Confidence in Congress at All-Time Low

Good grief.  Confidence in Congress is at an all-time low:

Just 14% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in Congress. 

This 14% Congressional confidence rating is the all-time low for this measure, which Gallup initiated in 1973.  The previous low point for Congress was 18% at several points in the period of time 1991 to 1994.

Congress is now nestled at the bottom of the list of Gallup's annual Confidence in Institutions rankings, along with HMOs.  Just 15% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in HMOs.  (By way of contrast, 69% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the military, which tops the list.

It takes a lot of failure for Congress to have an approval rating lower than it's ever had before and lower than any other institution today, including HMOs. 

And did you catch the little fact that the public institution that holds the greatest public confidence is the military, at 69%?

It sounds like the best move the 14% confidence-rating Congress could make would be to get out of the way of the 69% confidence-rating military and let them finish the job in Iraq.

Just a thought.