Poll: Obama handling fiscal cliff better

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PRINCETON, N.J., Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Americans said President Obama is doing a better job handling the fiscal cliff talks than congressional leaders, a Gallup poll released Tuesday indicated.

Obama's 48 percent fiscal cliff approval rating is lower than his overall job approval rating, which averaged 52 percent in last week's Gallup Daily tracking, results of the Gallup-USA Today poll indicated.

Washington is scrambling to pass a major deficit-reduction plan before Jan. 1, when more than a half-trillion dollars in automatic tax increases and spending cuts would kick in, sending the country over the so-called fiscal cliff.

Republicans and independents who said they lean Republican are about as likely to say they approve as disapprove, 41 percent and 40 percent respectively, of the job House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is doing in the fiscal cliff talks, Gallup said.

Democrats said they approve of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's handling of the fiscal cliff, 39 percent to 30 percent, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said.

Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews with 1,022 adults conducted Saturday and Sunday as part of the Gallup Daily tracking survey. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.