Public Policy Polling has again asked America how we’re feeling about our Congress Critters. I know you already know, but just for fun . . .
Our newest national poll finds that Congress only has a 9% favorability rating with 85% of voters viewing it in a negative light. We’ve seen poll after poll after poll over the last year talking about how unpopular Congress is but really, what’s the difference between an 11% or a 9% or a 7% favorability rating? So we decided to take a different approach and test Congress’ popularity against 26 different things. And what we found is that Congress is less popular than cockroaches, traffic jams, and even Nickelback.
What’s it going to take? (The whole embarrassment is here.)
And what’s Nickelback?
You can have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, or democracy. But you cannot have both.
Whatever Works 
And we keep electing the same folks over and over. Must mean that many people hate “Congress”, but think their own congress person is okey-dokey. Logic in action.
LikeLike
Two words Donald . . . Vern. Buchanan.
LikeLike
What’s it going to take?
Make “Congress Duty” like “jury duty”.
LikeLike
I like it. Sign me up.
LikeLike
Lower than Nickelback? That is pretty low. (Nickleback is a musically repetitive rock band that drones on and on more than they rock.) I almost absolutely agree with Pino, only I’m met a few professional jurors. Any one willing to send someone down the river for a free bologna sandwich shouldn’t be passing gun laws. 😉
LikeLike
I really should read what I write before I post—damn the type-o’s.
LikeLike
😉
Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the great.
LikeLike
@Jake
They do have the odd gem though. You really cant beat “Animal” for a good, fun, hard rocking tune. 😉
LikeLike
Shhh, quietly, I’ll admit liking their song on the Daredevil soundtrack. (Please don’t make that public knowledge.) 🙂
LikeLike
When I think “Nickelback” this is what comes to mind.
LikeLike
Hey Jake, welcome . . .I have the highest respect for authors – you guys don’t just stand on the sidelines opining and fantasizing. You put yourselves right out there and that’s worthy of respect. Anyway, welcome (and odn’t worry about the typos!)
LikeLike
Changing the salary of a Congress person would be a good first step. The salary should be that of a public school teacher and scale in the same way per year.
I realize this flies in the face of conventional wisdom of you need to pay lots for good people, but I think that calculus is based on the idea that somehow greed is good. With the lower salary, as a start, you would attract a different class of people and that would be a good thing.
LikeLike
And then outlaw corporate lobbying. After all, the bad apples in the current crop aren’t in it for the money; they’re in it for the connections. It won’t matter what their salaries are if they use Congress as a stepping stone to make millions in the private sector.
LikeLike
If you outlaw union and other groups lobbying as well, I could get behind that.
LikeLike
Sure, if it got the money from all special interests out of the electoral and legislative decision-making processes; corporate money is just the worst.
LikeLike
I find union money to be the worst but I think of unions, at the national scale like SEIU and AFL-CIO, as nothing but giant corporations that produce nothing so we’re not that far off from another.
LikeLike
Well I certainly agree with the “giant corporations” assessment; yet unions, even in today’s weakened state, are still the number one countervailing power to the corporations. A balance of power is just as essential in the economic sphere as the political.
LikeLike
Balance, yes! And Labor should certainly be fairly represented but these national meta-unions are parasites and pox upon the nation. They’ve bought more politicians, all Democrat, than all the corporations combined…because they’re monopolies and have no competition, unlike the corporations.
LikeLike
Changing the salary of a Congress person would be a good first step. The salary should be that of a public school teacher and scale in the same way per year.
This would disproportionately help the wealthy. They could serve with little or no salary.
LikeLike
Indeed pino .. . . I think the most important (and in the realm of the possible) reforms is to radically change the primary system.
LikeLike
I refuse to hate Nickelback. At any given moment in time there’s at least one band you’re “supposed” to hate, Nickelback is such. The first band cursed like this I remember was Grand Funk Railroad. People said, “They play guitar with their fists. They only know three chords”, blah, blah, blah. There was absolutely nothing wrong with their music, but I totally bought into it. Then there were The Bee Gees, Kiss, Madonna, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, and probably dozens of others over the years. Some of them you didn’t know you were supposed to hate because you weren’t in the right crowd; Kiss is a good example.
LikeLike
Plus Nickelback is at least marginally better than Daughtry 🙂
LikeLike
Hmm, I would not argue with your assessment … 🙂
LikeLike