Barry Brecheisen/Getty Images There is no question that Americans are frustrated with their elected officials, but the latest Gallup poll shows that frustration has reached a fever pitch, plummeting Congress to its lowest approval rating in history. Just 10 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, fewer than at any previous point in Gallup's nearly 40 years of polling. With an approval rating that low, it is hard to find anything that is actually less popular than Congress. In the nearly half a century-long history of Gallup polling, the only people or institutions that have been more unpopular than the current Congress are Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden and Mark Fuhrman, a detective in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, said Gallup's Editor in Chief Frank Newport. Here's a look at some of the things Americans like more than Congress: 
 
 Derick E. Hingle/Bloomberg /Getty Images BP During the Oil Spill At the height of the BP oil spill in 2010, while thousands of barrels of crude oil were streaming into the Gulf of Mexico daily, the BP oil company, which owned the gushing offshore rig, had a higher approval rating than Congress currently has. A June 2010 Gallup poll shows that 16 percent of respondents approved of how BP was handling the spill, which went uncapped for two months. 
 
 Jacques DeMarthon/AFP/Getty Images Socialism It's a label than many of Obama's critics have attempted to plaster on the president's re-election campaign like the scarlet A on Hester Prynne's dress. But judging by the latest polls, socialism is actually more popular than Congress. Three times as many people have a positive view of socialism than have a positive view of Congress. According to a CBS/New York Times poll released last month, 33 percent of Americans view socialism positively. 
 
 John Moore/Getty Images Waterboarding More people think waterboarding, where interrogators pour water over a prisoner's face so they feel like they are drowning, should be used as an interrogation tactic against suspected terrorists than support Congress. According to a November CNN/ORC poll an even 50 percent of respondents said Waterboarding should be allowed. The same poll found that 31 percent of Americans do not think the practice is torture while 68 percent said it is torture. 
 
 Getty Images Abortion In a July ABC/Washington Post poll 19 percent of respondents supported abortion being legal "in all cases," nearly double the percentage of people who support the current Congress. A slightly smaller percentage were on the opposite end of the spectrum, with 15 percent of respondents saying abortion should be outlawed in every circumstances. 
 
 Pierre Manevy/Express/Getty Images President Nixon In the midst of one of the greatest scandals in presidential history, President Richard Nixon had a higher approval rating that Congress currently has. A 1974 Gallup poll shows that 24 percent of Americans supported the president at the height of the Watergate scandal. 
 
 Getty Images Santa Clause Non-Believers More people in the United States have never believed in Santa Clause than currently put their faith in Congress. An AP/Gfk poll in December showed that 16 percent of Americans did not believe in Old Saint Nick as a child. Put another way, roughly the same number of people believe or have believed in Santa as currently disapprove of Congress. Cue Congressional Scrooge/Grinch jokes… 
 
 Yiannis Liakos/AFP/Getty Images Prime Minister of Greece More than twice as many people approve of the job Greek leader George Papandreou did in 2011, the year his country plummeted into the worst debt crises in the Western world, than support the U.S. Congress. Even after Papandreou resigned amid Greece's debt catastrophe, 21 percent of respondents worldwide still supported him, according to a worldwide Gallup poll conducted throughout 2011. 
 
 Seth Wenig/AP Photo Occupy Wall Street The groups representing outraged citizens on both ends of the political spectrum – Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party – both have more support than the current Congress. An NBC/ Wall Street Journal poll in December showed 24 percent of respondents were supportive of the Occupy Wall Street movement and 27 percent said they considered themselves Tea Party supporters. 
 
 Jeff Bottari/Getty Images Paris Hilton Reality TV star and heiress Paris Hilton is the least popular celebrity, but she is still more popular than Congress. An August Ipsos poll on celebrity popularity found that 60 percent of respondents had an unfavorable view of Hilton, making her comparatively popular compared to the 86 percent of people who said they disapprove of Congress. Hilton and Charlie Sheen were the only two celebrities in the poll that were view more negatively than positively, falling below the likes of Brittany Spears and Kanye West, who both had a 45 percent favorability rate. ||||| To borrow the famous line from the 1976 film "Network," Americans are mad as hell at Washington — and they’re not going to take it anymore. 
 
 That, at least, is the conclusion from the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, which finds: 
 
 that less than half the country approves of President Obama's job; 
 
 that the percentage believing the current Congress is either below average or among the worst is at an all-time high; 
 
 that the number viewing the Republican Party favorably is at an all-time low; 
 
 and that the Democratic Party doesn’t fare much better. 
 
