Here Today... Gone To Hell!

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush's job approval has dipped below 40 percent for the first time in the AP-Ipsos poll, reflecting widespread doubts about his handling of gasoline prices and the response to Hurricane Katrina.

Nearly four years after Bush's job approval soared into the 80s after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Bush was at 39 percent job approval in an AP-Ipsos poll taken this week. That's the lowest since the the poll was started in December 2003.

The public's view of the nation's direction has grown increasingly negative as well, with nearly two-thirds now saying the country is heading down the wrong track.

"As a nation, we are pretty well stretched," said Barry Allen, a political independent from Reed City, Michigan. "I approve of some of the things the president has done and disapprove of others. Overall, I disapprove."

Allen said he liked some of Bush's economic steps during his first term but has been dissatisfied with the president's economic moves in his second term, his Iraq policy and his handling of gasoline prices.

Allen worries Hurricane Katrina has taken the wind out of an economy that was moving in the right direction.

With gasoline racing past $3 a gallon, Bush's standing on dealing with those prices may be one of his biggest problems -- seven in 10 said they disapprove.

And just over half in the poll, 52 percent, said they disapprove of the president's handling of the hurricane.

For Bill Kane of Kingsland, Georgia, the government's slow response to the hurricane "was terrifying to see in our own country. It made you mad, because it made you think where's our money going?"

More evidence of problems with the storm response surfaced Friday when the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced it would discontinue a 2-day-old program to issue debit cards worth to displaced families.

The administration also dumped FEMA Director Michael Brown, who had come to symbolize the stumbling early days of the hurricane response, as commander of Katrina relief efforts. (Full story)

Brown once served as the judges and stewards commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Association.

"Bush puts people in jobs who don't know what they're doing," said Shirley Carignan, a retiree and a political independent from Weymouth, Massachusetts. "I think he's picking friends for these jobs. My girlfriend raises Arabians. You know horses, so what? Horses and people are different things."

The number of people who think the country is on the wrong track grew from 59 percent last month to 65 percent this month. Tumbling consumer confidence after Hurricane Katrina may be contributing to that sense of pessimism.

The RBC CASH Index, based on polling by Ipsos, showed that consumer confidence sank in September to the lowest level since early March 2003 before the start of the Iraq war.

Economic woes and a continuing war in Iraq have been complicated by the continuing hurricane recovery crisis.

"A lot of Americans don't pay attention to their leaders on a day-to-day basis," said Robert Blendon, a public opinion analyst at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. "They measure presidents, governors and mayors on how they handle big events like a hurricane. This event is not over because the bodies are going to be discovered day by day."

meh, what else is new? Not al that shocking, if you ask me...

Finally, americans begin to grow some brains.  ::)

WOOOOHOOOOO! That shud teach em

its not relevant but i love your chewbacca animated gif...

I'm sure the polls would be in favor of it.....

Sometimes, Americans are dumb. They needed 6 years to realize their President is such a dick. Maybe one day they will realize that free weapons and death penalty are also problems. And when the Messiah arrives, maybe they will stop eating everyday to Mc Donals and finally respect the Kyoto process...who knows...Bring the Democrats back to power. The neo-conservatism theory failed. W, you are dismissed.

it's hilarious that the same people on this board who call americans stupid and brainwashed, also quote bush's low approval ratings.  :rofl:

and remember, right now many people that voted for bush could be disappointed with his performance in recent months. BUT that does not mean they would still not vote for him if the democrats nominate a stiff like kerry.  :rofl:

The Iraq war is become more unpopular, gas prices are at record levels and the Hurricane Katrina rescue effort was botched in the beginning. That will certainly lower approval ratings for the guy at the top. Its no surprise. Bush is an easy target right now and those who diddn`t like him to begin with are loving this. I think its a lot of wasted energy, lets solve our problems rather than bitch about them.

I hope that I can work for some of these 39% people.  Talk about easy bosses:  all the vacation time you want, spend as much as you need, break things like oh say Iraq, etc.

Bush has always been an easy target for reasons other than his actual policy.  However, I agree with you on your final point.  If those on the far left spent one-tenth of the energy they spend bashing Bush on trying to solve the problems of this country, not only would they be elected, but we might dig ourselves out of some of the holes that Bush has others have put us in.

We are solving our problems, pointing out our poor leader.

Where does the buck stop then? Who is reponsible? Donald Duck?

You hypocricy is to be applauded since the right wing spent millions to try and impeach Clinton...Yea you guys really know how to solve problems rather than bitch about them. ::)

Gotta problem?  We gotta problem solver named Ken Starr.  The 40 million dollar waste of time.

I rest my case.

Pointing out problems doesn`t solve problems, its still bitching about them!!

As soon as the US finds an oil alternative (and lets face it, what other country has skilled enough scientists to find out) 80% of the world global problems will probably be solved. Untill then everything continues to be Americas fault.

That post made about as much sense as a submarine with a kickstand........

