Company for the miserable

It's not surprising that a majority of Americans are worried about the economy - 63 percent say it's in a long-term decline, according to an ABC News poll out today. What is surprising is the number of people who say they're feeling the pinch. From the ABC poll (paraphrased):

63 percent say they've been hurt by the recession; three in 10 say they've been hurt "a great deal"

51 percent say they've been hit by the stock market collapse

Two-thirds are worried about maintaining their standard of living (74 percent of women vs. 57 percent of men)

27 percent say someone in their household has had their pay or work hours cut; 18 percent say someone in their household has lost a job

21 percent worry they'll lose their job, and almost half think they'd be unable to find as good a job if they had to look

53 percent are worried about health care (59 percent of women vs. 46 percent of men); 75 percent of lower-income Americans worry about health care

15 percent have fallen behind on the mortgage or the rent; 37 percent are worried they will (the numbers are highest for women, lower income and those under 40)
57 percent say they'll spend less this Christmas

24 percent approve of Bush's handling of the economic crisis; 23 percent approve of the overall response; 55 percent say Obama's off to a good start, but just over half think he can do anything about it