Obama Popular, Appointees not so much

President Obama continues to enjoy 63 percent approval rating. His cabinet choices and their proposals are not so fortunate, however, according to a recent Zogby 100-Days Poll.

The poll covered a broad range of questions from frozen credit markets and gun control to energy and media diversity. "Sooner or later the public's opposition to the President's proposals will eventually take its toll on his job approval numbers. The dichotomy between President Obama's personal popularity and his unpopular proposals cannot continue," said Brad O'Leary, president and publisher of The O'Leary Report, who commissioned the poll.

Results of the Zogby International/O'Leary Report Poll reveal fissures in the Obama Administration's agenda:

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner recently told a congressional oversight panel that the credit markets may be thawing following their deep freeze.

Q. How would you rate President Obama's job at un-freezing the credit
markets for small businesses who need loans to expand or survive?

Q. Thinking about the Tea Party demonstrations that took place on April
15th to protest the growth in taxes and federal government spending, do
you...?

Strongly support the beliefs of the organizers 45%
Somewhat support them 12%
Somewhat oppose their beliefs 12%
Strongly oppose them 27%
Not sure 4%

Obama's anti-gun duo of Attorney General Eric Holder and Rahm Emanuel, the President's Chief of Staff continue to call for gun control.

Q. Do you think new gun laws should be passed or do you think we should
enforce the laws already on the books.

New gun laws should be passed 25%
Enforce the laws already on the books 71%
Not sure 4%

Rahm Emanuel recently told the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence that he'd take on the NRA in a proposal to make everyone on the "No-Fly" ineligible to buy a gun.

Q. The President's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, recently stated that
the 1 million people the government put on the "no fly" list should be
prohibited from purchasing a gun, even if they are not guilty of a
felony or crime and they may not even be the correct person who is
targeted by the list. With respect to the "no fly" list which statement
do you support - A or B?

A: People on the no fly list should be prohibited from buying a gun
B: People on the no-fly list should be prohibited from buying a gun only
if they are convicted of a crime

Q. The Department of Homeland Security recently issued a report to
850,000 law enforcement officers that focused on the potential terrorist
threat from disgruntled veterans and people dedicated to a single issue,
such as abortion and the Second Amendment. Do you think these groups
are...?

This statement is inappropriate and these people
are not a threat to America 58%
This is a good warning and these people are dangerous 27%
No opinion 15%

Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps / FCC Chairman Designate Julius Genachowski

The FCC is moving ahead with its plant to increase its diversity of ownership and diversity of content with the first hearings scheduled for May 7th. Genachowski and Regulatory czar Cass Sunstein also favor a fairness doctrine for the Internet.

Q. Senator Durbin recently offered an amendment in the U.S. Senate that
requires the Federal Communications Commission to take actions to
encourage and promote diversity in communication media ownership.
Opponents say the move would threaten the breakup of radio networks that
largely carry conservative talk radio shows like Glenn Beck, Rush
Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Do you support or oppose this legislation?

Q. The Federal Communications is entertaining the idea of re-instituting
advisory boards to determine the needs and interests of their
communities, to promote localism and diversity. These boards, appointed
by the FCC and would monitor what is said over the radio and report back
if they were offended by the talk show hosts and their guests. Critics
argue that such a proposal is nothing more than a back door
implementation of the Fairness Doctrine. Do you support or oppose the
FCC's efforts to reinstitute advisory boards?

Q. Four members of the U.S. Senate recently introduced a bill that would
allow the President of the United states to turnoff the Internet
nationally in the event of an emergency but without defining what
constitutes a national emergency. Do you support or oppose this bill?

On Earth Day, Secretary Chu warmly embraced the administration's cap-and-trade proposal, stating, "We must state in no uncertain terms we have a responsibility to our children to curb emissions from fossil fuels..."

Q. President Obama wants to impose cap-and-trade laws that would limit
the total carbon dioxide emissions allowed to be released into the
environment. These laws would turn carbon dioxide into a commodity
allowing those that pollute less to sell credits to those that pollute
more. These credits would be traded on commodities markets. According to
congressional testimony given by the Director of the nonpartisan
Congressional Budget Office, "decreasing emissions would also impose
costs on the economy - much of those costs will be passed along to
consumers in the form of higher prices for energy and energy intensive
goods." Some have estimated these costs to be $800 to $1300 more per
household by 2015. Knowing this, do you support or oppose cap-and-trade
laws?

Make energy cheaper by developing all sources of U.S. energy,
including coal, nuclear power, offshore drilling and drilling
in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 54%

Last month, Education Secretary Arne Duncan let Congress kill a District of Columbia voucher program while he was sitting on evidence of its success.

Q. President Obama's Education Secretary recently rescinded 200
scholarships previously awarded through the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship
Program, a school choice program that allows low-income students to
attend private schools. Despite a Department of Education study that
showed the program is a great success, the Obama administration wants to
bring the program to an end and return those students to public schools
in Washington, D.C.. Do you agree or disagree with the Obama
administration?

The O'Leary Report/Zogby poll was conducted April 24-27 of 3,937 voters nationwide and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 1.6 percentage points. Slight weights were added to party, age, race, gender, education to more accurately reflect the population. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.

RTO Online is the official channel for Rent-to-Own Industry News and the only independent source of news for the rent-to-own, rental-purchase, lease-purchase trade. RTO Online (Rent to Own Online) represents the choice of the entire RTO Industry for trusted information, as it happens.

Tell us what you think
Rate the article at the top of this page