Congress is more loathsome than at any time in the recent past. Positive opinions about Congress have dropped 13 percentage points since April and are at their lowest level in more than 20 years of Pew Research Center polls.

The moderate folks at Pew are moved enough to say that Americans are "extremely displeased" with Congress.

If the Pew survey is an indicator, than the Democrats would seem to be in grave danger this far ahead of next year's midterm elections. Yes, but it's not as if the Republicans are suddenly wildly popular. Pew says "the Democrats' dimmer electoral prospects are more a matter of disillusionment with the party that controls Congress than a revival of the image of the Republican Party."

Not that Pew gets into this, but this is just a reflection that the Great Recession is still quite great and getting greater for most Americans, despite the general optimism on Wall Street. Joblessness doesn't necessarily translate into contentment with the party in power.

Any party in power right now would be in deep shit with the electorate. But if the shit is still deep this time next year, the Dems are cooked.

Along the same lines, another Pew poll notes Americans' opinions of state governments have also fallen. That's no surprise, considering the desperate straits of most state governments (See "New Fiscal Year Brings No Relief From Unprecedented State Budget Problems," from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, for frightening state-by-state details.)