Bush Is Faulted on Economy as Gasoline Prices Rise, Poll Shows
June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Like most other Indiana residents, Chris Burden voted for George W. Bush twice, mostly because he saw the Texan as someone with values similar to his own.
Now, with his income stagnant and rising fuel prices making it harder to keep his Evansville lawn-care business in the black, Burden has soured on the economy, and the president.
He's not alone. More than six in 10 Americans say the country is on the wrong track, according to a new Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll. More than half disapprove of Bush's handling of the economy, and 36 percent strongly disapprove. Almost half, 48 percent, say his policies have made the economy worse than it was when he became president; 19 percent say it's better.
``Gas prices are knocking us back into the dirt,'' said Burden, 31, one of the respondents in the poll. ``It seems like, since Bush took office, the government is burning up cash again, and things are getting worse.''
Americans have grown more negative even as the economy grew at an annual pace of more than 5 percent in the first three months of this year and the unemployment rate fell to 4.6 percent in May from 5.1 percent a year earlier. In the poll, 47 percent say the economy is doing badly, up slightly from 44 percent in January.
The nationwide poll of 1,321 adults was conducted by telephone June 24 to June 27. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Energy Prices
Approval of Bush's performance on the economy breaks along partisan lines, with 73 percent of Republicans giving him a thumbs-up versus 21 percent of Democrats. Only 29 percent of independents say they approve. While almost three-fourths of Republicans say the economy is doing well, most Democrats and independents say it's doing badly.
Republicans tend to be more optimistic about the economy, with 26 percent saying it will be better six months from now. Only 11 percent of both Democrats and independents say that.
Those who think the economy is doing poorly cite energy prices and difficulty finding a job as the biggest reasons. Six in 10 Americans say rising costs for gasoline, home heating and electricity are forcing them to cut spending in other areas to compensate.
The average price nationally for gasoline hit $2.87 last week, down from a high of $2.95 in May but up 65 cents a gallon from a year ago. Evansville drivers are paying $2.70 a gallon.
Most Americans -- 61 percent, according to the poll --hold Bush at least partly responsible for high prices at the pump.
`Bush Isn't Working'
``There could be alternate means to get energy and oil, but Bush isn't working on that,'' said Brian Riggle, 28, who quit his job delivering pizzas around Evansville a few months back because filling his tank made it unprofitable.
He's now looking for a factory job, ``something that pays decent, but they're hard to come by.'' Bush is spending too much time and money on Iraq when he should be working to get Americans better jobs, Riggle said.
Evansville, a city of 122,000 in the southwest corner of the state, is the regional hub of a tri-state area that includes parts of Illinois, Kentucky, and Indiana. Its biggest employers are a Toyota Motor Corp. plant north of the city, Alcoa Inc., several area hospitals and Koch Enterprises Inc., an auto-parts maker.
Bush won Indiana and the Evansville area by wide margins in the last two presidential elections. Now his low approval ratings are weighing on this fall's race in Indiana's 8th District, which runs from Evansville up the state's western border past Terre Haute.
Toss-Up
Six-term incumbent Republican John Hostettler, 45, is facing a challenge in November from Brad Ellsworth, the sheriff of Vanderburgh County, which includes Evansville. The race is a toss-up, according to the Cook Political Report, a non-partisan newsletter in Washington.
While Evansville's unemployment rate has dropped below the national rate, to 4.5 percent, Ellsworth, 47, plans to make the region's economy the top issue, said campaign manager Jay Howser.
``The economy is shaky at best,'' he said. ``Too many of our jobs have been shipped overseas and too many workers are being left behind. We plan to hold John Hostettler accountable.''
Hostettler, in an e-mailed statement, said, ``I'm sure the economy will be a significant issue'' and that he looked forward to discussing it with his opponent and the voters. There's no mention of the economy or Bush's economic policies on Hostettler's Web site.
Keeping Their Distance
Republican candidates in close races nationwide are distancing themselves from Bush. U.S. Representative Mark Kennedy of Minnesota, hoping to capture a Senate seat this November, recently replaced two pictures of Bush on his Web site with shots of Kennedy and some kids, according to the National Journal.
George Boop, a coal miner who lives in Evansville, said he isn't sure who he likes in the congressional race, but thinks the Iraq war is hurting the economy, and he isn't too pleased about spending $120 a week on gasoline to fill his pickup. Boop, 49, voted for Bush in 2004.
``Would I vote for him again if he could run? No,'' Boop said, though he says he's not doing too bad financially under Bush because rising energy prices have boosted wages at the mine.
Falling Wages
That's not the case for most Americans. Average weekly wages adjusted for inflation fell 0.7 percent in May from the previous month, the biggest decline since September 2005. Wages were down 0.2 percent from a year ago.
Americans say things were better under President Bill Clinton. By a margin of 39 percent to 13 percent, those surveyed say wages and income grew more when Clinton was president than they have under Bush.
``I had a lot more money in my pocket when Clinton was president,'' said Bill Eastham, 56, an assembly line worker at an Alcoa smelting plant in nearby Newburgh, Indiana. ``I blame everything on Bush; the buck stops there.''
While the Bush administration has touted its tax cuts, saying they have stimulated the economy, six in 10 people surveyed say they haven't benefited from them.
Down $100,000
``I don't think anybody has,'' said Ramona Junge, 65, a retired nurse who lives in nearby Huntingburg, Indiana, and comes to Evansville's Eastland Mall to shop. She says the economy has been poor since Bush took office, pointing to gasoline and stock prices. Her 401(k) plan has fallen by $100,000 since Bush was elected, she said.
``We did much better under Clinton,'' Junge said. `Now a lot of the jobs are just going to China.''
Among those earning less than $40,000 a year, only 24 percent say the tax cuts helped them, while 41 percent of those taking home $100,000 or more a year say they did help.
Worse Ahead
Almost twice as many Americans say the economy will be worse in six months as say it will improve. While those with incomes higher than $100,000 are more sanguine, 25 percent of them say they expect the economy to worsen versus 21 percent who say it will get better.
``The economy is going to continue to expand, though maybe not at the rate it has been,'' said Robert Harris, who lives and works in Evansville.
Over a leisurely lunch on a Monday afternoon in Evansville's largely empty downtown district, where available parking spaces outnumber pedestrians, Harris said he hasn't cut back on expenses because of rising energy costs. Indeed, he has benefited from them: He sells natural gas and invests in energy for a living. |
