Data from Gallup:
The percentage of Americans expressing a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in Congress is the lowest for a trend that dates back to 1973. The high point for Congress, 42%, came in that year...
Democrats, independents, and Republicans are about equally likely to express low confidence in Congress. This is a change from the past and likely reflects the split control of Congress... Between 2009 and 2012, a period that saw Congress come under split control, these partisan differences gradually diminished, and this year, Democrats are a mere two percentage points more likely than Republicans to report having a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in Congress.
Americans' confidence in Congress is not only at its lowest point on record, but also is the worst Gallup has ever found for any institution it has measured since 1973.
Is really a surprise they are coming up so poorly? We have more precise information, more frequent information, from a greater number of sources. I warrant if the folks in 1973 had the same access to the volume of information we do now the congress in 1973 would not have fared as well.
ReplyDeleteSitting here now I can go back a decade or more on any position for any politician and see what they've said and what they have done and get an awful lot of diverse views on action and behavior.
Ignorance is bliss.
I doubt that. I have been politically aware since I was quite young, so a good 60 years. There has never been a Congress which has done so little. The House of Representatives is a stain on our democracy. Their intransigence has produced less legislation than any House in living memory because of a refusal on part way too many Republicans to reach any kind of compromise.
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