Would you buy a used car from a member of Congress? If you’re like most people, probably not. A new Gallup poll finds that only 10% of Americans rank the honesty and ethical standards of members of Congress as high or very high, while 54% give Congress low or very low marks for honesty and ethics. That puts those elected officials right down there with car dealers: Only 8% of those polled gave car salespeople high marks for honest and ethical standards in the poll. There is a silver lining for Congress: They actually did better than last year, when only 7% of those polled gave them high marks for honesty and ethics. Nurses topped the Gallup list, with 85% giving nurses high marks for honesty and ethics. Pharmacists and doctors also got high praise. Surprisingly, even after the financial crisis, 28% of Americans rate bankers’ honesty far higher than that of many other professions. The rankings:
| Nurses | 85% rank high/very high | Journalists | 24% |
| Pharmacists | 75% | Business executives | 21% |
| Medical doctors | 70% | State governors | 20% |
| Engineers | 70% | Lawyers | 19% |
| Dentists | 62% | Insurance salespeople | 15% |
| Police officers | 58% | Senators | 14% |
| College teachers | 53% | HMO Managers | 12% |
| Clergy | 52% | Stockbrokers | 11% |
| Psychiatrists | 41% | Advertising practitioners | 11% |
| Chiropractors | 38% | Members of Congress | 10% |
| Bankers | 28% | Car salespeople | 8% |
