Californians’ confidence in government and economy dropping

“The belief that political leaders will cope with the state’s and country’s problems is waning among Californians, according to a poll by the Public Policy Institute of California. Half of the adults polled say they think the state is facing rough economic times in the next year, up from 39 percent of those polled two months ago. And 47 percent of say the state is moving in the wrong direction, up from 37 percent. Mark Baldassare, president of the policy institute, said Wednesday that the waning confidence is a big change in a couple of months and ‘reflects anxiety about the stock market, the slowdown in the housing market, rising gas prices and concerns about possibility of home foreclosures due to subprime loans.’ Of the likely voters polled, 71 percent thinks a lot of the money paid through taxes is wasted by the federal government; 55 percent think the same thing about California’s tax money. Job approval for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger dropped to 56 percent from 61 percent earlier. The approval rate for the president has dropped to a new low of 29 percent approval.”