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Americans Prefer Hemorrhoids And Cockroaches To Congress

he U.S. Capitol is seen on November 19, 2011 in Washington, D.C.
Brendan Hoffman
/
Getty Images
he U.S. Capitol is seen on November 19, 2011 in Washington, D.C.

We've known for years that Congress — as a whole — is unpopular.

But, with the government shutdown and a looming debt ceiling deadline sparking even more divisiveness and partisan bickering, Public Policy Polling, the Democratic automated polling firm that nailed every swing state in 2012, found that only 8 percent of the American public approves of Congress.

And just how much do they dislike them? Those surveyed said (pdf) they prefer hemorrhoids, cockroaches and toenail fungus to Congress.

Because we're NPR, we'll also note that 60 percent of the surveyed said they have a higher opinion of public radio fundraising drives than they do of Congress.

But there is hope — kinda. Congress polled better than the Ebola virus, Anthony Weiner and Miley Cyrus.

The margin of error for the poll is plus-or-minus 4.4 percent.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.