New Poll says Congressional Agenda is Extreme

WASHINGTON - Just as most members of Congress head home for the summer recess to shore up support for their re-elections, a new poll out this week says voters view the Democratic congressional agenda as extreme.

The Rasmussen Reports poll shows that 57 percent of likely U.S. voters think the agenda of Democrats in congress is extreme, meanwhile, 34 percent describe the Democratic agenda as mainstream. The poll was taken during August 9-10, among 1,000 likely voters.

When asked about the Republican congressional agenda, voters were nearly split with 45 percent of the GOP agenda viewed as mainstream and 40 percent extreme. Those undecided make up 15 percent.

The "extreme" theme was reiterated multiple times Saturday during the GOP Weekly Address. "I am deeply concerned about the direction we're heading in right now," said Pennsylvania Republican Senate Candidate, Pat Toomey, "That direction is being driven by extreme policies that are coming from one-party domination of government in Washington.  And this extreme ideologically driven agenda is preventing the strong economic recovery and job creation that we should be having." Toomey, a former congressman, is running against Democrat, Rep. Joe Sestak.

During a Democratic National Committee fundraiser on Monday in Texas, President Barack Obama defended his administration’s policies saying, "we've got a choice between a forward-looking agenda that is rebuilding the structure of this economy so it's working for all Americans, or just going back to the same stuff that got us into this mess." With less than three months until the midterm elections, Obama accused Republicans of lacking seriousness. "Their basic theory is, we don't want to do anything that helps the president move the country forward, because they're thinking about the next election instead of the next generation."