Gallup: Congress Rated As Dishonest And Unethical Profession, Ranks Only Above Car Salespeople

[highplainsdem]

Source: TPM

Americans give members of Congress extremely low ratings on honesty and ethics, according to a survey from Gallup released Monday.

The poll tested 22 professions, asking respondents to measure the honesty and ethical standards of each. Only 10 percent of Americans rated the honesty and ethics of Congressional members as "high" or "very high." Fifty-four percent gave lawmakers on Capitol Hill the lowest marks possible — the highest negative rating of any profession included in the survey.

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Read more: http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/gallup-congress-rated-as-dishonest-unethical-profession-ranks

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More from the article on Gallup's site:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/159035/congress-retains-low-honesty-rating.aspx

PRINCETON, NJ -- As Congress remains involved in protracted negotiations over the pending "fiscal cliff" that could disrupt the nation's economy if not addressed by Jan. 1, one in 10 Americans rate the honesty and ethical standards of its members as very high or high. This puts the lawmaking body second lowest on a list of 22 professions measured -- higher only than car salespeople.

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Americans' views of the 22 professions tested vary widely -- extending from the 85% who rate nurses' ethics and honesty as very high or high to a low of 8% rating car salespeople the same.

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Senators and state governors receive slightly higher honesty ratings than members of Congress do, as is typical. The highest honesty rating for senators was 25% in November 2001. State governors were not rated in 2001, but their highest rating was 31% in 2000.

Members of Congress (54%) have the dubious distinction of having the largest "very low"/"low" rating of any profession tested this year -- higher than car salespeople (49%) and senators (45%).

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[woo me with science]

1. That's an insult to car salesmen. nt

[AAO]

9. Hey, I know a car salesman. That car salesman is a friend of mine.

Congress, you are no used car salesmen.

I find the integrity and honesty of car salesmen to be low, but you buttwipes in the House make car salesmen look like Supreme Court Justices (This analogy once applied, but now Justices are lower than used car salesmen, thanks to R.A.T.S. (Roberts, Alito, Thomas and Scalia).

[GeorgiaDemGuy]

2. Worthless Survey

Everyone hates OTHER people's congress members. But, they LOVE their own. Especially with redistricting (gerrymandering).

[crim son]

3. The same people who call them dishonest

vote them in, hoping the corruption might work in their favor.

[James48]

4. How the hell did they beat car salesmen?

You tell me!


I think car salesmen at least have a clue.

[AAO]

10. They simply are more honest than congress critters. (at least the Repuke ones).

[duhneece]

5. That's what happens when we elect folks who state that government can do no good

I mean 'we' to refer to Americans who vote for folks who openly express their intention to do a bad job because they don't believe government can do any good.
Sort of like electing an atheist to be pope. Or like having a boyfriend who has stated that men are no good.
When we elect Democrats who believe in the good that government can do, we end up with things like the GI Bill, protection for workers, the environment, consumers...
The reputation of Congress went way down when we Americans elected so many Republicans.

[groundloop]

6. Good points. Repubs bitch about government, then wonder why they get such low ratings....

... when in fact THEY are part of the government they're complaining about. Add to that the fact that the stated purpose of Congressional repubs is to keep the govt. from working (in order to make the President look bad) and it's no wonder nobody likes them.

If we can ever overcome the gerrymandered districts and retake the House then maybe we can start to get some real work done.

[cstanleytech]

8. Yes the gerrymandering is a major issue but you forgot an even larger one

and that is how easy its become for corporations and foreign governments to use PACs to funnel money to candidates.
Oh sure the PACs arent supposed to coordinate with the candidates nor in some cases even directly support a specific candidate but really, does anyone here believe that their hands are clean? I know I dont believe them nor do I trust them.

[groundloop]

7. It's ironic this is coming from one of the worst polling firms in existence

I wonder why POLLSTERS weren't included in their survey.

[former9thward]

11. If this is true why do over 90% of incumbents get re-elected?

Also these polls usually indicate people are satisfied with their own member of Congress.

[ut oh]

15. It was said above

people trust their own congresscritter, but not the others.

I would say that most people polled think about those 'other' congrescritters and not their own when responding to these surveys. And that 10% that rated high or very high probably were thinking about their own.

It would have probably been better for Gallup to break it down more to 'your congresscritter' and 'other congresscritters'. I think you'd find more usable data in that.

[libdem4life]

12. Car salesman are paid for results...unlike those paid in advance or in spite of non performance.

[Fozzledick]

13. This reminds me of Mark Twain's comment.

"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress."

[santamargarita]

14. How could they rank above used car salesmen?

[woo me with science]

16. K&R

[closeupready]

17. Well-deserved.

K&R