THE US: US President George Bush's job approval rating has dropped below 60 per cent for the first time since the September 11th attacks on the United States, reflecting growing doubts about the administration's economic policies and uneasiness over Iraq and North Korea policies, reports Conor O'Clery.
Mr Bush's rating peaked at 90 per cent after the attacks and stayed above 70 per cent for much of last year. In recent months it has declined, with a sudden drop of five points in the past seven days, from 63 per cent to 58 per cent, according to the USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll published yesterday.
Last week Mr Bush announced a $674 billion stimulus plan, half of which would go to eliminating the tax on dividends paid to shareholders.
More than half of those polled, some 56 per cent, said Mr Bush favours the rich, while about a quarter said he favours the middle class.
Democratic pollster Mr Stan Greenberg said the drop was a "slap on the hand from the American people".
"If you offer that many billions of dollars in tax cuts and your numbers go down, it is hard not to read that as a no-confidence vote on the plan," he said.