Poll: Bush Admin. Hiding Something

AP ^ | January 18, 2002, 7:48 PM EST | The Associated Press

[Jean S]

Almost two-thirds of Americans in a new CBS News poll think the Bush administration is either hiding something or lying about its relationship with Enron, the failed energy trading company that has been a big contributor to the president and to other politicians from both parties. The poll was of 1,030 adults was taken Jan. 15-17 and released Friday. It had an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Among the poll findings:

_Almost two-thirds -- 63 percent -- think the Bush administration isn't telling everything it knows about its relationship with Enron. That group breaks up this way -- a fifth think the Bush administration is lying about its relationship with Enron, while almost half -- 44 percent -- think the administration is hiding something.

_Just over half said the company's calls to the Bush administration for help were wrong, and just over half said the administration did the right thing if it didn't help the company.

-Just under half say now that the oil industry has too much influence on the Bush administration, down from two-thirds who felt that way in August.

_Four in 10 say they are worried that they have too much of their retirement savings in company stock.

_Seven in 10 said the government should not make up pension losses of people whose company goes bankrupt.

_More than half said Enron had at least some influence on the Bush administration's energy policy and even more said the influence was inappropriate.

[Jewels1091]

They had better do something and fast...the democrats are ready and willing to blow Bush out of the water. This little info at a time doesn't help either. Just get it out and all of it.

[okie01]

"Almost two-thirds of Americans in a new CBS News poll think the Bush administration is either hiding something or lying about its relationship with Enron..."

Given the demonstrated fact that the Bush administration did absolutely nothing to help Enron, I wonder where people might be picking up this mistaken notion...

Wouldn't have something to do with the media now, would it?

[Gillmeister]

Wow, a CBS poll!! That's quite an objective poll, and Dan Rather thinks Clinton is an "Honest person" Please.

[Psycho_Bunny]

I think what the administration is hiding is the fact that they think everyone who voted for Gore is a pinhead.

[Clara Lou]

I'd like to read the wording of the poll questions-- you know, just to see how far they were slanted.

[Musket]

blah blah blah. Gee, I hope they don't worry themselves sick. Oops! They're already sick. My bad.

[TatieBug]

I'm sure the questions were asked unbiased...nobody watches CBS anyway!

[evaporation-plus]

Reminds me of the old question: "When was it
that you stopped beating your wife?"

[Eccl 10:2]

En'-ron-gate - (n), Widely spaced dots connected only by pure liberal fantasy.

[tubebender]

cBS radio news reported this today. The last number they mentioned was that 9% though the President was lying. I said to my wife why didn't they say 91% did not think the President was lying?

[Musket]

Ha-ha! Good one!

[grimalkin]

CBS? Pardon me while I locate a barf receptacle.

[mystery-ak]

I doesn't make any difference who did the poll, how the questions were worded......the Rats play this game better and are winning.
If they keep polling(and they will) people will start to believe it and GW's own poll numbers will drop.
This is a full court media blitz organized by the Rats to destroy GW, and it will work unless GW starts to take the offensive.

Jim Engle on Fox News tonight said that the Bush Admin. thought that this story would die after last Sunday's appearances of his cabinet members on the Sunday talk shows, but it is still alive and ticking.

[LuvItOrLeaveIt]

Perception is everything. Bush has started losing ground on the perception war, and the RATS will pin a nothing incident on him with the complicity of the media if he doesn't do something soon!

[colormebemused]

doesn't matter. big-d demos and big-m media smell blood. now if some nice republican would just offer to apply the leeches, the sucking can be 'bi-partisan'. say bye to bush-baby-2.

[Common Tator]

The object of CBS Polling is to get a lot of free advertising for CBS news for doing what they call "Surprising Result Polls." They have found that only if the results are surprising do other media and places like Free Republic quote the poll. That gets CBS lots of free publicity. That is why they commission the polls.

These publicity seeking polls must be taken with a huge bolder sized grain of salt.

Check out the questions asked in the polls over time. You will find hey are designed for the single purpose of getting CBS free advertising in other media. The questions are always designed to get a surprising result.

Bush is still popular as a poll result would not hack it. Daschle and and Kennedy know the results of their tactics. That is why they are going to put Dick Gephardt out as the first string attack dog. Teddy and Tom have too many self inflicted shark bites from attacking Dubya.

One thing CBS has not figured out, how to stem the loss of viewers from their newscasts. No poll or amount of publicity will fix the viewer loss... but that is another subject.

