Althouse: Congress's job approval rating is down to 13%.

December 15, 2010

Congress's job approval rating is down to 13%.

Disapproval: 83%.

31 comments:

Chris said...: Well, isn't about 13% of the American workforce directly or indirectly in the employ of Congress at this point? I'm stumped trying to imagine who else that 13% of those who approve could possibly include.; 12/15/10, 7:17 PM
Anonymous said...: And yet the absolute madness continues.

Pillage.

Scorched earth.

Another Trillion down the drain.; 12/15/10, 7:19 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/15/10, 7:21 PM
Steve B said...: Of course, ask anyone the question about approval of "their" congressperson and the answer may be quite different. When you're only voting for one, opinion info on the whole doesn't seem all that interesting. Pity though that we can't vote them all out.; 12/15/10, 7:22 PM
Meade said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/15/10, 7:25 PM
Anonymous said...: They're so corrupt now that they don't even pretend to have cover of public opinion or beneficial reasons.; 12/15/10, 7:26 PM
Saint Croix said...: Wow. That's like throw the tea in the harbor bad.

It's really kind of bizarre to fire somebody and then have them hang around in the office for another month or two.; 12/15/10, 7:26 PM
ricpic said...: It must be irresistible to give the peasantry the finger.; 12/15/10, 7:30 PM
traditionalguy said...: The population has gotten very angry at the thieves and liars in Congress as soon as it became apparent that they were now doing most of their thieving and lying for the benefit of international investors. Now they want a total clean up of their government. Who can the voters find whom they can trust to oppose both the Dem and the GOP thievery and robbery. ( Hint: it is not another Bush).; 12/15/10, 7:48 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: I talked to a liberal today who blamed the low approval rating on Republican obstructionism.

Even after the election, they still don't get it.; 12/15/10, 7:55 PM
Mick said...: This is the most UnAmerican, disgusting group of Statists to ever occupy Washington. They are committing Treason by allowing a non natural born Citizen to occupy the White House (Obama's father was NEVER a citizen), AND they are a spiteful bunch of little children besides, giving the American people the finger on the way out. There is a special place in Hell for them.; 12/15/10, 8:16 PM
Simon Kenton said...: SteveB, I checked the pork list: Senators Udall and Bennett both have pigmeat on the list. Both also voted for Obamacare and for Stimulus the First. But they both said Washington is broken.

I don't approve. I will never approve; neither will ever again get a vote from me.; 12/15/10, 8:33 PM
Revenant said...: That approval rating is so bad that I have to wonder -- if Osama bin Laden had blown up Congress instead of the World Trade Center, would we have even bothered with a war on terrorism?

Or would our response have been a stern reprimand to Al Qaeda along the lines of "ok, yeah, we didn't like them either but that was still kind of a dick move".; 12/15/10, 8:47 PM
Unknown said...: Keep in mind, that poll was taken before Dingy Harry hit us with this.

The Demos are walled into a few small enclaves that are hemorrhaging people.

And this is why it will get worse.; 12/15/10, 8:56 PM
MadisonMan said...: I wonder how many people disapprove of their own Congressional Representative. Or is it just 'Congress', some amorphous blob. (Emphasis on blob).; 12/15/10, 9:18 PM
Revenant said...: The Demos are walled into a few small enclaves that are hemorrhaging people.

You're badly mistaken if you think this is about the Democrats. Do you know what the approval rating of Congress was the last time Republicans held it? 21%.

Neither party is worth a pile of moldy mule shit. The Democrats are worse in the sense that liver cancer is worse than skin cancer.; 12/15/10, 9:22 PM
Unknown said...: The Republicans never pulled a stunt like this.

The Demos run things here and they've had complete control for 2 years. Granted, they've gotten some of the Assistant Democrats to play useful idiot one more time, but this is 98% theirs.; 12/15/10, 9:55 PM
The Musket said...: Mean Duck Session

The lame ducks are just trying to push as much legislation through as possible before handing the ball off to the bureaucracy they've created. The bureaucracy will continue the work the ducks have started: ever more control over every aspect of our lives.; 12/15/10, 11:00 PM
Revenant said...: The Republicans never pulled a stunt like this.

The Republicans never pulled a stunt AS BAD as this. They did plenty that was "like this", in the sense that it involved spending metric shit-tons of money we didn't have on things we didn't need.

