A few months ago the approval rating of the U.S. congress reached its lowest point in history —perhaps the lowest point of any legislature in world history — just 8 percent. But that was then. According to a just released survey, that number has changed dramatically.
The percentage of Americans who now think congress is doing a good or excellent job has soared to 10 percent. Eight percent to 10 percent. This is a massive 25 percent improvement!
Perhaps most exciting and positive thing for congress watchers when it comes to popularity is the congressional vacation schedule. Like most hard working Americans, congress has just begun its annual five week vacation (you also get a five week vacation each year, right?) And since it won’t be in session conducting business, or conducting no business as has been the case for a very long time, there will be less occasion for 90 percent of the American people to feel an even greater contempt for the institution than they currently feel. The approval rating of congress is thus likely to soar further in this five week period, maybe getting into the mid teens.
Keep it up congress. One in ten Americans think you are doing a good or excellent job and deserving of your $170,000-a-year salary and the attractive health plan you just voted for yourself under Obamacare. And if you decide not to get back into session after a five week layover, well, that would be OK, too.
(Now available from Amazon in print and ebook formats — Michael Silverstein’s The Devil’s Dictionary Of Wall Street.)