[Madstrider]

Two Thirds of Americans Get Their News From Liberal Media

I suppose they didn't bother to ask these people where they get their news. CBS and its liberal allies certainly are turning every stone looking for something with which they can smear the Bush administration.

Even after being completely and intentional misled by all the major media outlets on election night this past year the sheeple still trusts these partisans for their news.Amazing

[huckfillary]

Spare me. This story is a big yawn. The Bushies have acquitted themselves with complete propriety, and the public, for once, knows it. This is going nowhere because it has nowhere to go...except, of course, in the past, where the Clintoids are, as usual, guilty as S**T. If this is the best thing the Demos**ts can come up with, they're toast in November. You heard it here first !!

[Jean S]

Thanks CT, as usual your comments are very insightful. You're one of my favorite posters.

[huckfillary]

Spare me. This story is a big yawn. The Bushies have acquitted themselves with complete propriety, and the public, for once, knows it. This is going nowhere because it has nowhere to go...except, of course, in the past, where the Clintoids are, as usual, guilty as S**T. If this is the best thing the Demos**ts can come up with, they're toast in November. You heard it here first !!

[Rome2000]

When these pathetic nebbish do a poll on "Who is more responsible for September 11, the Democrats or the Republicans",

they will cease being an extension of the DNC.

[Rome2000]

but it is still alive and ticking

This is the rats best shot.

When they have played this to the max, Bush will simply bomb the hell out of Somalia, Iraq or (you fill in the blanks), and his numbers will be over 90%.

Don't worry, be happy!.

[jungleboy]

Glad to see the DNC, er, AP still knows how to manufacture "news".

[Sueann]

There isn't anything to get OUT!! If the dems can't handle it - toooooo bad! The Washington Times said it best! After all this time the dems still cannot find even ONE MEMBER OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION WHO DID A N Y T H I N G WRONG!!

What more has to be said?? They're just mad because this whole thing has just continued to expose x43's mess - which they never took care of. Now, it will come back to bite them; they deserve it!

[Sueann]

Well, since there is an article at the CBS website which says, "Bush poll number scrape the sky" - you can already understand what this poll is all about. These losers will do anything to try to bring the numbers down. They don't care about the country, they just want to bring Bush down. How lovely - we have elected a bunch of idiots!!

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Almost two-thirds of Americans in a new CBS News poll think the Bush administration is either hiding something or lying about its relationship with Enron,

BULLSPLATTER

I BELEIVE THIS POLL AS MUCH AS I BELEIVE ELLEN RATNER IS PRETTY

NOT!!!!!

[Howlin]

No kidding!

[habs4ever]

Talk about push me polling!! Let's see the questions asked!

[Wphile]

we have elected a bunch of idiots

The Dems are behind this no doubt but it is the press that is driving the issue. It is so disgusting how they are deliberately trying to harm him. I am dedicating this weekend to writing to nearly every reporter in this country. The press wants everyone to be "accountable." Well, what about them? God, I hate the press.

[Sueann]

Actually, I don't hate them - I just have absolutely no respect for any of their opinions; especially since we already know they support the dems no matter what.

My biggest concern is McCain and his CFR garbage. If the press keeps this attack up, people will begin to fall for the CFR line - the dems just want to be able to keep the repubs off the TV and radio for the final 60 days before the election. If they can accomplish that - they could end up winning a lot of elections. In fact, I believe this is what all the bally-hoo is about. Unless the dems can control what the repubs say, they are going to loooooooose BIG TIME!! And ... they already know it.

My only hope and my continued prayer is the American people. After what we have been thru this year, we deserve better representatives in Congress. I just have a sense that the dems are beating a dead horse - and ... Rush talked about it earlier in the week. He said none of this is sticking to Bush - in fact the current dem Congress is pushing people over to the repub side - simply because what they are saying is not believable, and the public knows it.

[Wphile]

You are right about the CFR angle. Only 3 more people needed to bring it to a vote by the House. It will pass and W will sign it. Then it will end up in the courts - let's hope W can appoint some judges by then. It's all so depressing.

[mystery-ak]

This is what it's all about, to bring GW's poll numbers down.....Come-on GW do something!

[Sueann]

One characteristic about Bush you can always rely on - loyalty. The whole Bush family thrives on it. It's not the slobbering loyalty of the Clinton years; this loyalty is a heartfelt loyalty to the family and its members.

