A new poll released Thursday suggests that after the last few years of repeated financial crises and wrangling between Congressional Republicans and the president, Americans may be increasingly inured to threats of economic doomsday.
With just one week to go before across-the-board spending cuts begin to take effect and a seeming impasse between President Obama and House Republicans, 49 percent say the automatic cuts should be delayed if no deal is struck by the deadline, but a full 40 percent say it would be preferable to let the cuts go into effect, according to the Pew/USA Today survey. Even about one-third of Democrats back letting the cuts go into effect while Republicans and independents are evenly split on the issue.
The weay public is not paying much attention to the issue as a plurality of Americans say they have heard “a little†about the so-called sequester on March 1, and about 3 in 10 each say they have heard nothing at all or a lot.
Looking at the big picture, the public continues to support a combination of tax increases and spending cuts as a means to cutting the deficit, and 7 in 10, including wide majorities across party lines, agree that it is essential for the president to enact major deficit legislation this year.
Americans continue to view Congressional Republicans much more negatively than the president, and 49 percent say will they blame Republicans if a deal is not reached in time to avoid the sequester. Thirty-one percent say they will blame Mr. Obama.
Mr. Obama’s approval rating stands at 51 percent while Republican Congressional leaders are holding steady at 25 percent. Yet, just 34 percent of Americans approve of Mr. Obama’s handling of the federal budget deficit. But he continues to hold a slight edge on the issue as the public prefers his approach on the deficit over that of the Republicans in Congress by 45 percent to 38 percent.
The nationwide telephone survey was the first for the Pew/USA Today partnership and was conducted on landlines and cellphones Feb. 13-18 with 1,504 adults. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.
