Dec. 13—By an almost 2–1 margin—some 56 percent of voters—think the United States is on the wrong track domestically, while only 29 percent believe the nation is moving in the right direction, according to a poll released today by Peter D. Hart Research Associates. In the same poll, respondents gave Congress a failing grade on the issues that most concern working families.
As the watchdog for America’s working families, the AFL-CIO today announced the launch of a “Who’s on Our Side Campaign” to hold members of Congress accountable for the choices they made this year on issues vital for working families.
The public’s concern over the nation’s direction crosses economic, political and geographic lines. Among employed adults surveyed, 58 percent say the nation is on the wrong track, as do 64 percent of working women and 63 percent of members of working families with incomes of less than $40,000.
Many media commentators have attributed recent public dissatisfaction to the war in Iraq, but the Hart poll, conducted for the AFL-CIO, shows working families hold deep concerns over the nation’s domestic course, especially in five areas: health care (69 percent), retirement security (65 percent), fair taxes (57 percent), education (53 percent) and jobs and the economy (47 percent). The survey also finds 63 percent of seniors ages 65 and older dissatisfied with the new Medicare prescription drug benefit plan that opened to enrollees Nov. 15 for coverage that begins Jan. 1, 2006.
AFL-CIO Issues Report Cards Scoring Performance of Members of Congress
The federation is issuing report cards scoring the performance of U.S. senators and representatives in five areas: jobs and wages, retirement security, health care, tax fairness and education. Within these categories, the AFL-CIO examined the votes cast by members of Congress on trade, the minimum wage, job creation and community wage standards, child labor standards, protection for overtime pay, the freedom to form unions, pension and Social Security protections, Medicaid, health care, consumer protections, tax cuts for the wealthy, student loans and funding for public education.
The report cards, issued as Congress completes the first half of its term, are part of a union movement-wide drive to hold lawmakers accountable. In coming months, working families will hold workers’ roundtables, grassroots mobilizations and other actions to put elected leaders on notice that they need to support issues that matter to working families. In 2006, Working America, the AFL-CIO’s community affiliate, will talk with an average of 25,000 working families each week on the issues that matter to them.
“Working families, with the facts in hand, have the power to take back the country and make sure we are represented by leaders who are fighting for our best interests—not special interests—every day,” said AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, speaking to reporters in a Dec. 13 news conference call to release the poll results.
Congress and President Get Failing Grades
Nearly three in five voters surveyed in the Northeast (59 percent), Midwest (60 percent) and West (58 percent) say the country is on the wrong track, according to the poll. Among Southern voters, some 48 percent say the nation is on the wrong track, while 35 percent say we’re going in the right direction.
Congress gets a failing grade from voters, according to the Hart poll. Only 30 percent approve of the job Congress is doing, while 56 percent disapprove—a sharp drop from the 41 percent approval rating cited in an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll last January, according to the Hart survey. A major factor in the disapproval of the nation’s direction is the strong belief that both Congress (66 percent) and President George W. Bush (59 percent) are out of step with working families’ priorities.
Demonstrating how out of step they are with mainstream Americans, members of Congress last week approved President Bush’s massive give-away to the rich, passing a bill that cuts taxes on capital gains and estates—a move that follows a $50 billion package of spending cuts in working family programs Republican leaders squeaked through by two votes in November.
Because so many Americans are dissatisfied with the positions of Congress and President Bush on working family issues, the public strongly supports a change in the leadership of the nation, the poll reveals. By the largest margin in 11 years of similar Hart polling, voters say they would prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress: 45 percent to 34 percent. Among those undecided about their preference for control of Congress, more than three of five say they think the nation is on the wrong track (60 percent) and say President Bush (61 percent) and Congress (62 percent) are out of step with their priorities.
The survey was conducted Dec. 1–4, 2005, among a representative sample of 801 registered voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
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