WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- With approval ratings for Congress languishing in the single digits, a new poll suggests calling a lawmaker subhuman might be an insult -- to cockroaches.

Public Policy Polling asked Americans a series of either-or questions between Congress and some traditionally unpleasant alternatives. As it turns out, Congress lost out to root canals, the rock band Nickelback, colonoscopies, traffic jams, Donald Trump, France, the warlord Genghis Kahn and cockroaches.


On the plus-side, Congress was preferred to the Kardashians, North Korea, the ebola virus, Lindsay Lohan, Fidel Castro, meth labs, communism and gonorrhea.

The overall approval rating for Congress stands at 9 percent, with 85 percent saying they disapprove of lawmakers' job performance.

"We all know Congress is unpopular," said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling. "But the fact that voters like it even less than cockroaches, lice, and Genghis Khan really shows how far its esteem has fallen with the American public over the last few weeks."

PPP surveyed 830 voters Jan. 3-6. The margin of error is 3.4 percentage points.