Reflective Polls & Political News

A couple of interesting polls are out on last week’s failed auto bailout legislation. The Washington Post (look hard - on page D8) writes, “Most Americans continue to oppose a government-backed rescue plan for Detroit's Big Three automakers as majorities blame the industry for its own problems and are unconvinced failure would hurt the economy, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.” 55% of those polled in the Washington Post-ABC News Survey opposed the legislation.

Gallup also has a new poll out showing that 43% of those polled blame the UAW “a great deal” for the failure of the bill last week. At National Review's The Corner, Kathryn Jean Lopez notes some other interesting findings in the Gallup poll: “More Independents assign the blame to unions (41) than to Republicans (29) or Democrats (21) [and] Independents [and] Republicans [are] on the same side: ‘Most Democrats support the auto bailout, while most Republicans and half of independents oppose it.’”

Despite the spin from Democrats trying to point fingers at GOP senators, Americans by far place the blame on the management of the auto companies and the unions.

In other news, Politico reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has named his new committee chairs for the next Congress. Notable changes are Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) chairing the Appropriations Committee, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) taking over the gavel on the Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) becoming chair of the Intelligence Committee. Politico points out that “Feinstein will give up her gavel on the Rules and Administration Committee, paving the way for Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to become chairman. Since the committee has primary jurisdiction over election-related disputes, Schumer, the hard-edged Democratic partisan, could have a key role in helping resolve the outcome of the Minnesota Senate race should it get kicked up to the Senate.”

Another Politico story reports that the uncertainty surrounding seats in Minnesota and Illinois “has sparked a turf battle within the Senate chamber over just how big an edge Democrats will hold on critical committees.” Which party holds those two seats will affect the ratio of Democrat seats to Republican seats on key committees such as Finance, Banking, Budget, and Energy, that will be front and center on key pieces of legislation next year.

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Tags: auto bailout, committee appointments, Democrats, Gallup Poll, labor unions, National Review, US Senate, Washington D.C., Washington Post To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!