Bush will never forget what McCain did to him, before and after the election. Bush will be gracious and never chide McCain in public - BUT I'M BETTING BUSH WILL NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, EVER PUT HIS NAME TO SUCH A DAMAGING BILL FOR THE GOP; especially when the author of the bill is McCain.

[Wphile]

I think you are wrong. He has already let it be known that if it gets to his desk, he will not veto it. He said he would not provide the cover for this bill and was telling the House to block it. I think this will be one of the first things brought up by the House. I'll be curious to see what sort of signing ceremony it gets. Of course, with all this Enron crap, it may get bigger play than it would or should have gotten. The press wins on this one, I'm afraid.

[Cacique]

The velcro is already on Bush's suit. The Democrats are going to come out shooting with both barrels and they will use their control of the media effectively to stick it to Bush with Enron. The stink from this sh*t bomb is gonna smell and Bush's poll numbers will start to evaporate. Most people out there get their news from the mass media and they are out for blood.

The more that the White House tries to avoid the issue and obfuscate the worse it's going to look. Bush has only one option and that is to cut his losses, come out clean and throw the Enron people to the wolves. The gloves have to come off and he should use the bully pulpit to hang velcro on the democrats. If he plays like past country club republicans and just stands there while the democrats kick him in the nuts he's gonna lose. You can't play by gentleman's rules with the left, they will kill you.

It's time to be partisan again and burry the hatchet in the Democrats head. THIS IS WAR!!! In war you go for the jugular and you destroy the enemy.

But it's a wasted dream on my part, Republicans haven't got a clue, after they get kicked in the nuts they just stand there puzzled as to why.

[Sueann]

Well, I may be wrong, but I cannot see the President signing a bill which stops the repubs from getting on the TV for the last 60 days before an election - signing that would be like cutting your own throat? How stupid is that? And ... stupid our President is NOT!!

[Wphile]

I agree that the bill is horrendous and I wish Bush wouldn't sign it. Maybe he won't. I think he needs to use the State of the Union address to talk about the bill. He could say that he supports the ban on soft money by corporations but cannot sign a bill that infringes on the right of free speech, especially during an election. If he is forceful about it, he can win the debate. Must people don't know this provision was put in there and it needs to be exposed.

I agree on the Enron business. Again, Bush should use the State of the Union address. He could explain that they have criminal investigations going at the SEC and the DOJ. He should say that if criminal wrong doing is found, those who are responsible will be held accountable and remedies will be sought. No one will receive favors from his administration. He should be angry about it. This Enron debacle has created a crack in the confidence people have of certain institutions. He needs to explain that this has happened over a period of years - the SEC twice waived disclosure requirements for Enron, etc. That the surest way to install confidence again is to punish those who have weakened it. Corruption will not stand. Then, he should remind people that Enron is one company out of thousands and that one bad apple does not have to spoil the whole bunch. He should say the investigation needs to be thorough and swift with corrective actions taken. Congress should wait for the completion of the investigations before crafting legislation. It is not necessary to punish law abiding citizens because someone broke the law. It is necessary to punish those that broke the law. He should be very resolved about it.

[Sueann]

"Most people don't know this provision was put in there and it needs to be exposed"

Any suggestions? Is there a place on the internet where I can get an actual copy of that provision?? I would like to copy it and start passing it out to people.

[Wphile]

I'd do a search on google for starters. I am sure there is a congressional record of it. Not sure of the bill number but a search should pull it up.

[fightu4it]

You gotta love the media for the way they go after Bush. After eight years of looking the other way (it took a Matt Drudge not an ABC, NBC, or CBS, to inform the citizens of this country that their President was having sex, in the oval office, with a teenage intern.) they now are able to function again.

Is any further indictment of the major television "news" organizations necessary?

[Sueann]

Thanks; I'll try that!

[Sueann]

No there isn't!! And ... the book "Bias" seems to agree with you.

[RussianBear716]

Of course, who did they poll? A bunch of liberals in California and Oregon? Or maybe they polled liberals in Congress both Democrat and republican

[LS]

My take is totally different. Watching the morning news show today, Enron was the LAST story, and only the thing about the documents not being completely gone.

I could be really wrong on this, but I sense that EVEN if the CBS #s are correct, that 44% think the admin. is "hiding something," it is one of those very soft numbers that has no relevance to daily life. 99.99% of Americans are not affected in any way by ENRON, and quite the contrary, most think it appropriate that Bush did nothing.

Now, it won't go completely away because there will be hearings, but when there is nothing there, there is nothing there, and already I think the public is tired of the story. The big news today was the "new" airline security.