish the Federal Reserve system and create a money system that is transparent and has true public oversight and accountability, audit the Fed banks and Fort Knox, investigate the Fed Board and the bank owners. The Constitution authorizes Congress to COIN money; that power should never have been given to private parties, let alone ones with a penchant for selfishness, secrecy and corruption, like the Morgans and Rockefellers
* Break up the media monopolies, put control of programming in the hands of the People and local communities
* Work with the States to require and implement voting systems that are transparent, secure and publicly accountable (outlaw evoting)
* Eliminate corporate money and influence from the political process
* Abolish corporate "personhood"; require public interest provisions for corporate charters
* Nationalize the oil industry and seize the records of the oil companies; investigate and prosecute all crimes uncovered
* Create a national energy plan focused on implementing clean, renewable energy. Oil production has/is peaking, but gains in Solar will make it economically obsolete as an energy source within 20 years anyway; thanks to nanotech, Solar is becoming an information technology and gains in efficiency and cost reduction are following trend patterns similar to those in computing speed and storage that have been consistent for more than a half-century. This Universe began with a Big Bang and has organized itself into human beings who created the Information Age; there's no logical reason to believe the Universe will not continue to accelerate its creation of information and evolution into higher orders of complexity.
if after they impeached Bush, held all the war-proifiteers and oil companies accountable for the billions and billions of dollars they have stole, Wall Street and "K" street, cleaned up the Department of Justice and imprisoned all those who have broke the laws, (torture, spying and lying) then if Congress would all resign and never run for public office again..a 100% approval rating
by
Susan Nelsen (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 244 comments)
on Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 11:42:43 AM
8- reduce the distance between the wealthiest and poorest. Tax the people with $10 million or more and raise inheritance taxes drastically on estates over $10 million.
9- The military is out of control. Massive changes must be instituted to put the public, not corporations and not career military in charge of military policy. The idea that generals should dictate policy is deranged and misguided.
10- Get serious about climate change and ending dependence upon fossil fuels, particularly for transportation and electricity.
11- support smallness. Big business, mega-churches, massive food combines, decreasing media diversity-- are all major threats to democracy and the future.
by
Rob Kall (749 articles, 3834 quicklinks, 320 diaries, 1613 comments)
on Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 11:54:59 AM
connecting values, principles, issues and policies.
hi Rob,
those are all policies I could support and progressives need to start laying out visions and plans like that.
However, what I would like to see, is those good policies you made tied back to the underlying progressive principles on which they are grounded, and to see those principles tied back to the values from which they flow. And then compare those values to competing conservative values for a contrast. This is to build a more holistic vision, which includes progressive; values, principles and polices all together.. That would make for stronger and more holistic arguments I believe. I've been trying to build a model for doing this at this url. http://progressivespirit.com/Projects/ValuesModel/index.htm
Keep up the good work, it's appreciated.
by
Edwin Rutsch (56 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 131 comments)
on Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 1:49:02 PM
note on the inheritance tax: wealth and income inequality has been linked to all manner of social ills, including infant mortality, disease, crime, illiteracy and even lower economic productivity, in addition to poverty. I think human beings are worth more than minimum wage, and considering what's currently going on, there's little evidence to support the idea that the Republocrats represent the best and the brightest, when industrialized nations with more socialized services have higher rates of productivity.
Level the playing field so the best ideas and minds can rise more easily, and so corrupt parasites are exposed and kept out of politics and off corporate boards. End corporate welfare.
Facts, Statistics, and Theories on Racial, Ethnic, andCultural Diversity
74% Would give a What ?? For this Congress' Efforts In ou
Dear Rob Kall, You have been Sorely missed >>> I Agree with All of Your Pointers ( And the few more Mr.' M' added ! Yes, It All should Begin With the "" Disasterous "Happening that WAS propagated Against Our Country on Sep. !!, 2001.' AS We know, to Do an authorized and open investigation As to ""WHO..What..AND.. HOW Cum they have not been brought to ''Trial...IS The best Starter position. Ron, YOU are To be Most Highly Praised along these lines of 'Inquiry'...And Because of YOU..and A few other such Dedicated Individuals.. WE Will Get The Truth OUT.If we left it to this 'Do-nothing-about-it' Congress..Nothing would ever be Brought out..Wonder Why This IS ? Could IT BE That People Better Be Watching The Members OF This ""Grand-fathered-In'' Congress ..A Lot more Closely ?? YOU have some Quite Well informed Readers and Fighters Who Aren't backing down from their Quest for The Truth..right along With YOU, Rob.. I especially Admire YOU, and each one who Speaks out. I was Beginning TO Wonder Where the Heck YOU Had Been 'Dungeoned' Away ! I was Going to Write you Today..anyway..But was So relieved to SEE YOU ARE BACK !! VGF
by
VGF (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 39 comments)
on Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 3:33:10 PM
From your list numbers 1, 2, 3, 5, 5, 6, & 11 are right on target. (Though we would probably disagree on how to implement #s 11 & the second #5. BTW, I hear their hiring down at the census, they can use someone like you. LOL)
#4 a bad idea. What we need is for the government to get out of the healthcare biz completely. They already regulate the heck out of the medical, pharmacautical, & insurance industries & pay for half of all medical treatment. In other words, government has tried & failed to deliver healthcare. Why anyone would want to give them more control over it given their dismal record with it is beyond me.