 What's more, nearly six in 10 respondents still say the country is headed in the wrong direction, and almost two-thirds think that the U.S. economy has yet to hit rock-bottom. 
 
 And it's unlikely those attitudes will change before the midterm elections that will take place less than three months from now. 
 
 "I think it’s a ‘Jet Blue’ election. Everyone is frustrated," says Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart, who conducted the survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff. "And everyone is headed for the emergency exit." 
 
 See the full poll results here (.pdf) 
 
 One problem solved, others still remain 
 
 According to the poll, President Obama’s job approval rating stands at 47 percent, which is up two points from June. But that’s only part of the story. 
 
 With the stoppage of the Gulf Coast oil leak, 50 percent now say they approve of how the president has handled the spill’s aftermath. That’s a shift from June, when just 42 percent approved and 50 percent disapproved. 
 
 "People haven’t turned in a personal way against him," Hart says. "His numbers, as they’ve gone up on the Gulf [spill], sort of say that he will not be like Bush where Hurricane Katrina took him under." 
 
 Yet, while those numbers have improved, the public’s confidence in Obama’s handling of the Afghanistan war — after the highly publicized leak of documents pertaining to the war’s progress, and after more U.S. casualties there — has declined. 
 
 By a 45-44 percent margin, Americans now disapprove of Obama’s handling of Afghanistan, which is a shift from March, when the public approved, 53-35 percent. 
 
 Perhaps more troubling for the White House, 52 percent say they disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy — the highest disapproval ever for Obama on this question. 
 
 Overall, 40 percent think the country is worse off since he became president; 31 percent think it’s better off; and 28 percent think it’s in the same place. 
 
 That said, seven in 10 believe Obama has met or exceeded their expectations as president. But strong majorities say he’s fallen short on changing business as usual in Washington (65 percent), on jump-starting the economy (66 percent), on addressing the budget deficit (67 percent), and on reducing spending (70 percent). 
 
 Down on Congress and the political parties 
 
 While Obama’s overall approval rating remains lukewarm at 47 percent, it’s still enviable to those on Capitol Hill. 
 
 A combined 60 percent say that this year’s Congress is either below average or one of the worst in history — the highest percentage in the history of the NBC/WSJ poll. 
 
 By comparison, 31 percent say it has been average, and only 6 percent believe it has been above average or one of the best. 
 
 In addition, a whopping 72 percent disapprove of Congress’ job. 
 
 The political parties don’t fare much better. Just 33 percent have a positive view of the Democratic Party, versus 44 percent who have a negative view. 
 
 As for the Republican Party, only 24 percent see it positively — the GOP’s lowest-ever rating in the poll — while 46 percent see it negatively. 
 
 And for the first time in the survey, the Tea Party movement has a net-negative rating, with 30 percent viewing it positively and 34 percent viewing it negatively. 
 
 GOP gains ground on the economy 
 
 Despite the tepid esteem overall for the Republican Party, Republicans have made significant gains on the issue most likely to shape the outcome of the November elections and beyond – the economy. 
 
 In July 2008 — during the presidential campaign — Democrats held a 16-point advantage (41-25 percent) on the question of which party is better trusted to address economic issues. A year later, their advantage fell to six points (35-29 percent). And in March, the parties were even (31-31 percent). 
 
 Now, Republicans hold a three-point edge (34-31 percent) on this question.
– A Gallup poll released Wednesday finds that Americans' approval of Congress has hit yet another record low: 10%. There aren't many institutions Americans have liked less over the last 50-or-so years, according to Gallup: Only Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, and OJ Simpson detective Mark Fuhrman have ever scored lower. ABC News takes a look at some very unpopular things that still manage to rank above Congress: According to an August poll, Paris Hilton is America's least-favorite celeb. But her 60% disapproval rating is still better than Congress's 86% disapproval rating. Socialism is about three times as popular as Congress: About 33% of Americans view the system positively, according to a January poll. About half of Americans polled in November said waterboarding should be permitted as an interrogation technique—meaning more support the technique than support Congress. During the financial crisis, banks were more popular than Congress is now: Some 18% of Americans still had faith in the institutions in 2009. In June 2010, as thousands of barrels of oil were pouring into the Gulf of Mexico every day, 16% of Americans approved of BP's work on the crisis. Click through to see what else Americans hate less than they despise Congress.