U.S. Congress approval ratings slide

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- A new poll suggests approval ratings for Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress have fallen to new lows.

The USA Today/Gallup Poll of 1,011 U.S. adults, conducted via telephone Dec. 14-16, found only 30 percent of respondents voiced approval for the job being performed by congressional Democrats, and only 26 percent approved of Republicans in Congress, USA Today reported Tuesday.

Sixty-four percent of those polled disapprove of the Democrats' job performance, and 68 percent said the same of the Republicans.

"The American people just decided that Washington is either incompetent or irrelevant," said Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster. "Republicans made promises they didn't keep, and Democrats made promises they couldn't keep. And now it's a pox on all their houses."

Meanwhile, the poll suggested President George Bush's disapproval rating currently stands at 65 percent, the highest disapproval rating since July.

"Just as the news from Iraq got slightly better, people were focused on the economy," Democratic pollster Celinda Lake said.

The margin or error for the poll was plus or minus 3 percentage points.