Congress is not popular. That's not news. But when Public Policy Polling decided to test just how unpopular it is, the firm may have found a way to make news at Congress's expense.

It surveyed 830 Americans, asking them  “Do you have a more favorable opinion of Congress or … ” and filling in the blank with 25 different unpleasant people or things. Congress ranked lower in the following:

Root canals
NFL replacement refs
Lice
Nickelback
Colonoscopies
DC political pundits
Carnies
Traffic jams
Cockroaches
Donald Trump
France
Ghengis Khan
Used Car salesmen

So what was less popular than Congress? Go inside the blog to find out.

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers won the fourth highest position in the House of Representatives today in a closed meeting of House Republicans, The Hill, Politico and other media are reporting.

McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, was elected chairwoman of the House Republican Conference. It ranks just below Speaker of the House, majority leader and majority whip. McMorris Rodgers has served for two terms as the vice chairwoman of the Republican Conference.

McMorris Rodgers was cast the pick of party establishment both for her experience and to present a female face among Republican leadership. Her opponent in the race, Tom Price, R-Ga., had the support of more conservative forces in the party.

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers has missed a key endorsement in her quest to win the fourth-most powerful position in the U.S. House of Representatives.

U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, the recent Republican vice presidential nominee, has backed Tom Price, R-Ga., in the race between Price and McMorris Rodgers for the chairmanship of the House Republican Conference.

McMorris Rodgers may still be the favorite, especially after last week's elections showed a wide gap in enthusiasm for the GOP among women, but it does show that a McMorris Rodgers' win isn't a guarantee.

Here is the Washington Post's story about Ryan's decision.

The Colbert Report take on last week's report that the level of discourse in Congress has gone down a grade.

A Washington, D.C., group that researches money in politics has created lists of what organizations spend what on whom, congressionally speaking.

MapLight also has put its research on a map that allows you go see that information with a few clicks of your mouse or computer pad.

The top 5 contributors for Washington are EMILY's List, Microsoft, Boeing, University of Washington and Weyerhaeuser Company.

Top 5 for Idaho are Amgen, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, American Crystal Sugar, National Automobile Dealers Association, and JP Morgan Chase.

Click on the map above to find more fun facts.

Pollsters ask that question quite a bit, just as they ask people what they think of the job the president is doing.

In five separate polls, disapproval rating is at 80 percent or higher. The lowest ever according to the New York Times poll; pretty near the bottom says Gallup.

You can read more about the poor polling results here.

But that's not the surprising thing. It seems that the real surprise is where the pollsters found 10-15 percent of people who say they approved of the job Congress is doing.

The fight between House Republicans and Senate Democrats over Federal Aviation Administration is being felt at Inland Northwest airports.

Spokane International Airport is worried about a $3.3 million grant to finish its runway enhancement, and getting the new instrumentation calibrated by the FAA, because the folks that do the calibrating are on furlough.

Coeur d'Alene Airport is worried about a nearly $1 million grant to build a structure for its Air Rescue and Firefighting vehicle.

The grants and funding for FAA employees are on hold because the bill is stalled, and Congress isn't due back until Sept. 7.

We'll have more on this story in Thursday's print and online editions.

With the president and leaders of both house of Congress from both parties at the Summit on Health Care, you had to know there would be filibustering with claims being made.

So how to determine who’s telling the truth? PolitiFact has an ongoing tally of claims from all sides. You can see how they keep score by clicking here.

Iranian protesters are using Twitter to organize and report the protests against the election.

Rep. Peter Hoekstra, a Republican congressman, tweeted that he saw a parallel to the GOP’s travails last year. That prompted some withering responses.

Good Morning America did a piece this morning on “Moms in Congress”, featuring Cathy McMorris Rodgers fairly prominently. Not sure what the news peg was…the lead in suggests it’s “spring and fertility”, but perhaps it’s just a slow news day.