It is a numeric life: Politics

Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts

10/20/2007

Taxes are growing around the world

So, according to this report, either the entire planet is vastly over taxed -- or we here in USA, speaking relatively, aren't shouldering such a bad tax burden after all . . .

9/29/2007

Public trust in the Government is at all time low

According to this recent Gallup poll, public trust in the Federal Government is at or near all time lows.

Among the findings: Barely half trust the government to handle international problems, the lowest number ever. And less than half express faith in the government handling domestic issues, the lowest findings since 1976. Faith in the executive branch has fallen to 43% - only 3% higher than it was just before President Nixon's resignation in 1974. At the same time, trust in Congress, at 50%, is its lowest ever.

Gallup has asked about trust in government since 1972. It conducted this year's poll Sept. 14-16 and found the following:
-- Barely half of Americans, 51%, say they have a "great deal" or "fair amount" of trust in the federal government to handle international problems.
-- Less than half of Americans, 47%, now have at least a fair amount of trust in the federal government to handle domestic problems.

The apportionment of this can be debated. I put about 70% of it on the White House (Iraq, Katrina, and the bifurcated economy), and 30% on the Congress (spending taxpayer money like no tomorrow, chasing interns, or having gay sex in airport bathrooms).
Some time I think Mark Twain was right: "Why Vote? It only encourages them!"

9/18/2007

Numbers of the day

1. the U.S. government had spent $15 billion on a program to fingerprint and photograph visitors at the border, and hadn't caught a single terrorist;

2. oldest man in the world turns 112 today.

8/02/2007

Some Iraq War Statistics

8 Million of Iraqis, nearly 1/3 of the population, are without water, sanitation, food and shelter. NGO in Iraq say a humanitarian crisis there has gotten worse since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

U.S. federal funded $37.4 billion for Iraqi reconstruction. As of May 2007, nearly all of it had been spent.

Source - TIME (8/13/2007)

7/09/2007

Most unpopular vice president in recent history

Polls by The New York Times and CBS News show Dick Cheney has had a recent drop in his approval ratings that making him the most unpopular vice president in recent history:

Cheney is now viewed disapprovingly by 59% of Americans, four points less thanQuayle's high of 63% in July 1992. Meanwhile, Cheney's personal favorability is an astounding 13% - an all-time low.

3/24/2007

Barack Obama's popularity in MySpace

US Senator Barack Obama received 74,700 MySpace friend requests (more than all of the other candidates combined) right after MySpace launched its Impact page 3 days ago. See graph below from Swivel. Talking about the impact of social media on presidential campaign.