Poll: Obama Not Blamed For Economy - Survey Finds Blame Falls On Bush Administration, Financial Inst

[Kadie]

Jul 29, 2009 4:01 pm US/Pacific
Poll: Obama Not Blamed For Economy
CBS/NY Times Survey Finds Blame Falls On Bush Administration, Financial Institutions

By BRIAN MONTOPOLI, CBSNews.com
NEW YORK (CBS News) ― While Americans have become slightly more optimistic about the economy, they continue to have overwhelmingly negative perceptions of the current economic situation overall, a new CBS News/New York Times poll finds.

But while 82 percent of those surveyed say the economy is in fairly or very bad shape, just four percent blame President Obama, who has now been in office for slightly more than six months, for the current economic situation.

Instead, they blame the administration of his predecessor, George W. Bush (30 percent), Wall Street and financial institutions (29 percent), and Congress (12 percent).

Obama is seen as a better steward of the economy than Republicans in Congress. Asked who will make better decisions on the economy, a majority of those surveyed (56 percent) cited Obama. Just one in four pointed to Congressional Republicans. Still, Republicans have gained some ground here: In April, 63 percent said Obama would make better decisions.

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http://cbs13.com/national/obama.economy.poll.2.1106719.html