There is exactly one good thing about the Republican Party, and that is that almost nobody in it is actually a Democrat.; 12/15/10, 11:27 PM
LilyBart said...: 13%? That high? Well, I guess the public is feeling generous today.; 12/15/10, 11:31 PM
Toad Trend said...: Can anyone actually say that Islamic fascism is demonstrably worse than our congress that has been seated since 2007? I'm being generous - go back to the 90's and you can point out even more mischief that has led us to the financial meltdown. The endless bleating of democrat trogs about 'the deficit'. Now, they quadruple-down or better on spending, ballooning our deficit and endangering the future generations. They have put in place a truly cynical, unworkable health care rationing framework that punishes more than it helps. Now we witness more of the same type of behavior on a much larger scale that we saw when Clinton left the White House and the adolescent dem operatives vandalized the White house on their way out - Reid and Pelosi et al are giving middle America another punch in the face on their way out. I would submit that congress is the most dangerous entity we have and if they are able to outrightly steal or property and our rights we better ALL wake up and do something about it.; 12/16/10, 5:04 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Wow. That's like throw the tea in the harbor bad.

No, actually its worse. The King and Parliament had a better favorable rating among the colonists than Congress has among its citizens.; 12/16/10, 6:47 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: I wonder how many people disapprove of their own Congressional Representative.

Quite a few if the last election was any indication.

But what sucks about our political process is the folks who are out of job in a month can still fubar a whole slew of items. In the real world, when you get fired, HR will supervise you cleaning out your desk and escort you out of the building so you don't, you know, do something stupid to the company.; 12/16/10, 6:51 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: I'm stumped trying to imagine who else that 13% of those who approve could possibly include

Maybe they are approving congress in the sexual definition sense.

Nah... you are right. Most likely government employees OR people on the government dole who approve of Congress spending our money like drunken sailors.; 12/16/10, 7:43 AM
Opus One Media said...: I just don't get polls like this. Folks read them and are totally mislead.

No conclusions about either an individual congressman or senator or either party can be drawn from a national poll.; 12/16/10, 7:47 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: No conclusions about either an individual congressman or senator or either party can be drawn from a national poll.

Or that's not the conclusion that's being sought but rather about the overall performance of Congress.

I think most people have wised up that Congress wields a lot of power. They have the power ofthe purse strings, the power to legislate, that is create laws that us peasants have to live with, the power to tax, that is, take more and more of our earnings and so on.

Again I think the last election showed what many thought of thier individual congressperson. This poll simply reinforces the overall sentiment.; 12/16/10, 7:54 AM
Larry J said...: Revenant said...
That approval rating is so bad that I have to wonder -- if Osama bin Laden had blown up Congress instead of the World Trade Center, would we have even bothered with a war on terrorism?

That reminds me of the old joke about how "the British burned the Capital Building in the War of 1812 and we never bothered to thank them."; 12/16/10, 8:22 AM
Original Mike said...: "Of course, ask anyone the question about approval of "their" congressperson and the answer may be quite different."

Well, I'm anyone and my answer is I 100% disapprove of my Congressperson. Whether or not 100% is "quite different" than 87% is in the eye of the beholder, I guess.; 12/16/10, 8:43 AM
The Musket said...: Congress wields more power than many of us think when they enact legislation. That legislation is full of details that set in place a bureaucracy that continues to grow. Case in point the HIPAA laws. Originally passed in 1996, many provisions didn't become effective until later and many 'rules' were added later by HHS.

For example: "Title II requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to draft rules aimed at increasing the efficiency of the health care system by creating standards for the use and dissemination of health care information."

That's pretty wide open and broad - giving the bureaucracy (appointed by who?) power to make rules, which are really just laws.

Congress doesn't care what we think, they are after power and money. They put as much legislation in place that they can, then take advantage of it later for continued power and money. Besides, they don't really think they will be voted out. We're not smart enough and they have the machine.; 12/16/10, 9:12 AM
Revenant said...: No conclusions about either an individual congressman or senator or either party can be drawn from a national poll.

That's certainly true. But when you combine it with the fact that most people think their own Congresscritterrs are fine, it tells you something very interesting. Specifically, it tells you that our system doesn't allow our national Congress to satisfy the people of the nation. Even though we vote for people we like, we are unable to create a *government* we like.

My suggestion? Stop giving so much damned power to the one group of people nobody in America can stand! Shift the balance of power back to the local level, where it is easier for politicians to satisfy their constituents. Stop pretending that it is possible for one political body to satisfy all the needs of 320,000,000 people. We are too diverse for that.; 12/16/10, 12:58 PM
MarkD said...: That 13% is relatives, staff, and the people who are renting them.

Congressmen do not stay bought.; 12/17/10, 5:25 PM