Year: 2017

Majority Says Trump Is One of the Worst Presidents Ever

Buck Banks

58%

A new Marist poll finds that 58% of Americans believe Donald Trump will be remembered as one of the worst presidents in the nation’s history. Said pollster Lee Miringoff: “Deep into his first year as president, Donald Trump’s less than stellar approval rating has lowered expectations about how history will judge him. For history to treat him kinder, he will have to up his game.”

Georgia Lawmaker Considers Quarantining HIV Victims

Buck Banks

“I don’t want to say the quarantine word — but I guess I just said it. Is there an ability, since I would guess that public dollars are expended heavily in prophylaxis and treatment of this condition, so we have a public interest in curtailing the spread. … Are there any methods legally that we could do that would curtail the spread?”

— Georgia state Rep. Betty Price (R), the wife of former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, asking in a hearing this week “what are we legally able to do” to limit the spread of HIV throughout the state, Stat reports.

Congress’ Approval Rating Hits New Low

Buck Banks

13%

A new Gallup poll finds Americans’ approval of Congress fell to 13%.“Americans of all political stripes hold Congress in similarly low regard. Just 18% of Republicans, 14% of Democrats and 10% of independents approve of the job the legislative body is doing. This month, these figures are unchanged among Republicans, while down slightly among Democrats and independents.”

GOPers Fear ‘Getting Primaried’

Buck Banks

“The real fear for most elected officials in Washington isn’t that they may say something to offend persuadable voters… No, the fear now, if you’re sitting on either end of the Capitol, is that some no-name activist will decide to primary you, because you’ve somehow run afoul of extremists with followings on Twitter and Facebook, and you’ll have to spend all your time and money holding onto a job that you might very well lose, since it takes only one fringe group or millionaire and a few thousand angry voters to tip the balance in your average congressional primary.”

— Matt Bai