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Poll: Voters Trust Obama More Than Republicans On Economy

MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) – As the debt debate continues to threaten to bring down the American economy and way of life; a new poll found that Obama is the best of the worst when it comes to handling the debt and the economy.

According to the new Quinnipiac University poll, President Obama is getting a 38 percent approval rating for his handling of the economy, compared to a 54 percent disapproval rating.

But when asked who is to blame for the current debt problems and the ongoing Great recession, by a 2-1 margin, the blame falls on President Bush, not on President Obama. Key to the large margin blaming Bush is independents who say by a 49-24 percent margin that the former president is to blame.

Even with the disapproval ratings, more voters trust the president more to deal with the economy than Congressional Republicans, by a 45-38 percent margin.

According to the poll, voters will blame Republicans over President Obama for a debt disaster by a 48-34 percent margin.

When it comes down to specific policies to help fix the debt ceiling and the national deficit, voters favor President Obama's plans. By a 67-25 margin, voters say a debt deal should include tax hikes for the wealthy and corporations, not just spending cuts.

Republicans in Congress have vehemently opposed any plan that includes any tax increases, regardless of almost all national polls saying voters favor increasing taxes on the wealthy.

On the other hand, by a 57-30 percent margin, voters think the President's debt proposals will impact the middle class, not just the wealthy.

The president gets a 50-41 percent approval rating among women, but gets a 51-43 percent disapproval rating from men. But perhaps most importantly as the Latino population begins to explode, Obama gets a 57-36 percent approval meeting.

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