It's no secret that the U.S. Congress has an all-time low approval rating. People are pretty disgusted at the failure of the two political parties to compromise and find a solution to the nation's economic problems. But the public, while angry with both parties, are not equally angry with the Republicans and Democrats. According to a new survey done by Public Policy Polling between January 3rd and 6th, Americans have a significantly lower opinion of Republicans than Democrats.The numbers for the congressional Democrats are nothing to brag about. About 38% of the public approves of them while 50% disapprove of them -- giving them a -12 approval rating. But that pales in comparison to the poor rating the congressional Republicans get from the general public. They only get the approval of only 15% of people, while getting 75% disapproval -- giving them a -60 approval rating (48 points worse than the Democrats got).
Making matters even worse for the congressional Republicans is the fact that their own party doesn't approve of them. The Republicans in the survey gave their congressional GOP members only 25% approval and 61% disapproval -- for an approval rating of -36 (24 points worse than the Democrats got from the general public).
Through their obstruction efforts, the Republicans in Congress have seriously tarnished their image. Now they are demanding benefit cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and threatening to shut the government down until they get those cuts. These positions are very unpopular with the public (and even many Republicans), and if they follow through with these insane proposals they will just damage that image further. This may win some approval from their base teabaggers, but it certainly won't help them with the general public (and could be disastrous for their hopes in the 2014 elections).
This is like watching a slow-motion suicide.
