Poll: Americans view economy as poor, split on future

With the so-called fiscal cliff looming and the U.S. economy limping back to life, an overwhelming majority of Americans rate today's economic conditions as poor and are split on where the economy will be four years from now, according to a new survey.

The new CNN/ORC International poll shows only 26% of Americans think the economy is doing well while 74% view economic conditions as poor.

After President Barack Obama's victory on November 6, White House and congressional leaders have switched focus to finding common ground on the nation's budgets to avoid a series of automatic spending cuts and tax rate increases set to go into effect at the beginning of next year if lawmakers fail to reach a deal. The poll, taken earlier this week, was conducted while negotiations between Obama and House Speaker John Boehner appeared to be at a stalemate.

Both sides have presented budget deals they tout as balanced approaches to taming the nation's growing debt but so far no deal has been met.

The poll also indicates Americans are divided on where the economy will be four years from now. Forty-eight percent foresee economic conditions as good while 51% think conditions will be poor.

The CNN poll was conducted by ORC International December 17-18, with 620 adults nationwide questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus four percentage points.