The afterglow of President Obama’s reelection and inauguration appears to have vanished as increasingly negative views among Americans about his stewardship of the economy have forced his public approval rating back down to the 50 percent mark, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. 
 
 In December, just after he won a second term, Obama held an 18-percentage-point advantage over congressional Republicans on the question of whom the public trusted more to deal with the economy. Now, it’s a far more even split — 44 percent to 40 percent, with a slight edge for the president — but the share of those saying they have confidence in “neither” has ticked up into double digits. 
 
 The poll contains ample evidence of the disillusionment voters feel toward both sides amid a sense of continuing dysfunction in Washington, which since December has been grappling with fiscal crises and deadlines of its own making. 
 
 Almost two weeks into the automatic across-the-board budget cuts known as the sequester, a slim majority of Americans dis­approve of the reductions. At the same time, nearly three-quarters say they are feeling no impact on their lives, and fewer than half expect a toll on their family finances if the cuts continue. 
 
 Still, large majorities expect that the sequester will eventually damage the economy, the military and the government’s ability to provide basic services. Most, 68 percent, say they would like the two sides to work together to come up with a deal to stop the cuts. The desire for cooperation is widely shared across party lines. 
 
 View Graphic Obama’s reelection honeymoon ends 
 
 Asked who is responsible for the sequester, 47 percent say Republicans in Congress and 33 percent say Obama. 
 
 The poll suggests a closer divide on which side the public trusts in the battles over issues such as immigration and gun control — closer, perhaps, than the public’s policy preferences would indicate. Americans largely support the administration’s stand on new measures to curb gun violence, but on basic trust on the issue, the president and Republicans in Congress fare about evenly. 
 
 Obama’s overall job-approval rating stands at 50 percent, down five points from before he took the oath of office in January. Looking along partisan lines, the slippage since then has been particularly pronounced among political independents. Two months ago, independents tilted clearly in his direction, with 54 percent approving and 41 percent disapproving. Now, half of independents express a negative opinion of the president’s performance; just 44 percent approve. 
 
 The president has also seen an erosion in confidence among groups that he has counted as core supporters. Compared with a Post-ABC poll in December, the share of liberals who place their faith in Obama over Republicans when it comes to dealing with the economy is 14 points lower; there has been a 12-point slide among women. 
 
 At 50 percent, Obama’s overall standing in the poll is lower than that of most other modern second-term presidents at this point in their terms. Of the seven second-term presidents who have been in office since Harry S. Truman, only George W. Bush had a positive rating as low as 50 percent at this stage. 
 
 Obama and Bush share another similarity, one that describes what is arguably the most potent force shaping political decision-making in recent years: a deeply divided electorate. Among post-World War II presidents, Bush and Obama are the only ones to have led a nation as politically polarized as it is today. In both cases, there is a gap of more than 70 points between Democratic and Republican assessments of the president. 
 
 Congress remains far lower than the president in public esteem, with only 16 percent approving of its performance and 80 percent disapproving. That negative feeling extends to both parties, with congressional Democrats registering a ratio of 34 percent favorable to 62 percent unfavorable sentiment; Republicans are lower still, at 24 to 72. 
 
 The poll was conducted March 7 to 10 among a random sample of 1,001 adults. The full survey has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. 
 
 At a moment when the statistics — a booming stock market and surprising new strength in the job market — suggest a more vigorous economy, many Americans are not themselves seeing progress. 
 
 Barely more than half of those surveyed say the economy has started its recovery. And after a brief foray into neutral territory, most Americans again give Obama negative marks on handling the economy. The personal assessments of the economy’s trajectory relate directly to Obama’s overall rating: Seventy-three percent of those who say they sense economic growth approve of the way the president is doing his job, and an identical 73 percent of those who don’t see a recovering economy disapprove of his performance in office. 
 
 As they do on the economy, the president and the Republican opposition have rough parity on the question of who is better positioned on gun control, with Obama the choice of 42 percent and congressional Republicans, 41 percent. 
 
 On immigration, Obama has a six-point advantage, with 45 percent saying they trust him more and 39 percent expressing greater confidence in the Republicans’ approach. The margin may be surprisingly slender, given big majority support for a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and strong Latino support for Obama in the November election. 
 
 Nor does the election seem to have produced a lasting consensus on which side is better equipped to figure out what government spending should be cut and what services preserved. When it comes to finding the right balance, 44 percent side with Republicans and 43 percent with the president. 
 
 The poll also confirms one of the political verities of deficit reduction: People may want to see an end to red ink, but there is rarely public support for reductions in popular social programs to achieve it. 
 
