Obama hits all-time lows according to latest approval polls

Barack Obama may be wishing he could re-assassinate Osama bin Laden, as the US President's poll numbers have now dropped to a historic low.

Just days before Obama unveils a jobs and economics plan this coming Thursday, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll has reported Obama's lowest-ever approval ratings - just 44%.

The drop is a hit of 3 points since July, while the US President's handling of the economy is at 37% and just 19% now think that the US is heading in the right direction, another historic low for Obama's presidency. 54% also believe that he is facing a setback from which he cannot recover.

"When [Obama] addresses the American public, he is going to have one more chance to provide some sense of hope and optimism that he ... can provide answers to what is a woeful economy," said Democrat pollster Peter D Hart on the numbers.

The news should be greeted warmly by the main Republican frontrunners for the 2012 election, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Michelle Bachmann.

Whether either of them have a better idea of how to fix the US economy is another question altogether, as 82% of pollsters believe are unhapy with the job the US Congress is doing. And you we thought we Irish had problems, eh? Oh wait, ours are also enormous.