Congressional Approval Drops Below 20 Percent, Poll Finds

The ubiquitous "congressional approval poll" tells us that people are in some way dissatisfied with Congress, overall, but does not tell us what people wish Congress would do differently. The way the poll is structured today is useful for forecasting sea-change elections like 2010, but is of very little use in helping us understand how Congress could change for the better. Do people want Congress to rein in spending, stop wars, fund healthcare, rescue struggling farmers, drive out immigrants, ban guns, ban abortion ... or the exact opposite of some or all of these? I offer my guess - people are split on each of these issues and most people are ticked off that Congress isn't doing everything they want (or is doing too much) on every issue they care about, with very little popular consensus on anything. It is very easy to be upset. It is very hard to work constructively with others to solve they problems that upset us.

I don't understand this poll. Weren't the Tea Baggers supposed to be the ones who got the GOP back in the leadership and now they disapprove? All the lies about Death Panels, Obama's a Nazi communist, unamerican and other non-sense and they don't approve of what the congress THEY elected to lead is doing. Isn't this a surprise. Another bunch of loud talking we have no agenda but anger and lies campaign that fooled the old fools of the Tea Party...again. Just like they did with GW Bush. We don't know what we want...we just want. I truly understand the term 'there is no fool like an old fool.'

Congress needs to wake up and start doing what they are paid for. I suggest we , the people, give them goalsand money each year and if they go over we subtract it from their pay and if they don't make their goal we take away their benifits until they either get removed or meet our standards.

Hard times ahead. The only politically correct answer to the economy is to devalue the dollar with deficit spending, making our standard of living lower. Tax cuts are inflationary, the stimulous plan is inflationary and the feds plan to put more money into the economy is inflationary. The working man loses.

if your job approval rating was below 20 percent, would you keep your job? even in the service sector???? I don't think so....please go to this site: GOOOH (Get Out Of Our House)....we need to vote out every incumbent every election every time...please! that's our only power...the ballot box....

Would someone explain to me why federal departments with budgets of millions of dollars can't take a 10% cut. It's not like they are going away. Also, can someone explain to me what the federal education department, or any other federal department does. Exactly how do any of them benefit the common people?

They all just don't get it that we are in financial trouble. From Obama down all of them. Everyone wants cuts but no one wants their special interest cut. Not sure what is going to happen. Looks like more of the same until we hit rock bottom and go bankrupt then all public projects will be cut.

18% sounds eceptionally high to me. I have to believe it closer to 9 or 10 % for both parties and as a whole.

call me biased, but I have to say, I dont see as much rhetoric coming from the dems. I see truthful examples of how the repubs program is bad for jobs, the economy, the enviroment, the middle class and the nation. 4 months into taking office and republicans want to slash and burn, defund education and head start, repub governors around the nation want to make villians out of our childrens teachers, they want to push their moral values on all of us, attacking womans rights, gay rights, and the collective voices of union workers.

2012 should be a land slide if 1/2 this nations clues in.

350,000,000 million people in this country and only 20% approve of what our government is doing. Yet, we fight and name call each other, instead of the politicians who put us here. Anyone else see the problem???