 Asked about alternatives to the automatic cuts now in place, 71 percent reject a reduction in Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor, and 60 percent oppose raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67. 
 
 There is broader but still limited support for slicing business tax deductions. Most, 56 percent, say they back limiting tax deductions for high-income earners as part of a path out of the sequester. Tax reform is often considered a quid pro quo for reining in entitlement spending, which is a long-term driver of deficit spending. 
 
 A Post-ABC News poll last week found broad opposition to the across-the-board cuts to the military that started March 1 with the sequester, but there is majority support in the new survey for more targeted defense cuts. 
 
 Cohen is director of polling for Capital Insight, the independent polling group of Washington Post Media. Capital Insight pollsters Peyton M. Craighill and Scott Clement contributed to this report. 
 
 Discuss this topic and other political issues in the politics discussion forums. ||||| Post reporter Paul Kane stops by to give us the latest developments in the talks between House Speaker Boehner and President Obama and if a deal looks likely this week. (The Fold/The Washington Post) 
 
 Post reporter Paul Kane stops by to give us the latest developments in the talks between House Speaker Boehner and President Obama and if a deal looks likely this week. (The Fold/The Washington Post) 
 
 Most Americans want President Obama and congressional Republicans to compromise on a budget agreement, though they, too, are unhappy about the options that would avert the “fiscal cliff,” according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. 
 
 The strong support for compromise belies widespread public opposition to big spending cuts that are likely to be part of any deal. 
 
 Most Americans oppose slashing spending on Medicaid and the military, as well as raising the age for Medicare eligibility and slowing the increase of Social Security benefits, all of which appear to be on the table in negotiations. Majorities call each of these items “unacceptable.” 
 
 A clear majority of Americans, 74 percent, say they would tolerate Obama’s proposal to raise taxes on those with incomes over $250,000, but neither side in the talks thinks that alone would generate enough revenue to bridge the budget gap. A smaller majority backs limits to tax deductions. 
 
 In general, the public mood is sour about both sides. Fully 76 percent see the Republicans as too intractable on the deficit issue, and most, 57 percent, also see Obama as not being willing enough to compromise. Both numbers are similar to those from a Post-ABC poll amid the 2011 clash over raising the nation’s debt limit. 
 
 View Graphic Public advocates compromise, seeks balanced approach 
 
 Underscoring the lack of faith in Washington, just 14 percent see it as “very likely” that Obama and congressional Republicans will agree on a deficit-reduction plan. 
 
 In the first Post-ABC poll since Obama’s reelection six weeks ago, 54 percent of all Americans say they approve of how the president is handling his job — his highest mark in nearly two years, other than a momentary high of 56 percent after the killing of Osama bin Laden. 
 
 The positive trend for Obama extends into another key measure: For the first time in 2 1 / 2 years, 50 percent approve of his handling of the economy. Obama bottomed out at 35 percent on this score after the showdown over the debt limit. 
 
 Nonetheless, barely more than a third of all Americans see the president as having a broad-based mandate coming out of the November election. Among political independents, which as a group narrowly sided with Republican Mitt Romney over Obama in November, twice as many say the president should compromise with the GOP than say he has a general mandate. 
 
 While there is a desire for both sides to reach across the aisle in the fiscal cliff talks, the public is particularly critical of congressional Republicans. That puts Obama in a relatively strong negotiating position with House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), at least in the court of public opinion. 
 
 While only 45 percent of Americans give Obama positive marks, far fewer — 26 percent — approve of the way Republicans are handling the budget issue. Among Republicans, barely more than half approve of their party leaders’ handling of the negotiations, while three-quarters of Democrats see Obama as doing a good job. 
 
 Should the talks break down, 47 percent say they would blame Republicans; 31 percent say they are more likely to point the finger at Obama. Some 18 percent, a growing number, volunteer that they would hold both sides equally culpable. 
 
 Overall, 70 percent of Americans disapprove of how congressional Republicans are doing their job; just 25 percent approve. 
 
 The president holds big advantages when it comes to public trust on broad themes, such as coping with the country’s main problems. He also has double-digit leads over Republicans in Congress on handling the economy and protecting the middle class. 
 
 Two years ago, just after the midterm elections that returned the GOP to the majority in the House, Americans were divided on the economy — 45 percent trusted Republicans and 44 percent favored Obama. Now, the president has an edge of 54 percent to 36 percent on what remains voters’ top issue. 
 
 The president’s advantage over congressional Republicans swells to 26 percentage points on advancing the interests of the middle class. 
 
