Cracking jokes about Congressional thievery is something of a national past-time. But the results of the newest Gallup poll will likely startle even the cynical news dorks that have read enough of these polls to know that the American people don’t think highly of their government. For the first time since Gallup began conducting its annual “Honesty and Ethics of Professions” poll, a majority (55%) of Americans responded that they believe the honesty and ethical standards of “members of Congress” are “low” or “very low.” The American people don’t think senators are particularly upstanding citizens either: 49% said Senators have “low or very low” ethical standards. Members of Congress finished dead last of all professions surveyed, clearing “car salespeople” by 4 percentage points. Most startling of all is that the Gallup report notes that “The deterioration in Congress’ ethics rating over the past year has occurred about equally among all three party groups. The percentage rating members’ honesty and ethical standards as low or very low rose by 8 points among Republicans and independents, and by 10 points among Democrats.” That means that this isn’t just the American people hating a political party … this is Americans hating the entire political class. This is, in effect, Americans saying that they don’t like the government.
Last year though wasn’t particularly rampant with outlandish scandals. A few congressmen got caught stealing or cheating on their wives, a governor got caught flying around the world to sleep with his Argentinean love. No Jack Abramoffs. No sex in the Oval Office. What happens when a real scandal happens?
