Generic Congressional Ballot: Republicans 45%, Democrats 36%
Monday, July 19, 2010

Republished with permission from Rasmussen Reports
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/generic_congressional_ballot

Republican candidates now hold a nine-point lead over Democrats on the Generic Congressional Ballot for the week ending Sunday, July 18, the widest gap between the two parties in several weeks.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 45% of Likely Voters would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate, while 36% would opt for his or her Democratic opponent. Support for Republicans inched up a point from last week, while support for the Democrat fell two points.

While solid majorities of Democrats and Republicans support the candidates of their respective party, voters not affiliated with either party prefer the Republican candidate by a 47% to 21% margin.

Republicans have led on the Generic Ballot since mid-June 2009, and their lead hasn’t dipped below five points since the beginning of December. Twice this year, they’ve posted a 10-point lead. However, the results were much different during the last two election cycles when Democrats regularly had large advantages.

When President Obama was inaugurated in January 2009, Democrats enjoyed a seven-point advantage on the Generic Ballot. The two parties were very close on the Generic Ballot throughout the spring of 2009, but in June, around the time Democrats began their campaign for health care reform, Republicans pulled ahead for good.

GOP candidates started 2010 ahead by nine points. Since the first of the year, Republicans have earned between 43% and 47% of the vote, while Democratic support has ranged from 35% to 39%.

Most voters now believe it is at least somewhat likely that Republicans will win control of both houses of Congress in this November’s elections, and nearly half say there will a noticeable change in the lives of Americans if this happens.

If Republicans win control of Congress this fall, voters overwhelmingly believe the nation’s legislature should wait until the newly elected officials take office before considering major legislation. Most, however, expect that Democrats will try to pass new legislation before turning over control.

Democrats and Republicans in the Nation’s Capital have seldom agreed on anything in recent years, and the majority of voters expect things to remain the same. Most also see the president and both parties in Congress as continuing to govern in a partisan way.

The notion that governments derive their only just authority from the consent of the governed is a foundational principle of the American experiment. However, just 23% of voters nationwide believe the federal government today has the consent of the governed.

Sixty-one percent (61%) now expect the cost of health care to go up under the health care reform law, the highest level of pessimism measured since the law was passed in March. Fifty-six percent (56%) favor repeal.

The frustration that voters are expressing in 2010 goes much deeper than specific policies. At a more fundamental level, voters just don’t believe the Political Class is interested in the opinions of ordinary Americans.

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Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.

The Rasmussen Reports Election Edge™ Premium Service offers the most comprehensive public opinion coverage available anywhere.
Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade.

Disclaimer:
The Views and Opinions Expressed by the author are his or her opinions only and do not necessarily reflect those of Crown Equity Holdings or its agents, affiliates, officers, directors, staff, or contractors. The author at the time of this article did not own any shares or receive any consideration financial or otherwise from any company mentioned or referred to in the article.

Balance of Power Ratings: West Virginia Added As Solid Democratic State, Ohio Moves to Lean GOP

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Republished with permission of Rasmussen Reports
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_senate_elections/election_2010_senate_balance_of_power

West Virginia will be having a special Senate election this November to replace the late Senator Robert Byrd. That race starts out as a Solid Democratic seat in the Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power summary. The first polling in the race showed Governor Joe Manchin with a double-digit lead.

Adding West Virginia to the November election mix does not affect the overall numbers at this time as the seat was already listed in the Democratic column.

In addition, new polling in Ohio has moved that state from a Toss-Up to Lean GOP. In our latest polling, Republican Rob Portman now leads Democrat Lee Fisher by six points.

With a month-and-a-half of summer left before the fall campaign season begins in earnest, Rasmussen Reports polling shows that Republicans are poised to pick up Democratic-held Senate seats in three states- Arkansas, Indiana and North Dakota. Three others are leaning that way–Delaware, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Arkansas’ Blanche Lincoln is the only incumbent senator currently projected to lose a seat. The others are open-seat races following retirement by Democratic incumbents.

At the moment, outside of the Toss-Up states, no Republican-held seats appear headed for the Democratic column.

Currently, there are just seven states in the Toss-Up category. Outside of the Toss-Ups, current projections indicate that Democrats can probably count on having 49 Senate seats after Election Day, while Republicans will hold 44.

Five of the seven Toss-up states are currently Democratic seats, while two are held by the GOP.
Among the five Democratic seats in the Toss-Up category, two are open seat races (Colorado and Illinois). The Republicans have a slight edge in Colorado, while Illinois is essentially even. As for Democratic incumbents in the Toss-Up category, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada trails by only three points in the latest polling; Patty Murray of Washington is also trailing by three points, and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin is in a virtual tie with a little-known opponent.

The Republican Toss-Ups are found in Florida and Missouri. Republican candidates have very slight leads in both states.

Put it all together, and Republicans are slightly ahead in five of the seven Toss-up states, while the other two races are tied. This suggests that if the election were held today, the GOP would be favored to pick up a few more than the four seats already moving in their direction. However, it is impossible to know how these races will look in November. While individual candidate performance will obviously play a role, the overall political tide may be an even bigger factor.
The state results and overall projections will be updated whenever new polling data justifies a change.

There are currently two independents in the Senate, and Charlie Crist is running as an independent candidate in Florida. For purposes of the Balance of Power projections, all three are counted as Democrats.

Disclaimer:
The Views and Opinions Expressed by the author are his or her opinions only and do not necessarily reflect those of Crown Equity Holdings or its agents, affiliates, officers, directors, staff, or contractors. The author at the time of this article did not own any shares or receive any consideration financial or otherwise from any company mentioned or referred to in the article.

