The Jefferson Post editorial board must have resolved to be nicer to politicians in the new year.

In an unsigned editorial today, the board praises U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, noting that while it disagrees with the Banner Elk Republican's stands on some issues, it respects her "remarkable work ethic."

"Whether you like her positions or not, we believe everyone should agree that if all members of Congress worked as hard as Foxx, our government would be the better for it," the paper writes.

It says she works particularly hard at constituent services, such as expediting a passport or resolving a delayed Social Security check. 

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx says Congress has a low approval rating because it's doing too much.

In a guest column in the Jefferson Post, the Banner Elk Republican writes that two recent polls have shown that Americans trust in the federal government is at an all-time low.

Foxx notes that Congress recently approved a $35 billion expansion over five years of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, funded in part with increases on cigarette taxes. (Foxx voted against the bill.) She calls this "an exercise in irony."

It seems like common sense to reign in spending and the government's role in our lives during seasons of distrust and dissatisfaction. Instead the new Majority in Congress is dead set on creating additional expensive government programs.

But a September Gallup poll showed respondents were dissatisfied with Congress because it's not doing enough — not that it's doing too much.

And a Washington Post-ABC News poll showed 72 percent favored passing the SCHIP expansion.

Correction: An earlier version of this post linked to the wrong poll. Foxx was referencing this poll, also by Gallup in September, which states that trust in Congress is at its lowest since 1972.