A repost from the Quinnipac University poll
President Donald Trump begins his term with a negative 36 - 44 percent job approval rating from American voters, including a negative 33 - 50 percent rating from women, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released on January 27, 2017. Another 19 percent are undecided.
President Barack Obama scored a positive 59 - 25 percent approval rating in his first post- inaugural poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University on March 4, 2009.
There are party, gender, age and racial gaps in President Trump's approval rating:
- Republicans approve 81 - 3 percent, while Democrats disapprove 77 - 4 percent and independent voters disapprove 45 - 35 percent;
- Men approve 41 - 38 percent, as women disapprove 50 - 33 percent;
- Voters 18 to 34 years old disapprove 51 - 26 percent and voters 35 to 49 years old disapprove 53 - 30 percent, but voters 50 to 64 years old approve 47 - 33 percent and voters over 65 are divided 41 - 41 percent;
- White voters approve by a narrow 43 - 40 percent, while non-white voters disapprove 55 - 20 percent.
Americans are optimistic 53 - 43 percent about the next four years with Trump as president and say 44 - 36 percent that he will help rather than hurt the nation's economy.
President Trump will be a worse president than Barack Obama, 50 percent of American voters say, and 37 percent say he will be a better president.
Trump will be a "great" president, 18 percent of voters say; 25 percent say he will be a "good" president; 16 percent say he will be "not so good" and 36 percent say he will be "bad."
"Stumbling out of the blocks, President Donald Trump is considered a divider not a uniter, flunking on honesty, empathy and level headedness, while his predecessor sees his legacy burnished by better and better numbers every polling cycle," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. "But voters are optimistic in general and confident he will help the economy."
American voters give President Trump a negative 39 - 52 percent favorability rating. Vice President Mike Pence gets a split 37 - 36 percent favorability rating.
Looking at Trump's personal qualities, American voters say:
- 56 - 39 percent that he is not honest;
- 49 - 46 percent that he has good leadership skills;
- 53 - 44 percent that he does not care about average Americans;
- 62 - 33 percent that he is not level-headed;
- 68 - 29 percent that he is a strong person;
- 65 - 32 percent that he is intelligent.
Donald Trump will do more to divide the country, rather than unite the nation, voters say 55 - 40 percent. His policies will help their personal financial situation, 31 percent of voters say, while 28 percent say they will hurt and 38 percent say they will make no difference.
Best/Worst President
American voters select the best president in the last 70 years:
- 30 percent name Ronald Reagan;
- 29 percent name Barack Obama;
- 12 percent pick John Kennedy;
- 9 percent select Bill Clinton;
- 3 percent each for Dwight Eisenhower and George W. Bush;
- 2 percent each for Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush;
- Less than 1 percent for Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
A list of the worst presidents shows:
- 24 percent for Richard Nixon;
- 23 percent for Barack Obama;
- 22 percent for George W. Bush;
- 10 percent for Jimmy Carter;
- 5 percent for Ronald Reagan;
- 4 percent for Bill Clinton;
- 3 percent for Lyndon Johnson;
- 2 percent for George H.W. Bush;
- 1 percent for Gerald Ford;
- Less than 1 percent for Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy.
From January 20 - 25, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,190 voters nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points. Live interviewers call landlines and cell phones.
The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Iowa, Colorado and the nation as a public service and for research.
PDF format
Additional Trend Information
Sample and Methodology detail
99 Comments
The Media has appointed itself the political party opposition to Trump.
Take for example, this light-weight example of the many op-ed pieces in NZs own trivialised media
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/us-election-2016/88860118/oscar-k…
These articles are nothing more than staff room conversations maintaining a theme of puerile dissent.
Why, for example, does the media, as a self appointed opposition, want the West into warfare against Russia?
Trump has many flaws, but the media derangement is actually the most interesting phenomenon.
I wonder how much noise you'd be making if the sentiment went the other way.
You seem to think people do not have enough nous to discard or take on what is said with a measure of realism. I notice many of his supporters go to the likes of Neo-conservative Christian blogs for their views of things. What, are you upset those aren't being printed?
Perhaps the left/liberal leaning press don't need direct public funding anymore as they have formed an unusual alliance with the globalist/neoliberal pro-multinational corporate viewpoint (normally associated with the 'right'), but these left/right definitions are obsolete now really.
