A New Low for Congress

Gallup reports:

A new record-low 11% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, the lowest single rating in Gallup's history of asking this question since 1974. This earns Congress a 17% yearly average for 2011, the lowest annual congressional approval rating in Gallup history.

The record-low 11% rating is based on a Gallup survey conducted Dec. 15-18, and comes at a time when Congress is wrangling once again at the last minute over extensions of a payroll tax holiday, unemployment benefits, and higher pay for Medicare doctors....

From a broad, long-term perspective, Congress has never been popular. The average annual congressional job approval rating since 1974 is 34%. Still, this year's 17% annual average is by one point the lowest yearly average Gallup has recorded. It is slightly below the annual averages of 19% recorded in 2010 and in 2008, as well as two years in which Gallup recorded only one measure of congressional approval -- 1979 and in 1992, with readings of 19% and 18%, respectively.