# The US Congress - More popular than Gonorrhea. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 8, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-congress-more-popular-than-gonorrhea/646535 "2013-01-08T21:08:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-congress-more-popular-than-gonorrhea/646535/1 "2013-01-08T21:08:04Z")
But less popular than cockroaches, Colonoscopies, root canals, and Nickelback. [New PPP Poll.](http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2013/01/congress-somewhere-below-cockroaches-traffic-jams-and-nickleback-in-americans-esteem.html) > [@](#): > > Our newest national poll finds that Congress only has a 9% favorability rating with 85% of voters viewing it in a negative light. We’ve seen poll after poll after poll over the last year talking about how unpopular Congress is but really, what’s the difference between an 11% or a 9% or a 7% favorability rating? So we decided to take a different approach and test Congress’ popularity against 26 different things. And what we found is that Congress is less popular than cockroaches, traffic jams, and even Nickelback. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-congress-more-popular-than-gonorrhea/646535/2 "2013-01-08T21:12:37Z")
I agree-people have every right to be disgusted with their representation. I have tried to influence my congressmen-but nothing ever happens. I am incensed that 30 years into the internet era, we have NO effective laws against identity theft-while Australia has passed comprehensive laws, with severe penalties! My congressman (Rep. Markey, (D) MA), hasn’t been bothered to do anything. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-congress-more-popular-than-gonorrhea/646535/3 "2013-01-08T21:17:29Z")
I recommend reading the actual survey questions on [this pdf](http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_Natl_010813_.pdf). It makes me giggle a lot. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-congress-more-popular-than-gonorrhea/646535/4 "2013-01-08T21:34:30Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > My congressman (Rep. Markey, (D) MA), hasn’t been bothered to do anything. Can you name a more active congressmen than Markey? You know he’s one of the most active congressmen in the country? He brought 57 bills to the floor last session. Sorry he’s not up to your standards. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-congress-more-popular-than-gonorrhea/646535/5 "2013-01-08T23:39:45Z")
Regarding Rep. Markey: since becoming head of the telecommunications committee, cable rates have risen astronomically. Of course, this has NOTHING to do with him.😃 ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-congress-more-popular-than-gonorrhea/646535/6 "2013-01-09T00:11:34Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Regarding Rep. Markey: since becoming head of the telecommunications committee, cable rates have risen astronomically. Of course, this has NOTHING to do with him.😃 You know he’s not the head of the telecommunications committee right? Your normally a free market guy anyway why is it only a problem when it comes to your cable bill? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-congress-more-popular-than-gonorrhea/646535/7 "2013-01-09T00:13:31Z")
\*\*The US Congress - More popular than Gonorrhea. \*\* I question the polling method. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-congress-more-popular-than-gonorrhea/646535/8 "2013-01-09T00:19:24Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > \*\*The US Congress - More popular than Gonorrhea. \*\* > > I question the polling method. Me too. Gonorrhea is something we can do something about, how is it worse than the congress we’re stuck with? It’s a conspiracy to make congress seem better than they actually are. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-congress-more-popular-than-gonorrhea/646535/9 "2013-01-09T00:46:44Z")
> [@](#): > > When asked if they have a higher opinion of either Congress or a series of unpleasant or disliked things, voters said they had a higher opinion of…Genghis Khan (37-41)…than Congress. By golly, Genghis Khan was a man who got things _done!_ There wouldn’t be any of this nonsense about the debt ceiling if Genghis Khan was in Congress! We’d just go and conquer China and plunder it–_boom!_ Problem solved! ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-congress-more-popular-than-gonorrhea/646535/10 "2013-01-09T07:54:49Z")
“The US Congress - More popular than Gonorrhea.” Yet incumbents are regularly re-elected. People love their own Congresscritter–it’s all the other representatives that are the mooks. [post=10017182]Democratic Congress, mid-2008[/post]: > [@](#): > > Rasmussen: > > Congress approval rating - 9% > > Gallup (May): > > Congress approval rating - 18% ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-congress-more-popular-than-gonorrhea/646535/11 "2013-01-09T08:56:22Z")
Gonorrhea is really not all that bad, honestly. And it’s ridiculously easy and cheap to cure. Not only that but it might actually provide a positive incentive to practice safer sex. I think there is a strong case to be made that gonorrhea is actually a better influence on humanity than congress. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-congress-more-popular-than-gonorrhea/646535/12 "2013-01-09T11:49:37Z")
The poll is flawed. How else can you explain that people favor Congress over the Kardashians yet C-SPAN gets **much** lower ratings than the Keeping Up with the Kardashians TV show? ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-congress-more-popular-than-gonorrhea/646535/13 "2013-01-09T12:08:05Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I recommend reading the actual survey questions on [this pdf](http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_Natl_010813_.pdf). It makes me giggle a lot. When the relevant question is literally, “What do you have a higher opinion of: Congress or gonorrhea?” it’s really asking for people to say gonorrhea as a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-congress-more-popular-than-gonorrhea/646535/14 "2013-01-09T12:19:02Z")
I don’t get the hate for Nickelback. Admittedly the sum total of my knowledge about them is 1) they did that one video with Gene Simmons in it; 2) one of their members married another pop star I don’t care about; and 3) everyone hates them, but I really don’t know why they attract such venom. They seem like your basic banal middle-class metal band. Did they eat kittens onstage or cancel \*Firefly \*or something? Congress, on the other hand - that one I get. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-congress-more-popular-than-gonorrhea/646535/15 "2013-01-09T19:05:11Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > Yet incumbents are regularly re-elected. People love their own Congresscritter–it’s all the other representatives that are the mooks. > [post=10017182]Democratic Congress, mid-2008[/post]: That the problem with these sorts of polls. For Congress, their approval rating is a meaningless concept, because we usually give our own congressmen and senators a pass. It’s basically just a make-work project for pollsters.