Bush Job Approval Dips to New Low

When it comes to public approval, President Bush and Congress are playing “how low can you go.” Bush’s approval mark is 43 percent, while Congress checks in at 31 percent, an Associated Press-Ipsos poll found. Both are the lowest levels yet for the survey, started in December 2003.

About one-third of adults, 35 percent, said they think the country is headed in the right direction, while 43 percent said they approve of the job being done by Bush. Just 41 percent say they support his handling of the war, also a low-water mark.

“There’s a bad mood in the country, people are out of sorts,” said presidential scholar and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution Charles Jones, who lives near Charlottesville, Va. “Iraq news is daily bad news. The election in Iraq helped some, and the formation of the government helped some, but dead bodies trump the more positive news.”

The President has lost the momentum of the November 2004 elections.

Some recommendations from Flap:

1. Conclude the Iraq War and start bringing home the troops

2.Secure the USA’s southern border, and enforce the immigration laws. Forget about any amnesty or Guest Worker program

3.Forget about privitization of social security and in fact forget about reforming the system, especially any increase in payroll taxes or cuts in benefits. Let the next President do it.

4.Cut Federal spending and bring the budget more into balance

5. Stick to the 4 above and win some more seats in the Congress in 2006.