And perhaps you are making a whole bunch of stuff up. While corporations are a kind of socialist alliance all of their own, they are definitely not "left' as their prime concern is to gather as much resource as they can to themselves.
Left and right have very, very simple meanings left is of the collective, right is of the individual, It applies to resources (money or whatever you measure it with) and actually can live quite happily together. That is called a mixed economy and the world's most admired societies function in mixed economies.
You then have liberty and authority which can be applied to both left and right and in there you can go from totalitarian to outright libertarian (anarchy).
The absolute best way society could function would be libertarian left, just one tenet would be all that would be needed for it to work "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you".
One day, after trying to understand all this stuff it did occur to me that they guy that is referred to as Jesus Christ was possibly one of the original libertarian (as opposed to liberal) leftie but so, so many of people who profess to worship him appear to be right wing conservatives. Conservatism and libertarianism are opposed to each other, right wing conservatism and left wing libertarianism are diametrically opposed to each other.
I, an atheist, would probably have been a follower of that person (or group) back then, I kind of think it arose in spite of "God" not because of it. Someone had to come up with the ideas at the time, I guess Jesus Christ is as good a name as any.
Us lefties are extremely opposed to huge global corporations by the way.
"us lefties are extremely opposed to huge global corporations by the way"
You would think so, but the voices that speak for you are now aligned in a strange kind of way.
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Re Jesus, yes I agree - compassion for the poor and outcasts would be central in your example, so there are aspects of both left and right which are good, and one brand of politics can't address the needs of people. Most genuine reformers are apolitical.
People like Bernie Sanders speak for me, thank you very much. I read what is written I FILTER IT, you speak as if just because some nonce writes/publishes others take it as gospel. It is called clickbait, it makes money for them, same as the Kardashians or the article about kittens being rescued from drainpipes. We are adults, we can see through it. If it were not for being able to see with our own eyes, what Trump is, you might have a point.
I did not mention anything about poor and outcasts, because if we lived by the do unto others tenet, there wouldn't be any off them, the people you'd be looking out for would be the ill, infirm, young and old. The huge problem with that sentiment is once you throw human nature and the desire for more and for power into it, it no longer works.
It would be NICE if the worlds global corporations actually paid their TAXES at the correct rates. instead we have them registering in other countries while their head offices are in the USA . Apple scam goes all the way back to the 1980s when it registered itself in Ireland yet its head office was NEVER in Ireland. Thankfully after decades that scam has been upset . Probably for another scam. Anything to escape tax an Worse! working wages & salaried fools out there defend them with "Its a companies duty to avoid paying tax if it can " Ethics classes needed badly all round
Meanwhile the TPP has gone for the USA but not TISA which is far bigger and has secretly been negotiated for years. Im sure some smarty here will say "I knew that" so snobby
"The media has appointed itself the political party in opposition," ".....self appointed opposition" ? Looks like another "alternative fact" to me. It was a label specifically used by Trump himself recently in an interview.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/01/27/donald_trump_the_medi…
Sick of an intermittently slow connection on the phone, but don't get many double posts all in all.
Time will tell what happens to the views of the various Kiwi Trumpanistas and the property spruikers lurking here. "Buyers remorse" will eventually kick in for some of them over the next 18 months. However I doubt if anyone posting here is likely to change anyone else's mind in the interim, because of hubris and because most are prone to confirmation bias and the comfort of sharing their views with similarly minded individuals (includes me and you too). You put more effort in than many, at least if stops the forum from becoming an Echo chamber which is something.
I used to scan through zerohedge.com for an alternative view but the gratuitous mudslinging, swearing and ad hominum attacks from most of the posters undermines any argument of merit that might be hidden there. I have yet to find an alt-right ( an oxymoron if there ever was one) forum with anything intelligent to say.
Agree on ZH, although they do have some interesting stuff at times. Try The Automatic Earth; polite and reasonable with diverse news links and opinion pieces of an anti debt, war, big corporation, big government flavour and a pro earth cherry on top. I can't work out whether they are left or right so thats a good start.
