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Back in April a poll was taken that showed how unhappy Floridians were with their newly elected Tea Party Governor Rick Scott: Like many of the newly elected Republican Tea Party Governors, polls are not their friends and Rick Scott of Florida has voters very upset and now would choose Alex Sink over him if they had the chance. Only three months removed from Governor Rick Scott’s (R) inauguration, a majority of Florida voters now say the state is headed in the wrong direction and that, if they could do it all over again, they wouldn’t have elected Scott in the first place, according to a new Suffolk University poll. In the poll, 54% of voters said the state was headed in the wrong direction, compared to 30% who said it was going the right way. Further, just under half (49%) of all voters said they disapproved of Scott’s job performance, versus only 28% who said they approved. Scott’s approval rating is so bad that the poll found him losing a hypothetical do-over election to Democrat Alex Sink by a ten-point margin, 41% to 31%. It’s too bad that when voters got angry they turned to phonies like Rick Scott. The Democrats didn’t help themselves at the time, but after Republicans destroyed our economy, electing alleged criminals is not the answer either. A new poll was released by Quinnipiac and he’s continued to drop like a rock with his constituency. Florida voters disapprove 57 – 29 percent of the job Gov. Rick Scott is doing, the worst score of any governor in the states surveyed by Quinnipiac University and down from a 48 – 35 percent disapproval in an April 6 survey, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. The state’s new budget is unfair to people like them, voters tell the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll 54 – 29 percent. Gov. Scott and the State Legislature are equally responsible for the budget, 68 percent of voters say. The legislature’s job approval rating is nearly identical to that of the governor, as voters disapprove 56 – 27 percent, compared to 47 – 35 percent disapproval in April. Despite the new property insurance law signed by the governor, voters say securing insurance is getting harder and more expensive. “Voters have turned even more negative on Gov. Rick Scott since the last Quinnipiac University survey,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “It probably doesn’t make him feel any better that the State Legislature is sharing the basement suite in the eyes of the electorate. The good news for the governor is that he has three and a half years to turn public opinion around. ” Even Scott’s support among Republicans is relatively weak, with 51 percent of GOP voters approving and 37 percent disapproving of his job performance. Disapproval is 72 – 13 percent among Democrats and 57 – 28 percent among independent voters. Both sexes are down on Scott: Men disapprove 53 – 35 percent and women disapprove 60 – 24 percent. Republican voters’ support is also on the steep decline for Scott. I think what we are seeing is that even hard-line Republicans are understanding the consequences of their last action by voting for Scott, and when they begin feeling the effects of his budgetary cuts and unfair policies, they realize their mistake and express regret over the choice. Rick Scott is an ideologue of the highest order who has been linked to criminal actions, and I doubt he will change his modus operandi much in the next three years, but if he doesn’t, he won’t remain in his current job. We can only hope that the damage isn’t irreparable by the time they kick him out. When the economy is in the tank it’s a natural reaction for voters to kick out whoever is in charge no matter what party they represent. We are seeing that play out in Europe. The problem with many lefties overseas is that they grabbed on to the “austerity” chimera, and people across the world are revolting against it. Reuters: Analysis: Europe austerity backlash in votes more than riots Europeans angry at austerity are largely showing it at the ballot box rather than on the streets, delivering a string of local poll rebukes to those in power and favoring more unconventional parties. Recent elections across Europe have suggested a backlash against painful economic measures and a rise in Eurosceptic groups, leading some to fear the continent’s leaders are becoming dangerously out of touch with what their people want. That raises fears that even if countries avoid widescale social unrest, they may simply be unable to deliver essential reforms to tackle their debts. “There is significant and growing political risk in Europe,” said Charles Robertson, chief economist of Russian bank Renaissance Capital. “The gap between voters and the ruling elite is probably as wide as it has ever been. The political risk attached to the euro has probably risen to a record level and is only likely to increase.” Even Socialists are being dumped because they are acquiescing to calls for austerity. You just can’t cut your way out of recessions. These reports out of the UK also make David Brooks’ last article look like the mental joke that he is. The Atlantic: A very young-looking assistant editor at The Telegraph had lots of not-nice things to say about David Brooks today. In his globally syndicated column today–published stateside by The New York Times and in the U.K. by The Guardian –Brooks lauded the British political system and made some historical assumptions. In his rebuttal, Daniel Knowles lauded Brooks’ ability to fail at understanding basic facts: David Brooks, columnist, philosopher, writer of the Social Animal, salve to all our problems, has written a brief missive from London for the New York Times . It’s heartening stuff for us Brits. “As President Obama visits London”, he writes, “we will get a glimpse of the British political culture. We Americans have no right to feel smug or superior.” No doubt Mr Brook’s Westminster admirers will lap this up – is there anything we love more than being told how good we are by foreigners? But this column is laughably ignorant of British history and bizarrely naive about British political culture. Glenn Greenwald writes this about Brooks: It is true that public opinion very occasionally plays an important role in determining what happens in Washington (it sidetracked Bush’s efforts to privatize Social Security, and is likely to prevent any serious dismantling of Medicare). But that’s what Brooks and his like-minded establishment mavens are angriest about: that the ignorant, ignoble masses very periodically are able to prevent David Brooks’ establishment political views from being implemented; that dreary problem would be solved by vesting all political power in “people who live in [Washington] and who have often known each other since prep school” — and who think just like David Brooks.