Two new polls today find that just one third of the public feels President Obama deserves re-election while five times more Americans think Obama has done a worse job fixing the economy than Jimmy Carter, the modern era's Herbert Hoover. Washington Whispers contributor John Zogby tells us that his new polling is spirit-crushing for the depressed White House. “It was a very bad week for Barack Obama. Our polling shows his job approval at 39 percent and the percentage saying he deserves re-election at 33 percent, both the lowest of his term, while the percentage of voters saying the nation is on the wrong track reached a high since he took office at 75 percent,” he said/Paul Bedard, U.S. News & World Reports, Washington Whispers. More here. (AP file photo: of Barack Obama)

Question: What can President Obama, who plans a major speech on jobs and the economy tonight, do to turn the economy around before it's too late for his presidency?

WASHINGTON – As he sets out on a three-day bus tour of the Midwest focused on the economy, President Barack Obama is coming under growing pressure from fellow Democrats to put forward a more aggressive strategy to create jobs than the one he has been touting for months.

Obama has offered a jobs package crafted to win Republican support in a divided Congress. But he faces two distinct problems: Republicans say they won’t vote for several pieces of the plan. And Democrats contend the program, even if enacted in full, would fall short of what’s needed to boost job growth or revive Obama’s political prospects.

White House advisers said the president’s economic team is working on a new approach to jump-starting the sluggish economy.

Sunday, Gallup reported Obama’s overall approval rating had fallen to 39 percent in its daily tracking, the worst in his presidency.

Any advice you'd like to offer the president?

GOP congressional hopeful Vaughn Ward issued a sharply critical statement today in response to Democratic Congressman Walt Minnick’s announcement of an “economic blitz” across the 1st Congressional District during the Congress’ summer break, in which Minnick will host four events to connect Idaho companies and communities to federal funds in an effort to create jobs; more here at Eye on Boise.

Question: What do you think should be done to create more jobs in Idaho?

Item: Gov’t says ‘mass layoffs’ soared in January/AP

More Info:  Employers took a large ax to their payrolls in January, the government said Wednesday, and the cuts are likely to get worse over the next few months. The Labor Department reported that mass layoffs, or job cuts of 50 or more by a single employer, increased to 2,227 in January, up almost 50 percent from the same month last year. More than 235,000 workers were fired as a result of last month’s cuts.

Question: If you lost your job, where would you begin looking?

Employment experts across diverse industries are extolling the virtues of older workers, once considered unwanted drag on the speeding vehicles of modern business. Rather than invest countless hours in seeking, screening, interviewing, hiring and training younger workers — many of whom are gone within a few months — increasing numbers of employers are finding great value in those with gray hair, hard-earned wrinkles and home addresses nearby/CDA Press Editorial Board.

Question: Do you consider older workers valuable?