![\"The](\"http:\/\/listosaur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/us_congress.jpg\" "\\"One")
<\/p>\nOne recent poll found cockroaches and lice were more popular than the U.S. Congress; Lawrence Jackson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
10. Wall Street Traders<\/h2>\n
A 2012 Gallup Poll<\/a> found that only 11 percent of respondents rated stockbrokers favorably in terms of honesty and ethics in professions. That is 1 measly percentage point above what members of Congress polled \u2014 so the Gordon Gekkos of the world have at least something to celebrate. For every morally bankrupt trader\/traitor image perpetuated in the media via Wall Street-isms (\u201cGreed is Good\u201d), there is a legitimate reason to suspect their moneyed ranks. Remember all those ridiculously risky subprime mortgage securities that traders were swapping around like kids trading baseball cards, contributing to the great recession? It will take a long time for traders to live that episode down.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Really, this one is too easy. Many of these clerks work hard and do a good job, but they have come to embody everything that is wrong with the U.S. bureaucratic state. Some trips to the DMV end up feeling like a Saturday Night Live skit, as getting a license or registration becomes a multi-hour odyssey. The saga almost makes you want to hug your friendly TSA worker the next time you\u2019re navigating airport security.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s not a good start when your official title has the word \u201csales\u201d in it. Combine that with the word \u201cinsurance\u201d and your job description gives rise to the type of hostile remarks found on a very unscientific Democratic Underground survey, which asked: \u201cWhat is your perception of insurance salesmen?\u201d Responses ranged from the blunt (\u201cThey are the work of Satan\u201d) to the more nuanced (\u201cMy perception of insurance companies is UNDER REVIEW and I will probably have to deny any perceptions\u201d).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Most everyone would agree these professionals perform a vital function, ensuring everyone pays their fair share of taxes. But name one person in U.S. history who has ever been happy to undergo a tax audit. Take a look around the Internet and you can find almost as many jokes about auditors as there are lawyer jokes. We\u2019d love to share a few here but we don\u2019t want to push our luck \u2026 April 15 is fast approaching.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Idealistic young journalists look back on a golden age of journalism that may not have been so grand after all. Time and again, the same greats\u2019 names are uttered breathlessly, with hushed reverence \u2014 Murrow and Cronkite, Woodward and Bernstein. The profession that once inspired so much admiration now regularly resides at the bottom of public approval polls. Unfortunately, for many people the lines between the bottom-feeding, sensationalistic blogger who can string together a couple of sentences and the trained industry professional have become almost indistinguishable.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Perhaps our hatred of politicians is somewhat misplaced. Let\u2019s not forget the \u201cpuppet-masters\u201d (official title: \u201clobbyists\u201d) deployed to schmooze with our legislators as a means of advancing their special interests. Then again, our government officials are supposed to be principled enough not to let a squirrely lobbyist sway his or her opinion. Here we go again \u2026 add it to the long list of reasons to hate Congress.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Labor unions once enjoyed incredible popularity. In the mid-1950s, 75 percent of Americans approved of unions, which after all had noble roots, organizing to make sure unscrupulous businessmen didn\u2019t cut corners by not installing \u201cexpensive and frivolous\u201d factory options like fire escapes. But today, union leaders are taking a public opinion beating for working out sweetheart pension and benefit deals that are driving some cities into bankruptcy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n No profession has spawned more jokes. Example: \u201cDid you hear the good news? A busload of lawyers just ran off the cliff. The bad news? There were three empty seats.\u201d We have long loved to hate lawyers. Even Bill Shakespeare himself quipped in Henry VI: \u201cThe first thing we do, let\u2019s kill all the lawyers.\u201d In all fairness, there\u2019s a world of difference between attorneys aiding the wrongly convicted and\/or destitute and bottom-feeders clogging our court system with sensationalistic, often frivolous \u201cambulance-chasing\u201d lawsuits, resulting in the law firm pocketing millions of dollars while the settlement earns victims a paltry sum. That\u2019s no laughing matter.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here we have the only profession that ranked lower than members of Congress in that Gallup poll on honesty and ethics. Car salesmen are the reason would-be buyers stalk the lots after-hours to scope the inventory; some people will do anything to avoid the circling vultures. They\u2019re the reason you feel like you need a shower following a \u201cnegotiation\u201d that always culminates with the terrifying phrase, \u201cLet me check with my manager.\u201d While sales will be sales and high-pressure tactics remain, today we have ammunition our car-driving ancestors didn\u2019t have: CARFAX and so-called \u201cLemon Laws\u201d that offer protection in the event you\u2019re sold a dud.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Imagine if 75 percent of your colleagues, clients and peers rated your job performance as \u201cpoor.\u201d Would you still have a job the next day? ARasmussen Reports<\/a> survey of 1,000 likely voters in November 2013 found 75 percent rated Congress as doing a \u201cpoor\u201d job. And this isn\u2019t a Democrat\/Republican thing; if it were possible, 78 percent of poll respondents said they would vote to get rid of the entire Congress and start over. No wonder that a recent tongue-in-cheek poll by Public Policy Polling<\/a> found that members of Congress were less popular than cockroaches, lice, colonoscopies and even Genghis Kahn. The good news for these much-maligned politicians: Congress rated slightly higher than Lindsey Lohan, the Kardashians and meth labs. There may be a lesson here, but we\u2019re not sure what it means.<\/p>\n9. Department of Motor Vehicles Clerks<\/h2>\n
8. Insurance Salesmen<\/h2>\n
7. IRS Tax Auditors<\/h2>\n
6. Journalists<\/h2>\n
5. Political Lobbyists<\/h2>\n
4. Labor Union Leaders<\/h2>\n
3. Lawyers<\/h2>\n
2. Car Salesmen<\/h2>\n
1. Members of Congress<\/h2>\n