POLL: Majority of Americans Oppose Debt-Ceiling Deal

A new Washington Post poll shows that Americans' faith in Congress and President Obama to get the United States on the right track and sound financial footing is continuing to decline.

The poll, a random national sample of 601 adults, was conducted on August 9 and has a 4.5-point error margin. In a repudiation of the deal struck between Obama and congressional Republicans to reduce the deficit and raise the debt ceiling, 33 percent said they "strongly oppose" the deal and 21 percent "somewhat oppose" the deal. Only 6 percent "strongly support" the deal, while 32 percent "somewhat support" the deal.

When it comes to last Friday's downgrade of the United States' credit rating by Standard & Poor's, 52 percent called the downgrade a "fair" assessment of the country's financial situation, while 34 percent called it "unfair." The GOP led in the blame game for the downgrade, with 36 percent saying Republicans are most to blame, while 31 percent said President Obama, and 22 percent said its both parties' fault.

Obama had a 44 percent approval rating in the poll, while 46 percent of respondents disapproved of the job he's doing. But just 33 percent of respondents said they were "confident" in Obama "when it comes to making the right decisions about the country’s economic future." Sixty-seven percent said they were "not confident" in Obama's ability to address the economy. But Congressional Republicans fared far worse, with just 18 percent of respondents saying they were "confident" in GOP making the right decisions about the economy, while 81 percent said they were "not confident."