It seems like everyday lately the public's view of Congress grows dimmer. August 11-14 were particularly dim days. According to Gallup's latest approval poll conducted during that time, 84 percent of Americans disapprove of Congress. And only 13 percent think its doing a decent enough job to tell a pollster they "approve," which ties Gallup's all-time low approval rating during December 2010, when Obama and Congress were jousting over extending the Bush tax cuts. Since the polling organization began measuring Congressional approval in 1974, the average approval for Congress has hovered around 34 percent. Glancing at the chart below, the last decade seems to be one long, mostly uninterrupted, downward trend:

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at ehayden at nationaljournal dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Erik Hayden