85% in US distrust lawmakers: Poll

A new US poll once again highlights the extreme unpopularity of American lawmakers among their constituents but marks a record low in public trust of the nation’s legislative branch with only nine percent voicing a favorable view.

A whopping 85 percent of 830 Americans taking part in the Public Policy Polling survey conducted over the past week and released on Tuesday said they were distrustful of their legislators in the US Congress.

The poll was taken January 3rd through the 6th, just following a last minute congressional vote that averted the much dreaded “fiscal cliff” of tax hikes and spending cuts.

Persisting partisan bickering over the budget deal led to a forced passage of compromised agreement merely to delay the resolution of the nation’s staggering fiscal issues for a few more months.

Officials of the institution that conducted the survey emphasized that US lawmakers are even less popular among the public than lice and cockroaches.

“We all know Congress is unpopular,” said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling.

“But the fact that voters like it less than cockroaches… really shows how far its esteem has fallen with the American public over the last few weeks,” he added.

Other public surveys over the years on the popularity of the US Congress among American citizens have consistently found a wide majority of unfavorable regard for the country’s lawmakers, who are often criticized for looking after the interests of wealthy corporations and individuals that contribute to their election campaigns rather than their constituents that vote them into office.

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