Poll: 81 Percent Disapprove of Congress

Fully 81 percent of voters questioned in a Fox News national poll disapprove of the job Congress is doing — and the poor ratings come almost evenly among the political parties.

Independents lead the disapproval ratings, Fox News reports, with nearly nine out of 10 people — 88 percent — giving lawmakers poor ratings. In addition, 82 percent of Democrats give Congress a thumbs-down, followed by 77 percent of Republicans, and 71 percent of tea party supporters.

Even then, the disapproval ratings aren't at their lowest. That point was in 2011, when 83 percent of voters thought Congress was not doing its job properly. But the current survey revealed that only 13 percent of the 952 voters Fox polled randomly on Oct. 1-2 approve of Congress.

In comparison, President Barack Obama's job ratings are up slightly, but still below 50 percent.

In the current poll, 45 percent of voters approved of his performance, compared to 40 percent approval in early September in a poll taken when he still was considering military action against President Bashar Assad's regime in Syria.

Obama's ratings are up because more Democrats approve of the president. His job-approval rating among Democrats hit a record low of 69 percent in September, but now, 84 percent of Democrats approve. His rating among independents is up as well, with 32 percent approving, up from 29 percent.

Though his numbers are up, more voters disapproved than approved on each of the issues tested in the poll.

For example, on healthcare, 45 percent approve of Obama, while 51 percent disapprove, improving on September's ratings of 38 percent approval and 58 percent disapproval.

His marks are lowest for handling the federal deficit, at 35 percent to 59 percent and Syria, at 38 percent to 51 percent.

A total of 42 percent see Obama as a "lame-duck" president, down from 49 percent in May, but 52 percent think he still has power to get things done and 79 percent of Democrats think he still is effective.

More voters are favorable to the Democratic Party than the Republican, the poll revealed. Forty-nine percent have an unfavorable view of Democrats, while 59 percent had an unfavorable view of Republicans. Meanwhile, voters had a 49 percent unfavorable view of the tea party movement.

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