43% Have Put off Medical Procedures to Save Money

Normally I'd be asking, "what is America thinking?" over something like this. Given the state of the economy, however, I can't say that I'm all that surprised. A new Rasmussen Report claims that 43% of people have postponed a checkup or a procedure in the last 6 months. Americans are doing this, of course, in response to the economic state of the country. Given the state of the economy, I'm almost surprised that a higher percentage haven't declined medical treatment. This represents a 6% increase from a similar survey in March 2009. Although the situation has gotten worse since then, it has become more stagnant. The number is largely the same as in a poll from September 2010. While an optimist could see this as a good sign given that things haven't gotten worse, this is still rather alarming. It won't get better until the economy improves.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifestyle/november_2011/43_have_put_off_medical_procedures_to_save_money

Hypothetical Presidential Matchup has Obama 45%, Bachmann 33%

Now here is a situation in which I don't know what America is thinking. A telephone survey of likely voters has President Obama receiving 45% of votes and GOP presidential hopeful Michelle Bachmann receiving 33% of votes in a hypothetical primary matchup. It's surprising to see Bachmann getting that much support. Recent polls don't have her anywhere near the upper echelon of GOP candidates. During her campaign, she has said so many controversial, and flat-out foolish things - likening visiting Iraq to visiting the Mall of America, countless outrageous attacks on the LGBT community, the idea that abolishing the minimum wage would create jobs, etc. I find Americans to be thinking this way because of a mistakenly touting problems as a result of bipartisan hostility as mistakes of the President. Public opinion will probably change very much as the presidential campaigns go on and heat up.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2012/election_2012_presidential_election/2012_presidential_matchups

73% Think Most Bailout Money Went to Those who Caused Economic Crisis

Americans believe that most of the bailout money supported corporations that have helped to cause the economic crisis that the country finds itself in. Additionally, many believe that the federal government hasn't done enough to bring Wall Street criminals to justice. I think the idea that much of the bailout money went to those who caused the crisis is largely true. The failings of these companies and the situations that caused them to need a bailout have certainly not helped our nations economy. Public opinion on the issue will not change until the economy shows marked improvement, and even then the government may still receive criticisms for bailouts. The American public has clearly not been fickle on the matter, as evidenced by the Occupy movement and the growing intensity thereof in the last few weeks.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/federal_bailout/november_2011/73_think_most_bailout_money_went_to_those_who_caused_economic_crisis

57% Support Obama on Iraq Withdrawal

This is an issue proving that hindsight, as they say, is 20/20. Following the 9/11 tragedy, most Americans supported the nation getting involved in the Middle East. A recent poll of likely voters now shows that 57% approve his plan to withdraw from Iraq. 54% say that the war was not justified in the first place, which polls from the early 2000's would contradict. The new opinion on the war will go down as the legacy of the war, an unjustified war that did not accomplish much, or even at least accomplish what it was intended to do. While this issue doesn't show America's capacity to be fickle, there is an aspect of it that does. The poll finds that 70% of voters who opposed the President's plan were likely to cite distrust of President Obama as the reason why. It's a shame to see some people's opinion of one person negatively affect their opinion on other matters. It represents the great problems of bipartisanship and hostility getting in the way of things being accomplished, in my opinion.

http://zogby.com/news/2011/11/01/ibope-zogby-poll-57-support-obama-iraq-withdrawal-his-job-performance-terror-12-year-ago/

Congress' Job Approval Rating Reaches Record Low at 13%

This is a poll I found to be encouraging. Sometimes I think the President gets too much of the blame for what goes on in the country and many overlook the failings of Congress. Congress, particularly in recent years, has been very strongly torn apart by bipartisan hostilities. For example, President Obama's American Jobs Act has been blindly turned down by many Republicans. However, one of their own is pushing the same bill in their home state. An MIT professor who aided both President Obama and GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney in drafting their respective job legislation has recently said that they are the "same f****** bill." Just goes to show that the Democrats and Republicans are unnecessarily at odds. It's great to see that people recognize the failings of Congress in facing the issues of America.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/150728/Congress-Job-Approval-Entrenched-Record-Low.aspx