Americans' Mood Sours Over Economy

86% cite 'poor' economy; 51% say it's Dubya's fault

(AP) - Americans' views on the economy have dimmed this summer. But so far, the growing pessimism doesn't seem to be taking a toll on President Obama's re-election prospects. More people now believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, a new AP-GfK poll shows, and confidence in Obama's handling of the economy has slipped from just a few months ago, notably among fellow Democrats. The survey found that 86% of adults see the economy as "poor," up from 80% in June. About half said it worsened just in the past month, compared to 27% in the June survey. More»

His presidency's been about 'preventing disaster,' writes Michael Grunwald

(NEWSER) - President Obama “prevented an atrocity” in Libya, but no one’s giving him credit. Why? “Because he prevented an atrocity,” writes Michael Grunwald in Time . It’s called the “counterfactual problem:” “It's hard to get credit for avoiding a disaster when it's impossible to prove the disaster would have happened without you.” And that pretty much sums up the Obama presidency so far. “He is the counterfactual president,” and as Barney Frank pointed out, “‘It would have been even worse without me’ ain't much of a bumper sticker.” More»

(AP) - President Bush and Barack Obama asked Congress today to release the remaining $350 billion in TARP funds to prop up the troubled US financial system. The White House said Bush acted on a request from the president-elect, who takes office next week. Congress may vote on the request as early as this week, according to senators briefed by Obama economic adviser Larry Summers. More»

Instead of predicting financial crisis, they hid it

(NEWSER) - The men who should have been warning us about the impending financial crisis were a wee bit off the mark at times. MSNBC rounds up some of the dumbest things said:

• "Subprime market problems seem likely to be contained."—Ben Bernanke, March 28, 2007
• "The fundamentals of our economy are strong."—John McCain, Sept. 15

Deal seems to be grinding gears

(NEWSER) - The federal auto industry bailout appeared to be stuck in neutral as President Bush warned today that a deal is not imminent. "We're not quite ready to announce that yet," Bush told reporters on a plane to Afghanistan. Lawmakers expected the administration to quickly reallocate part of the $700 billion market-recovery pot after Congress failed to rescue the Big Three last week, Reuters reports. More»