Mike Shedlock is a great read and seems like a genuinely nice man; Libertarian slant.
https://www.theautomaticearth.com/the-automatic-earth/
https://mishtalk.com/
This article somehow slipped through the editors anti-trump filter and highlights the media as political opposition and their abdication as an authentic fourth estate.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=117891…
The filter you apply to Hyde is that he is a self confessed anarchist. That is for you or I to do, not the Herald. He also seems to lack a sense of nuance, as demonstrated by his views on the ripping up of the TPP, as if somehow or other, those opposed to it, should now be singing Trump's praises because of it. He can take the kudos for that, but the reason he dumped the TPP and the reasons we are/were opposed to it, are a bit different.
Admin would be better employed analysing what Trump stands for in light of maximum global debt to determine where NZ might fit in.
Some pointers to get the discussion under way.
Commenting on the new era of international political and economic relations which is coming into focus with the arrival of Donald Trump, Kulikov explained that "the greatest fraud in the history of humanity," which includes the ideology of spreading democracy at gunpoint, resolving global crises through the emission of the dollar and the creation of debt pyramids, globalization and the desovereignization of all countries on the planet, "has reached the limits of its ability to reproduce itself."
"Part of the global and American ruling class understands this, and has started this final match, making the first move with a literal 'trump card', electing Donald Trump as the president of the United States," Kulikov noted. "Before his election, he was simply a trump card. Becoming president, he has become the literal ace of trumps."
"The main American secret to making money, which even has its own adage, goes as follows: 'You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.' The global elite fooled everyone over the course of three decades. Today, its traditional, genuinely American part believes that the time for deception has come to an end. If the global fraud isn't stopped in time, you may get beaten up or even killed, but your wealth will be taken away just the same."
Accordingly, Kulikov suggested that Trump's strategy will now concentrate on the creation "of what can roughly be called 'eternal assets', i.e. land (territory), energy resources, science and engineering potential, the modern infrastructure…and a strong military capable of defending it all. The US needs to convert the greatest possible amount of its vast supply of virtual money into real, hard assets. This is what it means to 'Make America Great Again'" in Trump parlance. "It's necessary to capitalize as much as is possible on the results of the global fraud" perpetuated over the last several decades.
The commentator emphasized that without these physical assets, it will be very difficult or perhaps even impossible to begin a new economic cycle and to renew and revitalize a civilization in crisis. Read more
Overvalued wooden boxes geared beyond their utility as shelter don't count - the owners will be sacrificed so they can be redefined financially and made fit for purpose.
Certainly the outgoing order looked very desperate in terms of the tactics of their exit;
https://sputniknews.com/us/201612301049152333-experts-putin-embarassed-…
To the list of 'eternal assets' however I think they missed a biggie: freshwater security;
https://www.revealnews.org/article/were-running-out-of-water-and-the-wo…
Borders are being strengthened and immigration curtailed I suspect to keep the world's thirsty at bay.
Absolutely every single issue (feel free to point out one that isn't) has a trail that leads back to human overpopulation of the planet. If we were to start now, by reducing the numbers of babies born, then we might be able to get out of this without wars everywhere. Sadly, I am not holding out a lot of hope for that, as we seem to have made a huge leap toward it, as Trump and his administration will simply not look into the future at anything like that.
You can hardly blame the world's worst done by for seeking out somewhere else, we have done that since forever, it is only very recently the "closed" sign has gone onto artificial borders. I have always asked the question of those I know who take a hardline approach to all the "immigration" in Europe 1. What they would do if they found themselves in the same desperate situation as those people and b. What they would do if they were standing on a shore where out in front of them a boat full of refugees had capsized and people were drowning. All said they try to help them, none said they would go out and try to hold their heads under the water. I suspect some would not be too bothered if someone else did the latter while they weren't looking.
Agree on the overpopulation and helping genuine refugees from war with safe places until things settle down. The problem that Western Europe now has is that there are vast numbers of non refugees tagging along with the genuine. Men are two thirds (only one sixth woman and one sixth children) of the total number of refugees and opportunist immigrants from Africa and the Middle East combined. This large group of single young men are mostly uneducated and carry some disturbing attitudes towards women, Christianity and the West in general. The associated surge in terrorism and crime, particularly sexual assaults on young women and boys is creating huge resentment among the native population and leading to extreme politics and the likely collapse of the European union as we know it.
The authorities seem unable to separate the refugee from the opportunist, the law abiding from the criminal or terrorist with untold thousands or millions running free right across the continent. Why the near total lack of assistance from the (Muslim) regimes in the M.E. - don't they even care about their neighbouring people?
