Economy In Poor Shape - 8 in 10 Americans Say

This is not good but Washington conducts business as usual!

"More than 80 percent of Americans surveyed say the economy is in poor shape, with unemployment still the public's top concern, according to the latest CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey.

Not everyone is down in the dumps. Seventeen percent of Americans say the economy is somewhat good. Only 1 percent say the economy is very good.

And that's pretty much the same way Americans have answered since Sept. 2008, on the eve of President Obama's election.

The reason for the dour outlook? Thirty-eight percent of respondents cited unemployment as the most important economic issue facing the country. The federal budget deficit was the second most popular answer, with 28 percent.

Rising gas prices (21 percent), mortgage and housing costs (6 percent) and taxes (4 percent) round out the top five concerns.

And where does the blame fall?

Despite the amount of time Obama has been in office, 55 percent of Americans say that former president George W. Bush and the Republicans are more responsible for current economic problems than Obama.

Meanwhile, only one in three say that Obama and the Democrats are more to blame. Americans answered almost exactly the same way when asked the same question in Sept. 2010.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted April 29-May 1, with 1,034 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.

All interviews were completed before the president announced that Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan."


http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chibrkbus-economy-in-poor-shape-8-in-10-americans-say-20110506,0,42797.story