 But on two specific issues at the core of the debate in Washington — taxes and budget deficits — Obama and the Republicans in Congress are far more evenly matched. On handling the federal budget deficit, 45 percent of Americans trust Obama, compared with 41 percent for congressional Republicans. The balance is similar on handling taxes: 46 percent for Obama and 42 percent for Republicans. 
 
 On taxes, support breaks down along income levels. Among Americans with household incomes below $50,000, Obama leads Republicans 55 percent to 33 percent. But among those who bring in $50,000 or more, Republicans lead on taxes, 51 percent to 38 percent. Obama wants to increase taxes on the top 2 percent of income earners while continuing the George W. Bush-era tax cuts for the other 98 percent of Americans. 
 
 Majorities of Americans are at least somewhat concerned that a failure to reach an agreement could hurt the national economy, as well as their personal finances. 
 
 Nearly nine in 10 Americans are at least somewhat concerned about what may happen to the national economy, including 58 percent who say they are “very concerned.” Fewer are as intensely worried about the potential effect on their own finances. Middle-income Americans are estimated to be on the hook for an additional $2,000 in taxes next year if a deal is not reached. 
 
 Ratings of Obama’s overall job performance continue to peak among women and non-whites, but he is also at his strongest position in years among seniors, an important part of Romney’s coalition. Just over half of those 65 or older now approve of the president’s job performance, marking the first time the number has topped 50 percent since July 2009, during Obama’s first summer in office. 
 
 The telephone poll was conducted Thursday through Sunday among a random national sample of 1,002 adults. Results from the full survey have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. 
 
 Peyton M. Craighill and Scott Clement contributed to this report. ||||| President Obama will deliver his State of the Union address Tuesday enjoying rising approval ratings that have been strengthened by rapidly improving perceptions of the economy and increased optimism about the overall direction of the country, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. 
 
 For the first time in his presidency, Obama will address a Congress fully in the hands of Republicans. And the divided government reflects a divided America. Along party lines, the public is sharply at odds about whether the country should go in the direction Obama wants to lead or where Republicans prefer to go. 
 
 Despite the partisan divisions on most issues, a substantial majority of Americans continue to see political dysfunction in Washington as a big problem. After years of political standoffs, there is considerable skepticism about whether the two sides can overcome their political differences to ease what has become a chronic problem. 
 
 Obama’s overall approval rating now stands at 50 percent, the highest in a Post-ABC poll since spring 2013. His standing is nine points higher than in December and seven points higher than in October, just before Republicans captured control of the Senate, increased their House majority to its highest level in eight decades and recorded advances in the states. 
 
 The Post-ABC survey puts the president’s approval rating slightly higher than some other recent public polls. But most have shown improvement since the November elections as the president has moved aggressively and unilaterally on issues such as immigration and climate change. 
 
 View Graphic Reviving economy pays dividends for Obama 
 
 The bigger factor helping to boost his standing is a series of economic indicators that have shown steadily improving conditions. 
 
 Sharply lower gasoline prices have contributed to the sense of better economic times. A Washington Post analysis estimates that those plummeting prices put an extra $7.50 into the wallets of average Americans during the first week of this year, compared with the same week last year. Consumer confidence is now at its highest level since the Great Recession began in 2008. 
 
 Americans see the state of the economy and the direction of the country in negative terms. Roughly 6 in 10 Americans describe the economy as “not so good” or “poor,” and about the same percentage say that things have gotten pretty seriously off-track when it comes to the overall direction of the nation. 
 
 A majority of Democrats are bullish; a bigger majority of Republicans are bearish. Independents are closer to Republicans than to Democrats in their assessment. 
 
 But evidence of an easing of pessimism is clear. The 41 percent who say they see the economy in positive terms compares with just 27 percent who expressed that view in October. Those saying the country is headed in the right direction, although still a minority overall, have increased by 11 points in that same time period. The last time public optimism about the direction of things was this high was in spring 2013. 
 
 Greater optimism also is reflected in Obama’s economic approval ratings, which now stand even, with 48 percent approving and 48 percent disapproving. It is the first time less than a majority of Americans have disapproved of his handling of the economy since summer 2013. 
 
 Obama enjoys other advantages as he and the new Congress begin the year. On some early confrontations between the White House and congressional Republicans, the president has the public on his side. 
 
 These include the issue of the Keystone XL pipeline, which Republicans want to build without the president’s approval. Obama, threatening a veto of their legislation, says he will await a review before making a decision. Six in 10 agree with the president’s position. 
 
