Fed Has Few Fans, Poll Finds

The Federal Reserve probably won't be voted the "prom king" of government agencies any time soon, if a new Gallup poll is any indication.

According to a July 10-12 poll, the nation's central bank scored the lowest rating among nine government entities - with just 30 percent of those polled giving it an excellent or good rating and 22 percent saying it has performed poorly.

The new scores represent a significant drop from September 2003, when the 53 percent of respondents rated the Fed's performance as excellent or good, while just 5 percent found it to be poor. The Fed's role in the nation's financial crisis is likely the driving factor behind the erosion of public confidence.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, making news this year for its response containing the H1N1 outbreak, tops the list with 61 percent rating their performance as excellent or good. NASA, amid commemorations of the historic moon landing 40 years ago, followed closely with a 58 percent rating. The FBI scored 58 percent as well.

The Food and Drug Administration, which came under fire in the past year for its handling of a lethal salmonella outbreak, was second from the bottom, with just 38 percent of respondents giving them a positive rating.

The middle tier of agencies included the CIA, Department of Homeland Security, Environmental Protection Agency, and IRS, with respective excellent/good ratings of 47, 46, 42 and 40 percents.

The survey of 1,018 American adults was conducted over phone. It has a margin of sampling error of plus/minus 3 percent.