By Mike Zaman

A revolt among Wall Street’s largest donors is hurting fundraising for the Democratic Party and their next election bid. Wall Street has withdrawn their financial support for the Democratic Party in retaliation over the finance bill still being developed in congress.

Contributions from Wall Street are down 65% from two years ago. Even though Obama gave Wall Street everything they demanded, which by the way was to the detriment of the American people.

For Example Timothy Geithner’s support for AIG allowed AIG to pay Wall Street banks 100% of the derivatives contracts called credit default swaps. These payments have allowed the Banks to continue the epidemic of foreclosures.

The drop in support comes from the same bankers, hedge fund managers and financial services chief executives who are to be regulated. They are “Angry” and upset about the financial regulatory reform bill that House Democrats passed last week with almost no Republican support. Wall Street lobbyists invested most of their time and money on the Republic contingency in congress.

Now the Senate expects to take up the measure this month, with a clear message from Wall Street, (Congresses financial backers), that message is “don’t play with our money”

This fundraising fall from the New York area has left Democrats with diminished resources to defend their House and Senate majorities in November’s midterm elections. Anticipated to cause a shift more in line with what Wall Street wants

What all this amounts to is a clear signal from Wall Street that they are in control, and are punishing the democrats for daring to “attempt” control over how Wall Street operates.

One on the main areas of contention, Wall Street insists on being able to operate in the derivatives market, that same market that caused the financial collapse, however Wall Street has now been bailed out by the American people twice in the past 20 years, and has come to expect financial support from the American taxpayer whenever they screw up again and there is no doubt they will.

Meanwhile it will continue to be business as usual on Wall Street until we can separate Congress and Wall Street, and find a way to finance elections without those who seek office being beholden to big money interests.

Disclaimer:
The Views and Opinions Expressed by the author are his or her opinions only and do not necessarily reflect those of Crown Equity Holdings or its agents, affiliates, officers, directors, staff, or contractors. The author at the time of this article did not own any shares or receive any consideration financial or otherwise from any company mentioned or referred to in the article.

By Bobbie Katz

Physicians may temporarily be spared from a 21 percent cut in Medicare payments but the health of job legislation for people of all ages has been seriously impaired.

As Democrats struggle to help pump up the economy and support economic recovery for the middle class, their jobs-agenda legislation was defeated by Republicans on Thursday. That means that unemployment benefits will run out for more than 200,000 people a week. Now governors who were counting on fresh federal funds will have to consider more layoffs of state workers, tax increases, and budget cuts.

The rejected bill would have provided $16 billion in new aid to states, providing what White House officials called an insurance policy against double-dip recession. It also would preserve the jobs of thousands of state and local government workers and included dozens of tax breaks sought by business lobbyists as well as tax increases on domestically produced oil and on investment fund managers.

On their side, Republicans, also aware that there is an election in November, became wary of the bill and adding more to the $13 trillion deficit after hearing from angry voters.

In an attempt to attract enough Republican votes to overcome a filibuster, Senate Democrats had cut billions from the bill, which ended up three shy of the 60 votes required in the 57-41 final tally. While according to his spokesman, President Obama will keep pressuring Congress to pass the bill, it is unclear whether the Democrats can get the votes.

Initially, the Medicare funding for physicians had been a part of the larger bill to provide and provide states with billions of dollars to avert layoffs and extended unemployment benefits for laid-off workers. When it became obvious that Senate Republicans would block the larger bill, Democrats begrudgingly voted for the smaller Medicare fix.

“This is a bill that would remedy serious challenges that American families face as a result of this Great Recession,” said Max Baucus, D-Mont., the chief author of the bill. “This is a bill that works to build a stronger economy. This is a bill to put Americans back to work.”.

When Medicare announced last week that it would begin processing June claims at the lower rate, it created some urgency to approve the funding. According to lawmakers, some doctors have already stopped seeing new Medicare patients because of the cuts.

The Views and Opinions Expressed by the author are his or her opinions only and do not necessarily reflect those of this Web-Site or its agents, affiliates, officers, directors, staff, or contractors. The author at the time of this article did not own any shares or receive any consideration financial or otherwise from any company or person mentioned or referred to in the article.

By Mike Zaman

There is a message the Democrats and Republicans in the Senate have been sending us ever since the financial meltdown, that message is that we need to spend some time considering why we elected these individuals in the first place, and get them out of office as quickly as we can.

No one in congress has any compassion for the millions of Americans their financial masters used then discarded. Washington is based on greed and self-indulgence.

Congress defeated an election-year bill to continue weekly jobless benefits for millions of our long-term unemployed. Now how will they survive? And what should we do to counter their lack of grace.

The 57-41 loss was a major blow for America’s millions of unemployed, but there is some logic here, the Labor department will report that unemployment has improved because a few million just fell off the rolls. Perhaps by refusing to provide benefits the unemployment rate will reflect a 9.5 unemployment rate, its only numbers, but unfortunately those numbers reflect a real person living a destitute life all because we have a government that doesn’t work for America.

The rejected bill would in addition have provided billions of dollars in new aid, protecting the jobs of tens of thousands of state and local government employees now scheduled to receive that proverbial Pink Slip.

Despite another round of cuts to the measure aimed at pacifying GOP deficit concerns, not a single Republican broke with party leaders determined to kill the measure because it added more than $30 billion to the deficit.

The Views and Opinions Expressed by the author are his or her opinions only and do not necessarily reflect those of this Web-Site or its agents, affiliates, officers, directors, staff, or contractors. The author at the time of this article did not own any shares or receive any consideration financial or otherwise from any company or person mentioned or referred to in the article.