 Congressional Republicans favor legislation that would change the new health-care law to say that companies with 50 or more employees must provide health insurance to anyone who works 40 hours or more, rather than the current 30-hour threshold. A slight majority favors leaving it at 30 hours. 
 
 Obama’s new proposal to provide free tuition for community college also enjoys majority support. 
 
 But on one big issue, Republicans have public opinion on their side. That is over the question of Obama’s executive action to shield millions of illegal immigrants from the threat of deportation. Many congressional Republicans want to block the move, with the House passing a bill last week that would do just that. The future of the legislation is uncertain, but a majority of Americans (56 percent) say Obama’s action should be blocked. 
 
 The new poll underscores the nation’s political divisions. Americans are almost evenly divided over who is taking a stronger leadership role in Washington, with 42 percent saying Obama and 40 percent citing congressional Republicans. Divisions are equally sharp over whether the country should follow Obama’s lead or that of the GOP. 
 
 Those closely divided results, however, are starkly different from those recorded eight years ago after Democrats took full control of Congress heading into the final two years of President George W. Bush’s administration. At that point, the public favored following the lead of congressional Democrats over Bush by more than 2 to 1. 
 
 But if the president takes some confidence from that, another set of findings signal the depth of the divisions that have led to gridlock in recent years. By narrow margins, Americans say both that the president is justified in taking executive action to achieve his goals if Congress doesn’t act and that congressional Republicans are justified in trying to block those actions in court or through legislation. 
 
 A plurality of Americans say they trust Obama over the Republicans to handle the nation’s biggest problems (40 percent to 36 percent). That represents a shift toward Obama in the past month. But compared with public sentiment right after he was reelected in 2012, Obama enjoys far less confidence from the public. At that time, the public said they trusted Obama over Republicans by 15 points. 
 
 On specific issues, Obama is seen as having better ideas for helping the middle class and creating jobs, and he holds big margins on dealing with climate change and helping students afford college. Republicans are seen as having better ideas on encouraging economic development. Neither side has an advantage on who has better ideas to increase homeownership. 
 
 Nine in 10 Americans say government dysfunction is a problem, with 2 in 3 calling it a major problem. Asked who is responsible, they blame both sides equally. Almost half say things will stay about the same in the next year, with about 3 in 10 saying things will get worse and 1 in 4 saying they will get better. 
 
 The previous Congress, with Republicans in control of the House and Democrats in control of the Senate, was one of the least productive in history. 
 
 Asked how they see the future with Republicans now in full control, a third of Americans say they believe the new Congress will do a better job. A fifth say it will be worse, and virtually all the rest say things will stay about the same. 
 
 Obama owes his rising approval ratings to better economic times, but the shifts among demographic groups also show that his greatest gains have come among those who are part of his coalition. 
 
 Since December, his numbers have increased by 10 points among Democrats and moderates, by 22 points among Hispanics and by 19 points among those ages 18 to 29. His approval rating is also higher by 11 points among conservatives. 
 
 Through most of last year, Obama’s approval ratings hovered in the mid- to low 40s, with suggestions that he was following a downward trajectory that was similar to that of Bush in his second term. 
 
 But the current poll moves him in a different direction, at least for now. Obama’s approval ratings at this point in his presidency are similar to those of Ronald Reagan’s as he began his final two years in office. They are lower, however, than those of Bill Clinton at the start of his second term. 
 
 One big difference between now and the time of Reagan’s presidency is the sharply polarized political environment and the partisan divisions it has engendered. Obama has a 71-point partisan gap (the difference between his approval among Democrats vs. Republicans) while Reagan’s was 52 points. 
 
 The Post-ABC poll was conducted Jan. 12 to 15 among a random national sample of 1,003 adults interviewed by telephone, including 311 cellphone-only respondents. The overall margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. 
 
 Peyton M. Craighill contributed to this report.
– Before his second inauguration, President Obama enjoyed a 55% approval rating—but thanks to concerns over the economy, the figure has dropped again to 50%, a Washington Post-ABC News poll finds. Following Obama's reelection, Americans trusted him over congressional Republicans on the economy by 18 points; now the gap is just four points in Obama's favor, 44% to 40%, the Post reports. Obama's 50% mark puts him behind most modern presidents at this moment in their second terms—with the exception of George W. Bush, who also had a 50% approval rating. As for the sequester, a slight majority opposes it, but some three-quarters say it hasn't had an effect on them. On the other hand, most believe it will eventually hurt the economy. Some 47% say congressional Republicans are to blame for it, while 33% say Obama is to blame. But 68% say they want the two sides to cooperate to end the cuts. Click through for more from the poll.