Most Americans want Iraq war funding cut: poll

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most Americans oppose fully funding President George W. Bush's $190 billion request to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while a majority supports expanding a children's health care program he has threatened to veto, a Washington Post-ABC News poll shows.

The poll published on Tuesday also shows deep dissatisfaction with the president and with Congress, partly because of the stalemate between Democrats and the White House over Iraq policy, The Washington Post reported.

Bush's approval rating stands at 33 percent, equal to his all-time low in this poll and just 29 percent approve of the job Congress is doing -- a 14-point drop since Democrats took control in January, the newspaper said.

More than eight in 10 liberal Democrats said Congress has been too restrained in challenging Bush's Iraq policy; about the same percentage of conservative Republicans said it has been too aggressive and a narrow majority of independents, 53 percent, want Congress to do more, the Post reported.

Only about 25 percent of Americans support the administration's $190 billion war funding request; 70 percent want the proposed allocation reduced, the Post said.

According to the poll, more than seven in 10 support the planned $35 billion increase included in legislation that would renew the children's health care program administered by the states. Twenty-five percent oppose the increased spending, the Post said.

The poll of 1,114 people was taken Thursday through Sunday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.