#7 There's no need for these international trade agreements. Just let people trade, ie get the government out of it, not more involved in it.
#8 wrong direction on taxes. We need to tax everyone less, not more.
#9 What we need is to go back to the Founder's antipathy to a standing military establishment. Let the militia be the backbone of national defense.
#10 Without getting into a debate about climate & energy, the idea of putting the government in charge of these 2 things is all wrong. They'll just mess everything up as they always do.
by
Darren Wolfe (3 articles, 119 quicklinks, 77 diaries, 579 comments)
on Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 7:50:41 AM
Congress must put an end to corporate funded campaign finance and give free and equal air time to every candidate. If the FCC can give the largest corporations hundreds of millions of dollars in free airtime with their new mandatory digital TV cannard, they can create a channel for national political campaigns and debates and a channel for local political campaigns and debates. We own the airwaves and its about time the congress enforces this.
Also the congress should force the FCC to abandon it's strategy to consolidate media into the hands of a few corporations and allow smaller, local and independent media to buy back the media stolen from under them. They need to break up this corporate trust that is the current major media the same way Teddy Roosevelt broke up the Trusts in his day.
They should also make network neutrality permanent and insist major newspapers be owned and operated by people who live and have a stake in the communities they serve.
by
Michael Shaw (7 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 310 comments)
on Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 9:51:53 AM
gota keep the list short and easy to read, afterall, we are dealing with Americans ;
1) impeach & imprison the criminals behind the illegal wars in Iraq & Aghanistan - make use of the ICC in The Hague for best results.
2) stop funding the wars & bring the troops home asasp (this includes no further funding for any wars anywhere, for any reason (Americans are already armed to the hilt : we can defend ourselves in the event of an attack on US soil).
3) draft a course of actions to be taken following steps 1) & 2), set goals & timelines and have these posted and distributed worldwide (for hints on what kind of goals to set, see the above entries) so the world can assist in controlling our efforts.
Complete these three easy steps and I'll go buy new bread for better toast.
by
Tony Forest (4 articles, 14 quicklinks, 129 diaries, 1211 comments)
on Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 12:35:27 PM
and us to respond, more than two soldiers have died and who knows how many Iraqi and Afghan citizens.
But we still nuance what we can do to get the criminals that okay-ed these murders to "change" ... just wonderful.
I guess I must be one of those "radicals", me not believing that you're going to get these enablers of genocide to swing our way - all in good time too.
But that's okay, take your time - what's another few hundred, or thousand lives give or take to us, as we try to get this current congress to do the obvious after they've already spit in our faces, not once, but several times since 06' when we sent the last massive message to stop this war ... and you think they're going to give you the rest on the list ... it would be laughable if it weren't so tragic.
And I noticed that 9/11 hasn't been mentioned - or does that fall under "crimes"? Because if we start with just that one crime, we'll clean house with that alone.
Seriously, how many of you think that most everyone of the people in government right now don't at least suspect what really happened? How many were aware prior or just after? How many would have to have been complicit? Yet what do we get from them? If not out-right ridiculed, some have even advocated our death if 9/11 is brought-up as a crime perpetrated by this government.
And it was our government, the same government that you're advocating give you all these wonderful things, health care, clean energy, tearing down our military, why don't you just ask Dracula to donate blood?
I have a suggestion - why don't we just gather, march on Washington, bring plenty of pitch-forks, ropes and torches and tear it all done and start from scratch. It will be a hell of a lot quicker than anything anyone here can suggest and I'd rather put my trust in whatever we come up with after that than in these current batch of cretins.
