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Upon assuming control of the 112th Congress, House Speaker John Boehner and fellow Republicans said they're listening to the voice of the people.

Too bad they didn't listen to Mary Poppins. She would have told them what to avoid at all costs: no pie crust promises; easily made, easily broken.

Instead, Republicans littered the floor of the Capitol with pie crust promises that were easily made during the campaign and easily broken on the very first day of the new legislative session.

Jobs. Campaigning in the midterm elections, Republicans pledged to make creation of jobs their number one priority. Instead they moved to repeal President Barack Obama's health care reform legislation. Boehner, in his inaugural remarks, did not mention job creation once.

Cut spending. The centerpiece of the Pledge to America unveiled by House Republicans in September was a promise to cut $100 billion out of nondefense discretionary spending during their first year in power: a pledge repeated by Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and Budget Chairman Paul Ryan. All three backed off, insisting the $100 billion figure was merely hypothetical.

Work for people. Again Boehner, in his acceptance speech, renewed his oft-stated pledge to listen to the American people for a change. New Government Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa sent a letter to 150 big corporations and lobbying firms, asking them to identify which federal regulations should be canceled by Congress. Consumer and environmental protection organizations, which, in fact, represent the people, were not consulted.

Right to vote. Republicans didn't wait long to deny one more opportunity for voices of the people to be heard. The first vote of the 112th Congress adopted a rule stripping representatives of the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Marianna Islands and the Virgin Islands of their right to vote whenever Congress convened as a committee of the whole. The vote was 225 Republicans for the change, 188 Democrats against it.

But nowhere were so many promises broken as in the way Republicans leaped into their doomed-to-fail efforts to roll back the clock on health care reform.

Repeal and replace. Campaigning in the midterms, Republican House and Senate candidates left no doubt about their plans on health care. "Repeal and replace it with a common-sense solution that will bend the cost-curve," John Cornyn told "Meet the Press" in July. On opening day, Cantor introduced legislation to repeal newly-enacted health insurance reform, and replace it with nothing.

Transparency. No more log-rolling of important legislation, Boehner promised. Under his leadership, Republicans would insist on total transparency and open debate on all issues prior to any vote on the House floor. The vote to repeal health care is scheduled for Wednesday, just one week after its introduction, with no public hearings, no debate and no opportunity to offer amendments.

Pay-go. For years, Republicans wrapped themselves in the cloak of fiscal responsibility, insisting that Congress not spend one dollar unless it's offset by new taxes or spending cuts: a policy called pay as you go. They've already carved out an exemption for health care, even though the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that repeal of health care reform legislation will increase the deficit by $230 billion over the next 10 years.

At the same time, under new rules adopted by Republicans, from now on pay-go will only apply to new spending, not to new tax cuts. But not all tax cuts are exempt, only those identified as worthwhile by GOP leaders. According to the rules, extended tax cuts for the wealthy are protected. But expansion of the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit, which help middle-class and low-income families, are not.

Changing the culture. Republican Tea Party candidates, especially, campaigned on a pledge to introduce a more austere tone to Washington. GOP freshmen eagerly bellied up to the bar at the W Hotel for a lavish fundraiser, featuring country music star LeAnn Rimes, all paid for by lobbyists at $2,500 a head.

If you can't trust Republicans to keep their promises longer than one day, what can you trust them with?

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Of course they wanna go backwards, right back to Feudalism, with themselves as the Lords - it's what they've ALWAYS wanted, since day freakin one.

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The poll finds that 46 percent of Americans think gun laws should be made stricter, while 38 percent want them to stay the same. Thirteen percent said they thought gun control laws should be made less strict.

In a similar poll conducted in April 2010, 40 percent of Americans thought gun laws should be made tougher, while 42 percent wanted them to stay the same. Sixteen percent wanted them to be made less strict.

Public support for a nationwide ban on assault weapons has risen. Sixty-three percent of voters said they would support such a ban, up from 54 percent in 2009.

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Two-thirds of the adults surveyed said the laws covering the sale of handguns should be stricter and 27 percent said the laws should be kept as they are now. Only 5 percent said the laws should be less strict.

This question has been asked in the past with similar results. In August 1999, a CBS News poll taken almost four months after the shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, 64 percent said laws covering the sale of handguns should be stricter. Men and women are equally in favor of making the sale of handguns more difficult. Three-quarters of Democrats support stricter handgun laws, compared with about half of Republicans and 60 percent of independents.

The public does not support banning handguns altogether, the poll found. Thirty-two percent of the public approves of a ban on the sale of handguns, with the exception of thoseneeded for law enforcement, with 64 percent opposed.

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Consider the New York Times/CBS poll. Sixty-four percent of the respondents have concerns about losing civil liberties as a result of anti-terrorism measures put in place by President Bush. Yet, 53 percent approve of spying without obtaining court warrants "in order to reduce the threat of terrorism."

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A new Rasmussen poll reveals that 64% of Americans believe the National Security Agency should be allowed to intercept such conversations, including 51% of Democrats & 57% of independents. Fewer than 1 in 4 actually opposed the idea.

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