Poll: Congressmen Less Trustworthy Than Car Salesmen

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A new Gallup poll finds that a majority of Americans think that the ethical standards of America’s congressional representatives are “low/very low” — meaning they’re viewed as being more dishonest than car salesmen.

The poll finds that 55% of respondents believe members of Congress have low ethical standards. This marks a big increase from 2008, when only 46% believed so, and also more than doubles the 21% from November 2000. At the same time, only 9% of respondents describe the honesty of Congressional representatives as high or very high.

Senators themselves did slightly better in the poll, with only 49% describing their ethical standards as low or very low. Though this still characterizes them as more dishonest than stockbrokers and HMO managers.

Car salesmen were believed to have low ethical standards by 51% of respondents.

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