Disdain for politicians knows no bounds
Published February 13, 2014
Editorial by Rocky Mount Telegram, February 12, 2014.
At long last, North Carolinians of all political stripes have found something they can agree on: Our leaders stink.
It doesn’t matter which party or which level of government. A recent survey conducted by High Point University found bipartisan disdain for just about everyone.
Here are some of the approval ratings highlights – or perhaps lowlights would be a better term:
- Democratic President Barack Obama – 40 percent.
- Republican Gov. Pat McCrory – 37 percent.
- Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan – 33 percent
- Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr – 29 percent.
- N.C. General Assembly – 32 percent.
- U.S. Congress – 12 percent.
For all of the heavy rhetoric politicians have thrown at improving education in recent years, it would be nice if even one of the leaders had a passing grade of his or her own.
Some of the lower approval ratings are easy to understand. Obama’s rollout of the Affordable Care Act has been fraught with disaster. McCrory’s administration has fumbled the ball all over the place on food stamps benefits and Medicaid payments.
Until only recently – that is, the start of this election year – Congress has been unable to agree on much of anything. The N.C. General Assembly, meanwhile, has shoved all kinds of unpopular legislation down the throats of North Carolinians.
Change starts at the ballot box, of course. But Americans historically seem to follow a motto of: “Washington/Raleigh might stink, but my guy is OK.” And so, we continue to re-elect incumbent leaders by a wide margin. Legislators, meanwhile, do their best to ensure re-election by stacking districts in favor of the party in charge.
Somehow or another, the unemployment rate is finally starting to drop. Deficits have been reduced. And the stock market continues to be healthy.
What does all of that mean to North Carolina voters?
We’ll see in November.
February 13, 2014 at 7:58 pm
Norm Kelly says:
The stock market is recovering: how much of that has to do with quantitative easing? For those of us who really don't understand the details of QE, the gist of QE is that the feds are propping up the stock market. Artificially inflating the stock market so 'the rich', those hated most by the libs, are propped up/rewarded. The average person sees little impact, perhaps mostly on long-term retirement funds.
'The N.C. General Assembly, meanwhile, has shoved all kinds of unpopular legislation down the throats of North Carolinians'. Unlike the politicians at the federal level? I seem to recall, though my memory is getting old, that it was a strictly party-line vote that brought us socialized medicine part 1. It was also a party-line vote in Raleigh that brought the education lottery to NC. Why were either of these popular? If they were popular once, are they still popular? Even more important, are either of the party-line plans shoved down our throats doing the job they were implemented to do? Prove it, please. Don't just simply say 'yes, to both'. Show proof. I expect this is either impossible or will take considerable effort so I will understand if you don't reply quickly.
The unemployment rate is starting to drop? Based on what statistic is this claimed? The federal numbers? The state numbers? Both show that more people have dropped out of the work force than have gotten a job and therefore dropped from the stats. And a recent report from Washington shows that an equivalent of 2 million jobs will be lost because of the implementation of Obamacancer. So is this number real or simply political speak for good news?
Deficits are down? Is this a long term affect/effect? Or is this a new phenomenon that is expected to change quickly. All the number for Obamascare show that the deficit will fall somewhat for a very short period of time, then the deficit will cause the debt to balloon dramatically. Should we be celebrating that the deficit has fallen somewhat? Of course. But if it were a long-term effect, then it should be heralded. But since it's temporary, and soon to change dramatically/substantially, it's not something to be proud of.
Overall, the country is heading in the WRONG direction. Republicans in Washington are temporarily afraid to do much because they don't like being blamed in the media. When they realize they are being blamed in the media, and by lefties in general, regardless of what they do or how the economy performs, they will change their approach. They will then start to do the right things for the country and the majority of people regardless of how the media portray them or how the lefties respond. Cuz doing the right thing is always the right thing.