The Government's priority is the safety of its own people, the US government have said no more until we can be sure the refugees are not coming with criminal or terrorist tendencies; fair enough.
I also agree with pocketaces first hypothesis; that virtually all of the world's ills can be attributed to overpopulation, especially in countries that have no plausible means to cater for even the basic needs of their current let alone still expanding populations. However as you do, I balk at suggestions that this is the developed world's fault, or primarily its problem to fix.
The scale of the problem is so vast that to endeavour to somehow equalize incomes or living standards worldwide by allowing the mass movement of say a billion people would swamp everything, and merely reduce everywhere to disfunction and poverty. And it would likely quickly take a billion or two if borders were truly open. A secondary effect would be that there would be no pressure to turn the tap off at the source, such that overpopulation would merely continue.
I have little time for Trump or his style of rhetoric, but at some stage those parts of the world that are expanding until famine hits need some pressure and or encouragement to stop the expanding. And it is best they are told that spilling over into the west in large numbers cannot be a key part of whatever solution they imagine they might have. Trump's very blunt approach will perhaps make it clear; as will the Brits' fairly clear message that they won't accept millions of economic refugees. The Europeans will also shut their doors eventually.
The help that pocketaces wishes for should include questions of any country as to how they imagine satisfying their current and future populations needs and wishes, and if they have no idea- which many clearly don't- at least offer help with national conversations on family size and contraception.
I agree with your last paragraph 100% and it is always the bit that brings me up short, and yes, perhaps some cultures/countries/religions possibly need to figure this out for themselves, but they won't be able to, to any significant degree if the access to knowledge, education and aid is not there.
Well said Stephen.
The Mid East (among others) is clearly in population overshoot for their arid climate, poor soils and other resources. Surely it is vital to live within the limits of your land and its natural systems; populating beyond that is the choice they, individually and collectively, have made. It is not the responsibility of Western Europe where many of its own countries are now no longer able to supply the food and energy needs of their own people.
Further loss of the complex life supporting natural world in all of its glorious diversity is the last thing we need or want.
Sputnik News (a Kremilin agency) repeating what a Russia Today (RT) analyst is saying (RT also being a Kremilin agency.
Just protecting their investment in their efforts in American election, I would say. Hardly credible.
'You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.' From them, very funny. Comes under the style of "always accuse your enemies of your own worst weaknesses' (part of the Karl Rove strategy.)
Are you suggesting David, that government communications originating out of Russia are less credible than government communications originating out of the US?
Given the NZ Government owns TVNZ - are we also to accept everything coming out of it is uncreditworthy as well?
Russia was an ally during both WWI and WWII. I don't see it reported that Russians are pouring out of their borders seeking refugee status the world over.
To my mind Obama's final days act in terms of further sanctions on Russia were despicable. In terms of the way NZ's parliamentary democracy works in respect of the caretaker period, such an act would have been in breach of those caretaker provisions - in other words our democracy would not have allowed it;
http://www.cabinetmanual.cabinetoffice.govt.nz/6.16
I see this ability for outgoing US administrations to take such actions in their final days not as a form of corruption in the US but rather as a shortcoming of US democracy - but hey, it's the US and they are as much a sovereign nation as anyone else, Russia included.
There is nothing to my mind less credible about a Russian government perspective - it's just that, a Russian government perspective. And then Russian citizens have their own perspectives too;
https://www.quora.com/How-do-Russian-citizens-feel-about-their-governme…
I just hope it's not - the Cold War is ended - long live the Cold War given the very real problems that need solving the world over.
There is nothing that Russia actually does or intends that would cause them to be debated on interest.co. Unless you listen to the USA who seek to demonise them. The yanks run a hate Russia line this past few years, which is completely in line with their need to always have a bogeyman to scare folk with.
Reagan,Obama,Kennedy and Clinton ,all of them great at reading a teleprompter but the truth is of those 4 only Reagan achieved anything of substance.
That is why at this moment the Dems will be running around the entertainment industry looking for that right person.
Maybe i should have said'''in my opinion''''
As far as the Dems and the entertainment industry goes all i am saying is that the Dems have seen how the Republicans have used celebrity type people to win elections,maybe it's time they followed suit ,rightly or wrongly.
Trump’s turn to reshuffle the pack is producing a radical realignment of geopolitical priorities.
