Americans, including large numbers of Republicans, blame President Bush's economic policies for making the country worse off during the last eight years, according to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll released Wednesday, reflecting a sharp increase in public pessimism during the last year.

Only 9 percent of respondents said the country's economic condition has become better off since Bush became president, compared with 75 percent who said conditions had worsened. Among Republicans, 42 percent said the country is worse off, while 26 percent said it is about the same, and only 22 percent said economic conditions had improved.

Phillip Thies, a registered Republican and clothing store owner in Cedar, Mich., who was one of those polled, said the president was doing an able job through the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but that "right after that, it was steadily, steadily downhill."

"There has been a lack of leadership and a lack of timeliness of leadership, of not being conscious of the magnitude of the problems," Thies said of Bush in a follow-up interview. "He's always a day late and a dollar short."

But Lois Coleman, 84, said, "I'm not as well off as I was before he was president and that pertains to all my friends, too, everyone I know." Coleman, of Floyds Knobs, Ind., described herself as an independent.

The economic pessimism has deepened sharply in the last year, intensified by higher fuel prices, the poll found.

When the question was asked in March 2007, 24 percent of respondents said Bush's policies had improved the nation's economy, and 46 percent said they had made it worse.

The increased unhappiness is reflected in an all-time low in Bush's approval rating — just 23 percent now, compared with 34 percent in February.

"It is no surprise that Americans are feeling very pessimistic about the economy — with rising gas and oil prices and food prices affecting their pocketbooks," said Times polling director Susan Pinkus. "They don't see an end to the rise in price. ... Americans blame the president, along with the oil companies, for not having done enough to stem the tide of rising gas prices."

According to 70 percent of respondents, the rising cost of fuel had caused hardship for their families, and the pain appeared spread across all income groups: Seventy-nine percent of people with incomes of less than $40,000 a year said the higher prices were a hardship, but so did 55 percent of respondents with incomes above $100,000.

Scott White, 47, a registered Republican from Saco, Maine, said he had to get public assistance twice in 2007 to pay for home heating oil. He said he expects things will get worse before they get better.

"I'm what I call middle-class poor," said White, who has muscular dystrophy and recently had to stop working because of his disability. "It seems like (President Bush) is not in touch with the American people. ... I voted for him both elections, but I wouldn't vote for him again."

Asked for their view of the cause of the higher prices, respondents blamed the Bush administration and oil company profits in roughly equal measure — 29 percent holding the administration responsible and 25 percent blaming the oil companies, a spread within the poll's margin of error.

Of those polled, 13 percent said commodities speculators were responsible for the increases; another 14 percent said they were not sure who was at fault.

Amber Guckenberg, 28, a stay-at-home mom in Kalispell, Mont., said she's not sure Bush deserves all the blame for rising energy prices, but she wishes he had found a way to rein them in.

"We've had to scale back on a lot of things — not going on camping trips, watching what we buy at the grocery store," Guckenberg said, adding that her monthly heating bills now top $300 a month. "This year, my kids probably won't be able to take swimming lessons because I can't afford it."

The poll also suggested that public support for a foreclosure rescue bill has weakened some, while opposition has strengthened. Only 25 percent of respondents in a May Times/Bloomberg poll said they opposed government assistance for homeowners, while 36 percent oppose it now. Just 55 percent of respondents said they favored such government assistance now, compared to 60 percent of respondents in the same poll.

"I'm totally opposed to government coming to the aid of individuals who made poor decisions," Thies said. "It's tough cheese, Charlie."

While respondents had strong opinions about the state of the economy, they were not sure how to make it better. Asked what the top priority for improving the economy should be, 27 percent said cut taxes, 20 percent said reduce the federal deficit, 13 percent said fund public programs and 13 percent volunteered that something should be done to address the price of energy.

All together, 82 percent of respondents said the economy is doing badly, compared with 71 percent who felt that way when the question was asked in February. Pessimism has intensified: 50 percent of respondents said the economy is doing "very badly," compared to 38 percent in February.

The Times/Bloomberg Poll, conducted June 19-23 under Pinkus' supervision, interviewed 1,233 adults nationwide.

The poll's margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.