A new Quinnipiac University poll has both bad news and good news for President Obama.
A decisive majority of American voters -- 56 percent -- disapprove of the way he is handling the economy, according to the poll released this morning. Yet they trust him to do a better job on fiscal issues than the Republicans in Congress.
"The American people aren't very happy about their leaders, but President Barack Obama is viewed as the best of the worst, especially when it comes to the economy," Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Polling institute, said in a press release accompanying the poll results.
The President's job-approval rating -- 47 approval versus 46 percent disapproval -- remains unchanged from the June 9 Q-poll.
When asked about Congressional Republicans, 65 percent of respondents said they disapprove of the way the GOP members are doing their jobs, compared with 26 percent who approve. That's a slight increase from the 61 percent disapporval that Congressional Republicans received in the June 9 poll.
When asked about the discussions to raise the nation's debt limit, nearly half -- 48 percent -- said it would be the GOP's fault if an agreement is not reached; 34 percent said it would be Obama's fault.
Sixty-seven percent said they favored increasing taxes on businesses and the wealthy as part of an agreement to raise the debt ceiling; 25 percent said it should be accomplished solely through spending cuts.