Russia will return to the position it long had as a Tsarist plutocracy- conflicted about the West, with no understanding of democratic freedom, morose, corrupt, unpredictable but not a pariah. Russian culture – surviving in even less freedom than it has currently - has long been fundamental to Western civilisation.
The Eurozone will stumble on for a while as a bureaucratically-run theme park. As a free agent, Britain will readopt its historical, boundaryless, world view, which is basic to British self-regard (see PM May in Turkey). Western banking interests – whatever the blandishments of the EU – will never shift into the EU noose, where they’d be fodder for political interference.
The US, Russia, Britain, India, various other Commonwealth countries and other nations, will form a new alliance of capitalist interests. Weaned off Middle Eastern oil, the West will turn its back on the Muslim world. As its bank accounts empty, the Middle East will be forced into new political and economic structures.
China will find itself encircled and establish and enforce its regional hegemony in some structure akin to the Soviet Union (interesting for New Zealand which, for the sake of its dairy wealth fantasy, has a defence arrangement with China).
When the pack has been dealt again, the great game will go on.
When the pack has been dealt again, the great game will go on.
The card dealers remain the same?
The conservative Koch network plans to spend between $300 million and $400 million to influence politics and public policy over the next two years, intensifying its nationwide efforts in the initial years of Donald Trump's presidency. Read more
A “color revolution” is under way in the United States
http://thesaker.is/a-color-revolution-is-under-way-in-the-united-states/
workingman,
An interesting and in parts,plausible hypothesis,but far too dogmatic. As Voltaire said,'doubt is an uncomfortable position,but certainty is a ridiculous one'. The future is by definition unknowable,so to postulate that all these geo-political events WILL happen is absurd.
I have long believed that the Eurozone is fundamentally flawed and will fail in the absence of full political and fiscal union,but I have consistently underestimated the absolute political determination to persevere with it,irrespective of the collateral damage it causes.
Why do you say that Russia culture 'has long been fundamental to Western civilization? What is the evidence for that?
I fully agree with your last sentence,but who will hold the aces?
Interesting article in the Herald yesterday. California activists have been been given the blessing of their secretary of state for a petition calling for California to secede from the USA. Lots of hurdles in front of them including a 2/3rds majority in the senate before they can leave with the official blessing of the union. They could always unilaterally declare independence I suppose. Everybody there understands that one.
The real significance of all this is that the people are so sick of all the manipulation, B.S and lies that the establishment is foisting on them that they are resorting to every radical move that they can come up with. This treatment of the public has bought the world to a point where people do not trust anything that they are told as evidenced by the collapse of trust recently measured by the Elderman Trust Barometer. This is a dangerous situation because when people do not know what to trust they are vulnerable to charlatans like Trump or Clinton for that matter. This could end very badly.
Not sure of your point here. I agree - agriculture sucks most of the water, so are you saying that this is an "optional" use when shortages and or water issues arise?
Any way you look at it, the current over-allocation will lead to cause food & economic issues in time - if California wants to go it alone, these rear their head earlier.
There is enough water for all if they stop the waste. Indian rights have caused authorities to legislate higher river flows. Rice is a massive user of water, they even have mosquito problems. Everyone water the garden in 40 degree plus days. If they stop the waste they will get a few more decades.
You are right it is an interesting consideration.
San Fransisco is OK as their water comes from the catchment to their east all within the state. Surplus is fed south to the cities around Los Angelies. However the balance of the water required for the LA area comes from the Colorado river where it passes through California. Its catchment however is not in California so how that works out might be interesting. I suspect that there are world protocols to settle water use of rivers that cross national boundaries. I wonder how existing use rights figure in these.
http://www.nature.org/media/california/california_drinking-water-source…
It's not like that in practice. There are enormous dams that feed into the Sacramento river, the Trinity project alone shifts huge volumes of water into the Sacramento river after going through Whiskey town lake. Then Shasta, Oroville and other huge lakes all in the Sacramento water shed, all earmarked for agriculture after generation.
So there may be a water crisis but its that the old water supply from places like Yosemite can no longer cope. Water rights in California are old and convoluted. Farmers waste huge amounts just to keep their rights, there is a lot that could be done if it came to a crunch.
It's not like that in practice. There are enormous dams that feed into the Sacramento river, the Trinity project alone shifts huge volumes of water into the Sacramento river after going through Whiskey town lake. Then Shasta, Oroville and other huge lakes all in the Sacramento water shed, all earmarked for agriculture after generation.
