Americans are feeling down and out. The latest New York Times/CBS poll suggests the nation is at its most pessimistic level since President Obama took office.
The crappy economic outlook, rising gas prices, lingering unemployment and petty bickering in Washington are to blame for the collective doom and gloom attitude among U.S. citizens. And that’s just on a national level. It didn’t even go into issues abroad, like the surging violence in Libya or the depressing Japanese earthquake/tsunami/near nuclear meltdown trifecta.The Debbie Downer-effect happened pretty fast, according to the survey. In less than one month, the number of people who think the economy is getting worse went up by 13 percentage points.Approval ratings for Obama and both parties in Congress are in the gutter. After the first 100 days of a Republican-controlled House, 75 percent disapproved of Congress and their job performance.