Ah, but never mind, 74% of you think because you've been thrown a bone that these leopards will change their spots. I wish you well. And I won't stop phoning, emailing in a vain attempt to get things done, but short of the pitchforks and torches I don't think anything will change for the positive.
We might try civil disobedience and jamming their offices with bodies, go old-fashion sit-ins, but if they don't respond after that - light a match!
by
Mr M (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 9 diaries, 1247 comments)
on Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 1:30:14 PM
Full investigations are needed to document who knew what when and did what, but it's clear it was an inside job on some level- who made the $5 billion purchase of US Treasury Notes early Sept 01? Make the SEC investigations public
* Conduct a FULL investigation of 9/11 with public hearings and Bush and Cheney under Oath, starting with that 70% of the families questions that were ignored by the 9/11 Commission
PS, i think spreading the word is better than pitchforks
these pretender "representatives" fear light, truth and public opinion more than a group of radicals- even those with bombs. Guaranteed, anyone into using violence for political ends will get infiltrated and shut down; unless they want to use you as a patsy and make an example.
Non-violence is the way to go- civil disobedience can be non-violent, but i don't think it's necessarily the best way to raise public awareness. The emperor has no clothes, and his dollars are worthless.
by
Better World Order (4 articles, 404 quicklinks, 25 diaries, 874 comments)
on Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 3:33:29 PM
If every member of Congress who voted for the latest FISA bill out of respect for the Constitution, I might give them a positive rating.
The fact that 74% of people have hope Congress will turn it around, shows how effective the consensus manages perception, and how strongly people hold onto their denial.
On the horizon, ask your Congressman if they would support a proposal thats out there in Canada. Otherwise, in 2 years the internet will be toast.
" A net-neutrality activist group has uncovered plans for the demise of the free Internet by 2010 in Canada. By 2012, the group says, the trend will be global.
snip
“We had inside sources from bigger companies who gave us the information on how exclusivity deals are being made at this moment between ISPs and big content providers (like TV production studios and major video game publishers) to decide which web sites will be in the ‘standard package’ offered to their customers, leaving all the rest of the Internet unreachable unless you pay extra subscription fees per every ‘non-standard’ site you visit,”
snip
The plans would in effect be economic censorship, with only the top 100 to 200 sites making the cut in the initial subscription package. Such plans would likely favor major news outlets and suppress smaller news outlets, as the major news outlets would be free (with subscription), and alternative news outlets, like AFP, would incur a fee for every visit.
snip
“By 2012 ISPs all over the globe will reduce Internet access to a TV-like subscription model, only offering access to a small standard amount of commercial sites and require extra fees for every other site you visit. These ‘other’ sites would then lose all their exposure and eventually shut down, resulting in what could be seen as the end of the Internet,” Leysen said. "
My bet is Obama and a Democratic Congress will be all for this.
Those sites who want to be part of the basic subscription site will be mainstream, or controlled dissident sites. Too critical of the government, or allow comments that cross the rubicon, and get threatened with being kicked off the basic subscrition plan.
They will be loving it. You won't, but you will not have any choice.
by
pft (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 304 comments)
on Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 5:24:24 PM
designed to generate web traffic for the art/pranksters who thought it up.
American Free Press was already a non-credible source, due to their support for holocaust denial and bogus theories about 9/11, such as "no 757 hit the Pentagon"
by
Better World Order (4 articles, 404 quicklinks, 25 diaries, 874 comments)
on Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 7:01:18 PM
The concept has too much going for it, especially in a market without competition, and a corporate government who would like to control perception and truth, despite the messenger. BTW, the hoax sites are sponsored by those who seek to cover up acts like 9/11 with ridiculous stories and holocaust denial, but if you can see through deception, there are some nuggets of truth that get discredited as a result of the flak. Discrediting truth is a science.
Besides, even this site accepts this is where we may be heading
Make no mistake: The freewheeling Internet as we know it could very well become history.
What does that mean? It means we could be heading toward a pay-per-view Internet where Web sites have fees. It means we may have to pay a network tax to run voice-over-the-Internet phones, use an advanced search engine, or chat via Instant Messenger. The next generation of magical new inventions will be shut out of the top-tier service level. Meanwhile the network owners will rake in even greater profits"
Ignore this danger if you wish. Cable Channels like CNN were at one time commercial free. Today I call CNN the Commercial News Network. You can't influence the news without paid sponsors. It's already happening to many blogs who get "contributions" and "donations", so long as they avoid certain topics."
by
pft (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 304 comments)
on Monday, July 14, 2008 at 1:28:19 AM
