Bad News for Obama: 80% Say US economy in the tank, 50% say US will go bankrupt

Two new polls show Americans remain pessimistic about the economy — by far the key issue heading into the November presidential election.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll found that more than 80 percent of respondents still rate the national economy negatively.

The survey also found that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has now tied President Obama on who is most capable of fixing the economy. The two are even at 47 percent — and 55 percent disapprove of Obama’s handling of the economy.

More bad news for Obama: 30 percent of voters polled say they are worse off now than when Obama took office in January 2009, and just 16 percent say they are better off.

Another 53 percent say they are about the same, so the overwhelming majority, 83 percent, believe they are no better off now than they were at the beginning of the Obama administration.