Least ethical? In poll, car sales edges out congress

FPI / January 7, 2020

Members of the House of Representatives, controlled by Democrats, have less integrity than chiropractors, journalists, bankers, lawyers and insurance salespeople, according to a new poll.

In fact, the only people members of Congress were seen having more integrity than are those in car sales, the Gallup poll found.

In the survey for 2019, just 12 percent of Americans ranked the ethics and honesty of House members as high. Senators did not fare much better at 13 percent. For car salespeople, perennial cellar dwellers in the poll, it was 8 percent.

“The public's low levels of belief in the honesty and ethical standards of senators and members of Congress may be a contributing factor in poor job approval ratings for the legislature. No more than 30 percent of Americans have approved of Congress in the past 10 years,” said the survey analysis.

At the top of the poll were nurses at 85 percent.

For journalists, the rating showed another dip in their honesty and ethics rating. Just 28 percent in the poll found journalists rated high in ethics and honesty. That number was at 33 percent in 2018.

Said Gallup, “Americans' assessment of the honesty and ethics of journalists fell by five percentage points. There was previously a 10-point increase in Americans' belief that this profession is honest and ethical, but this most recent drop to 28 percent returns journalists to levels last seen in 2015.”

Free Press International