newsobserver.com projects - Foxx misreads tea leaves - Comments

Re: Foxx misreads tea leaves

GrayJ — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 19:42:00 -0400

Please do not forget she represents the 5th District, which includes, Winston-Salem, and surrounding areas which thousands of Reynolds employees. Foxx voting for this bill would be the same has handing in her resignation.

Re: Foxx misreads tea leaves

Hudba — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 00:16:22 -0400

Of course she misreads tea leaves, how would you read them when your eyes point in different directions?

Re: Foxx misreads tea leaves

blculbre — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 18:08:07 -0400

eh, no matter how you slice it, she's still an old bat who can only screech the latest right wing talking point of the day.

Re: Foxx misreads tea leaves

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:29:29 -0400

The Gallup poll also says:

Not doing/passing anything: 19 percent

Not making progress in ending the war in Iraq: 16 percent

Need to pay more attention to the needs of the people: 14 percent

Too partisan/Party politics: 11 percent

The poll on SCHIP speaks for itself.

— RTB

Re: Foxx misreads tea leaves

BooneWeb — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:20:27 -0400

You can only accuse Foxx of misreading tea leaves if you infer that "not doing enough" means not spending enough. In fact, the Gallup poll press release to which you link says "The specific operational disagreements include mentions that Congress is too beholden to special interests (11%) and that it is spending too much (5%)."

And the Foxx column to which you link simply says "It seems like common sense to reign in spending and the government’s role in our lives during seasons of distrust and dissatisfaction." I see no reference to her complaining Congress is doing too much, only spending too much. There is a difference, is there not?

Re: Foxx misreads tea leaves

yoydoou — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:13:42 -0400

ryanteaguebeckwith needs to work on reading comprehension. I read Foxx's column and she basically cites the low approval rating of congress - including the Reuters all - time low of 11 percent and then suggests it is not time for congress to legislate new huge spending and not time to raise taxes.

Funny that of all she said in her column that this stretch of a spin is the best N&O can offer. Too Funny how misleading and wrong N&O is here.

Foxx misreads tea leaves

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 16:34:10 -0400

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx says Congress has a low approval rating because it's doing too much.

In a guest column in the Jefferson Post, the Banner Elk Republican writes that two recent polls have shown that Americans trust in the federal government is at an all-time low.

Foxx notes that Congress recently approved a $35 billion expansion over five years of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, funded in part with increases on cigarette taxes. (Foxx voted against the bill.) She calls this "an exercise in irony."

It seems like common sense to reign in spending and the government's role in our lives during seasons of distrust and dissatisfaction. Instead the new Majority in Congress is dead set on creating additional expensive government programs.

But a September Gallup poll showed respondents were dissatisfied with Congress because it's not doing enough — not that it's doing too much.

And a Washington Post-ABC News poll showed 72 percent favored passing the SCHIP expansion.

Correction: An earlier version of this post linked to the wrong poll. Foxx was referencing this poll, also by Gallup in September, which states that trust in Congress is at its lowest since 1972.