Theres some sense to it. If we did not need oil, the middle east could shove their oil up their ass and theyd have a lot less of a market to sell to. It is a viable option, we do have the best technology in the world at our disposal. Also it certainly would ease the massive enviornmental issues created by using fossil fuels. We seem to get blamed for all the worlds problems, it would be one less thing anti American sympathizers could hold against us. Unfortunately the oil companies weigh a heavy hand in our government policies since they have so much fucking money.

First of all it is the typical American arrogance to claim "who can do it but us?" Gimmie a break...

We don't get blammed for "many of the worlds problems", that is a blanket statement.

And there is plenty of demand for oil if USA somehow was not dependent on it. Emerging countries are using more than ever before.

why thank you? ;D

EDIT: if you wanna c an even cooler one go to http://zeit183geist.proboards62.com/index.cgi, i have the Emperor doing his lighting attack


now ill just claim to be born in the U.S and run for pres and... :p

The Wookie/Gore ticket didn't do too well the first time dude.....

(http://tinypic.com/dnyavq.jpg)

nah i ahve a new policy, vote for me or get your arms ripped out fo your sockets. let the wookiee win...  :rofl:

I bet a wookie wouldn't waste time with bogus claims of WMD. Rather he would hunt down and kill Osama on his own...

Chewbacca gets my nod!

(http://tinypic.com/dnyds3.jpg)

hell, thats why i love the species so much.  :hihi:

SCSPUNK
The US rules, get used to it

Hum .... it's SLC ....

And he never said otherwise ! US does rule but I missed the point in the constitution in which it is said that an American citizen has to agree w/ everything his government does ! Can you point that to me ?

And try just a little harder maybe you can manage to develop a little more your point of view.

U guys are useless..Bush is one of the best presidents uve had in decades...He needs more troops ovetr there though and needs more pressure on

Oh I have a point of view darlin,
and I dont get mine from CNN.

But you cant handle my point of view, and Im not interested in a pissing match, so Ill pass.

Rules what?

Liars club?

Or

Denial club?

Umm..the US is #1 in

aid to other countries
standard of living
individual freedoms

to name a few.
If you don`t like the US, don`t live here! Simple as that.

So criticising a lousy government = go live somewhere else?

USA actually gives one of the lowest based on GNP as set and agreed to by the United Nations.

The rest are relative really.

Actually Standard of living I think goes to Canada

Maybe you two should arm wrestle over it.........

 thank you very much, see, Canada rules  ;D

The US also leads the amount of food produced for 3rd world counties. We probably feed something like 30% of the world for free. In 2100 or something when the world population is like 15 Billion we already have the technology to feed everyone at zero cost. I wonder if Britian or France are involved in this. Wait, there busy doing umm..what do they do over there...Oh yea. France has the Eiffel tower. Nice.?

I don't understand the comparisons to France.  I haven't seen one French person compare the US and France on this board.  I am sympathetic to a pro-american position because I love this country, but the constant shots at France are unprovoked and somewhat embarrasing.  Granted, there are many that take shots at the US on this board.  However, most of those people seem to be Americans, not French.

How embarrassing to be schooled on your own Constitution by somebody from another country.





The US also leads the amount of food produced for 3rd world counties. We probably feed something like 30% of the world for free. In 2100 or something when the world population is like 15 Billion we already have the technology to feed everyone at zero cost. I wonder if Britian or France are involved in this. Wait, there busy doing umm..what do they do over there...Oh yea. France has the Eiffel tower. Nice.

I would love to see more information on this, can you post some stats for me, or are you just pulling it out of your ass?

The France bashing at the end is ignorant.


Agreed.

No i did not pull it out of my ass (Slash is already in it) Most of my info is from a national geographic article, about feeding 3rd world countries. The US has bio-engineered many edible plants and grains so they produce much more yeild per bushel. Some Europeans are scared to eat them. Europe does import $6.5 billion worth of produce from the US each year, so at least they pay for there vegetables...lucky us. But eventually the US will be feeding billions and billions of people in the near future.

This is wonderful, but certainly does not void the problems that Bush as created (ie what we are talking about). You can't just say one good thing to make a bad one go away now can you?

On a side note: Bio-engineered foods is a whole new topic to talk about too.....

Are you aware in France we overproduce almost everything when it comes down to agriculture ? We may import goods from the USA but we export a lot to other European countries. And by the way we do have our own vegetables lucky us and you should pay us a visit and you'll see we've got more to offer than the Eiffel Tower !
And I'm not going to enter a debate on transgenic plants in this thread.

The French 2

Americans 0

Guys stop embarrassing us like this......

The French 2

Americans 0

Guys stop embarrassing us like this......

Now if you just built a spine factory

It is obvious this brilliant girl from France is more educated then the two of you put together.

That is why you throw out shameless insults towards the French. She put you on the ropes in two posts.....

Haha why am i not feeling upset about this. Also more importanly why wont you just move to France? Since they own us in discussion and all.  :rofl:

I don't see how many of you can complain about anti-american posts, when I see the same people that complain make anti-french posts.  You are using the same tactics, and they are just as ignorant and embarrasing.

See, you can't own up to anything.

She schooled you, your statements were WRONG, and then all you can do is turn around and try to breath more fire.

Pathetic really.....