Battle of the Polls for Blame on Government Shutdown

MSNBC, using one poll, says 47 percent approve of Obama --- while Fox News is emphasizing another poll, saying only 37 percent approve of Obama.

NBC reports Obama's 47 percent favorability rating is actually up two points from the last NBC/WSJ poll and that "70 percent of respondents said that the GOP has put its own agenda ahead of what is good for the country."

NPR reports an Associated Press-GfK survey in which 62 percent mainly blamed Republicans for the shutdown and that "most Americans disapprove of the way Obama is handling his job...with 53 percent unhappy with his performance and 37 percent approving of it. Congress is scraping rock bottom, with a ghastly approval rating of 5 percent."

It should be noted that the recently right-leaning NPR has also misreported on government social benefits -- such as TANF and food stamps -- saying they are too generous -- and has also misreported on Social Security disability.

* An average between the two polls would make it 42 percent who approve of Obama and 66 percent who disapprove of the GOP. The NBC/WSJ poll shows 60 percent would fire every member of Congress and replace them with someone new.

The Huffington Post reports that due to the shutdown, the number of Republican House seats vulnerable in 2014 has jumped to 29 when only 17 seats are needed to win back the House.

Gallup reports the Republican Party is at its lowest popularity in history -- making possible a tsunami election in 2014.

Gallop: "With the Republican-controlled House of Representatives engaged in a tense, government-shuttering budgetary standoff against a Democratic president and Senate, the Republican Party is now viewed favorably by 28% of Americans, down from 38% in September. This is the lowest favorable rating measured for either party since Gallup began asking this question in 1992....More than six in 10 Americans (62%) now view the GOP unfavorably, a record high."

Paul Krugman probably knows why the GOP ranks so low in both polls:

"While the modern GOP is bad for business, it’s arguably good for wealthy business leaders. After all, it keeps their taxes low, so that their take-home pay is probably higher than it would be under better economic management...When you make as much money as the 0.1 percent does, it’s no longer about what you can buy — it’s about prestige, about receiving deference...This is an inversion of the usual argument made by defenders of inequality. They’re always saying that workers should be happy to accept a declining share of national income, because the incentives associated with inequality make the economic pie bigger, and they end up better off in the end. What’s really going on with plutocrats right now, however, is that they’re basically willing to accept lousy economic policies from right-wing politicians as long as they get a bigger share of the shrinking pie."