Record in the United States: 80% of Americans have Lost Faith in Congress

Record-breaking numbers of Americans have lost support for Congress, according to a survey. Eighty-three per cent of respondents said they disapprove of the job its doing, while 57 per cent said they would replace every member of Congress if they could.

The poll (link to poll), conducted jointly by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal, has illustrated new heights of vehement public distaste for the actions of the US government.

“There is a palpable unhappiness with Washington,” Republican pollster Peter D. Hart said upon learning the poll’s results. His Democratic counterpart concurred that “now is the summer of our discontent.”

At the same time, President Barack Obama has seen his approval rating slump to 45 per cent – down from 48 per cent last month. This marks his lowest rating since August 2011, when nearly every US politician suffered a blow on account of the debt-ceiling crisis, when Obama became embroiled in a heated debate with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other Republicans in Congress.

The reasons cited for the lack of support for Congress included the government ignoring the middle-class, gridlock, the inability for lawmakers to produce any tangible results, and President Obama’s policies and leadership in general.

However, these reasons invariably fall into different camps, with Republicans and Democrats citing different primary reasons. Democrats and independents are irritated with congressional gridlock and governmental inactivity, while Republicans are anti-Obama.

The poll used a cross section of 1,000 adults – including 300 cell phone only respondents – and was conducted between July 17-21.

Similar polls surrounding Obama’s popularity, conducted in recent weeks, seem to corroborate the results. A Gallup report released Monday revealed that Obama averaged a 47.9 per cent approval rating over the course of the past three months. A McClatchy-Marist national survey placed Obama's overall approval rating closer to 41 per cent.

RT

House says No more Immunity for the President on Criminal Charges; Endorses Independent Candidates

The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed 85 new clauses to the 1999 Constitution (as amended), among which was the rejection of immunity for the President and state governors facing criminal charges.

By the new provision on immunity, the President, Vice-President, governors and their deputies will vacate office, if convicted of any criminal offense. A total of 339 out of the 360 members of the House voted on Wednesday to pass the clauses.

Voting and collation of results was done manually and it ended at about 10.43pm. On immunity, 306 members voted to remove it, 17 opposed it, while 14 abstained. The House retained four years as the tenure of office of elected officials.

Similarly, 293 lawmakers voted to endorse autonomy for local governments, as against 39 who opposed it. Seven others abstained. This development meant that the House took a different position on the issue, compared to the Senate, which rejected autonomy for the councils.

Lawmakers also scrapped State Independent Electoral Commissions and transferred the responsibility of conducting council polls to the Independent National Electoral Commission. Independent candidacy was also endorsed by the House, meaning that in future, persons who do not belong to any political party, can stand for elections as individuals.

A total of 313 lawmakers endorsed the provision, while eight opposed it. Twelve others abstained. Like the Senate, the House retained the controversial proposal on life pension for the President, Vice-President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Deputy Speaker.

A total of 284 lawmakers endorsed the provision, with only 18 opposing it. Thirty-six others abstained. Other highlights included the transfer of health, housing, electricity and railways from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List.