I just wanted to bring to mind a couple interesting polls recently conducted by Rasmussen Reports. These two polls address Americans' thoughts on our Congressional Representatives and Senators.
The first poll addresses Americans' views on Congress's competence (see: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/april_2011/43_say_most_members_of_congress_are_corrupt). Only about 9% of American voters gave Congress a "good" or "excellent" rating; a full 56% of voters gave Congress a "poor" rating. Interestingly, voters like the much-maligned (at least in main-stream media circles) Tea Party more than Congress (see: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/april_2011/48_say_their_views_closer_to_tea_party_than_congress).
The second poll involves Congresspersons' ethics (see: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/april_2011/43_say_most_members_of_congress_are_corrupt). 43% of Americans believe most Congresspeople are corrupt; only 30% doubt that most legislators are unethical .
What I find interesting is that Americans hate the ineffectiveness of their legislature, and we don't believe our legislators are ethical. Despite those facts, we keep voting for many of the same people (by my count, 58 Senators have been in office for more than 1 term; over 38 have been in office over twelve years).
I don't understand why we keep hiring useless and untrustworthy individuals to rule over us. Have we given up hope that Washington, D.C. will one day work on our behalf?
We need fresh and untainted blood in our legislature. Just, decent, and insightful rulers would do wonders for this country. I guess the people we need are too wise to get involved in the soul-destroying snake-pit that is Washington, D.C. So, maybe we just have to wait until the current generation of rulers retires (or dies out) and hope America can survive in the meantime.
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