Voters continue to look askance at the performance of the U.S. Congress. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey indicates that only 17% are able to say that the performance of that legislative body is Good (15%) or Excellent (2%). A little more than a third (36%) say it's Fair, a plurality of 45% deem it Poor.

The results are virtually identical to a July survey, in which 16% found congressional performance to be Good or Excellent, 47% found it Poor.

That's the third straight polls to find perceptions of Congress so low. These figures are very similar to attitudes recorded just before last November's election. A related survey found that just 20% believe the United States is generally heading in the right direction.

By contrast, the latest survey also finds that 37% currently have a positive view of the Supreme Court, rating its performance as either excellent (12%) or good (25%). Thirty-six percent (36%) say the Justices are doing a Fair job while 24% say poor. Republicans are roughly twice as likely as Democrats to offer a positive assessment of the Supreme Court.

On the other hand, Democrats are more likely to cut Congress some slack, with 25% having a positive view of that legislature versus 13% of Republicans. A majority (59%) of Republicans rate Congress as Poor, versus 29% of Democrats who do so. Fifty percent (50%) of unaffiliated voters also give Congress a rating of Poor.

Only 15% of all likely voters believe Congress has passed legislation over the past year that will markedly improve American life. This is up a couple percentage points from July and unchanged from June.

Maybe beneficial legislation isn't getting done because congressmen are more interested in helping their own careers than helping the people they represent? That's at any rate what 70% of respondents think, a number that has dropped by five points since last month. Sixteen percent (16%) disagree, saying congressmen give the priority to helping people.

When asked whether Congress will seriously address the nation's major problems, 36% believe this is at least somewhat likely. Sixty percent (60%) are more pessimistic, including 17% who believe that such a focus is Not At All Likely.

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