Poll: Congress rates near bottom on honesty

Catalina Camia, USA TODAY | USATODAY

When it comes to the honesty of Congress, Americans believe their lawmakers in Washington are only slightly more truthful than car salesmen.

A Gallup Poll released Monday shows only 10% of Americans rate the honesty and ethical standards of Congress as "very high" or "high" -- the second-lowest of 22 different professions. Americans place car salesmen at the bottom of the pack, with only 8% giving them high marks.

Congress consistently rates low in the minds of Americans and this year -- after nasty elections and amid partisan sniping over the budget -- is no different. Gallup says the high point for members of Congress came in November 2001, a couple of months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when 25% of Americans rated the honesty and ethical standards of their lawmakers as very high or high.

The lowest: Last year Congress got a 7% honesty rating.

Senators and governors do better. The Gallup survey found that 14% of Americans said senators rate very high or high when it comes to honesty and ethical standards, while 2 in 10 Americans say the same for governors.

So which profession rates highest among Americans? Gallup says 85% of Americans give the highest marks for honesty and ethical standards to nurses, followed by 75% who say the same for pharmacists.

In case you were wondering: Americans don't exactly feel warm and fuzzy toward journalists. Just 24% of people say the honesty and ethical standards of these scribes are "very high" or "high."

President Obama and Congress are trying to work out a deal to avoid going over a "fiscal cliff" at the end of the year, when Bush-era tax cuts expire and across-the-board spending cuts that will deeply impact the Pentagon and other programs are set to take effect.

Things are at a stalemate right now. House Speaker John Boehner said on Fox News Sunday that "we're nowhere," as he criticized a White House deal that includes increasing taxes for those individuals making over $250,000 a year plus some additional stimulus spending and cuts to Medicare.

The Gallup Poll of 1,015 adults was taken Nov. 26-29 and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.