So there may be a water crisis but its that the old water supply from places like Yosemite can no longer cope. Water rights in California are old and convoluted. Farmers waste huge amounts just to keep their rights, there is a lot that could be done if it came to a crunch.
Would California revert to being a state in Mexico? Didn't the US invade California and Texas? Maybe California reverts to being a Spanish Colony.
Here we go again: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/28/white-house-defends-trump…
Has he deliberately developed a knack of upsetting everyone...?
Just the oppositional Media making a mountain out of a molehill. Again.
If they did mention the word Jews, then he would be accused of inflaming the Palestinians or similar.
He has a Jewish soninlaw, and converted daughter, & wishes to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, so his support in that area is quite clear.
My point being he has a knack for peeing off everyone and you think the would have a little more forethought with having related family members as you mention. He's only been there for a week, wait til he goes for China throat, he simply won't be able to help himself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDrfE9I8_hs
Oh and then there's the conflict of interest for Mr Trump businesses. Trump has signed an executive order that bans citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East from entering the United States for 90 days, according to the White House. His proposed list doesn’t include Muslim-majority countries where his Trump Organization has done business or pursued potential deals. Properties include golf courses in the United Arab Emirates and two luxury towers operating in Turkey.
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2017-trump-immigration-ban-conflict-…
I'm with you on that one, I bet he'll be impeached before the end of the year.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-impeachme…
He has huge support from middle America, what grounds for impeachment?
I'm an interested observer of history. So many people in the USA feel that the government has failed them, fed up with 65k knee operations that cost 12k in NZ, sick of insurance costs and litigation abuse, sick of the minorities appearing to get pampered while their own children struggle to get jobs. Sick of the failed war on drugs, sick of the wounded military vets getting ignored, sick of State workers getting unfunded gold plated benefits.
Sick of not feeling safe, sick of media b/s, sick of education rackets where student debt is charged at %7.7 percent, then the text book racket, almost like organised crime. Then all the beggars, down and outs, those with mental illness cast out o the streets while Wall street and corporations made of with trillions of taxpayers money.
The elite running the show just got a f u from the voters and there will be more to come.
Well, somebody should tell middle America their support is misplaced.
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The US doesn't have a democracy, it has an oligarchy. Ruled by the rich. Those rich got rich through laissez-faire economic policies, neoliberal fundamentalist 'free market', where the profit is privatised and the losses are socialised (Trump used this system to his advantage, filing a multi million tax loss so he now won't have to pay income tax. Ever).
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The government has failed middle America? Nah. Their American dream has failed them. The dream that told them the lie that everybody can make it big as long as you work hard enough.
In order o facilitate this dream, they voted in governments which pursued policies that cut taxes, cut welfare of any kind.
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This shouldn't have come as a surprise. Cutting taxes will always benefit the haves over the have nots....
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The voters are giving an FU to people who don't give a damn. What they need, is a socialist like Sanders, but yeah nah.
Not holding my breath on that one either
And of course, pundit suggestions are that the DNC is an integral part of the deep state. Bearing in mind the Republican machine didn't want Trump either. Were he anyone else, he'd have been my ideal candidate too. So glad I've never exercised my vote since moving here - otherwise I'd have similarly found myself faced with a Hobson's choice. For so many Americans I know they simply couldn't bring themselves not to vote - and talking about having voted but not being proud at all of the box they ticked.
Living there has obviously given you a good sense of things, Andrew. The rise and rise of identity politics since I left never ceases to amaze me. A values/perception-based division within families is becoming more and more common. I think it could lead to a show down between the deep state (which at the core are the intelligence agencies) and the military. The question I keep waiting to be answered is what amount of sunlight will Trump shine on all this? 'Shock and horror' may take on a whole new domestic meaning.
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some fifty miles of concrete pavement. We pay for a single fighter with a half-million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people. . . . This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.
Eisenhower
@ Andrewj: Read the Independent news link for starters, since there's quite a long list and I don't think we have room on this page: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-impeachme…
The expert is one Angelia Wilson, I don't think her new book resounds with conservative America :-)
Why Europe is lesbian and gay friendly (and why America never will be)
Professor Wilson's research explores the intersections of social conservatism, Christianity, feminist political theory and policies regulating sexuality.
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