Republican lead in poll leaves Obama fuming?

United States President Barack Obama blasted the opposition Republican Party and blamed it for the current economic mess being experienced by the country, even as the latest poll reports said that the Republican party is leading against ruling Democrats by 10 points.

Republicans lead by 51 per cent to 41 per cent among registered voters in Gallup weekly tracking of 2010 congressional voting preferences.

The 10-percentage-point lead is its largest so far this year and is its largest in Gallup's history of tracking the midterm generic ballot for Congress, Gallup said.

The mid-term elections are scheduled for November, when according to current poll trends the Democrats are expected to loose a large number of seats and possibly even loose majority in the US House of Representatives.

Several Indian-American candidates too are contesting the elections this year. In his remarks on economy, the first after his vacation, Obama alleged that the opposition of the Republican party to small-business legislation is directly detrimental to the economic growth of the United States.

Obama said the bill on small-business, which could be driving force for economic revival, has been languishing in the Senate for months, held up by a partisan minority that won't even allow it to go to a vote.

"That makes no sense. This bill is fully paid for. It will not add to the deficit. And there is no reason to block it besides pure partisan politics," he said.

"The small business owners and the communities that rely on them, they don't have time for political games. They shouldn't have to wait any longer. In fact, just this morning, a story showed that small businesses have put hiring and expanding on hold while waiting for the Senate to act on this bill. Simply put, holding this bill hostage is directly detrimental to our economic growth," Obama said in his speech at the Rose Garden.

"So I ask Senate Republicans to drop the blockade. I know we're entering election season, but the people who sent us here expect us to work together to get things done and improve this economy," he said.

"Now, no single step is the silver bullet that will reverse the damage done by the bubble-and-bust cycles that caused our economy into this slide. It's going to take a full-scale effort, a full-scale attack that not only helps in the short term, but builds a firmer foundation that makes our nation stronger for the long haul. But this step will benefit small business owners and our economy right away. That's why it's got to get done," Obama said.

Image: US President Barack Obama