Is it too soon to declare the new Congress a failure?

Ever since their midterm triumph, the Republicans have talked tough about cutting spending. Here’s hoping they make good on those promises, but they spouted the same tough talk after their 1994 election triumph and look what happened.

Back then the GOP revolutionaries targeted more than 200 programs for complete and utter elimination. They scored some minor victories (adios helium fund!), but a decade into their “revolution” (and after they gained a Republican president) inflation-adjusted spending on the combined budgets of the 101 largest programs slated for elimination actually increased by 27 percent.  And since then total federal spending has continued to soar, so why should we take Republicans seriously this time?

The countdown to disappointment starts now.

Approximately 82 seconds.

Written and produced by Ted Balaker. Music by Ambient Teknology (Magnatune Records).

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When asked to name their top issue, 50% of likely voters names the economy or employment/jobs. Health care was the top issue for 27% while 13% listed government spending and deficits.

Likely voters split on both their personal opinion of President Obama and his job performance. 41% of likely voters had a favorable opinion of President Obama and the same number had an unfavorable opinion. 48% approved of his job performance and the same number disapproved. 38% approved the job Democrats were doing in Congress (57% disapproved) while only 33% approved of the job Republicans were doing in Congress (58% disapproved).

The poll also finds very strong headwinds for the health care reform legislation currently under consideration. The poll asked the following question, which was recently tested by the Washington Post:

Would you favor or oppose having the government create a new health insurance plan to   compete with private health insurance plans? 

 Total Favor: 45%

Total Oppose: 48% 

The poll then asked:

Based on what you know, do you favor or oppose President Obama’s health care reform plan?

Total Favor: 39%

Total Oppose: 51%

 The poll was conducted by Fabrizio, McLaughlin and Associates. It was conducted October 27-29 of 1,000 voters who said they were likely to vote in 2010.

The poll asked many more questions on the health reform proposals. Check back later today for those results. Also, the poll added an oversample of 400 likely voters in BOTH the 13 Senate and 47 House races ranked most competitive by the Cook Report. Results in those are interesting. Check back for those and the full top-line results as well.