As shutdown and default loom, crisis mode becomes Washington’s new normal

… Conservatives and tea party activists insist that Republicans will be rewarded for going to the barricades to stop the health-care law. And just about every poll shows that, three years after its passage, Obamacare remains unpopular with voters. In the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, 52 percent said they disapprove […] Read more »

In Washington, countdown to a shutdown

… As one Republican pollster told me, though a majority of voters don’t like Obamacare, they’re not angry enough about it to risk a fiscal crisis that could hurt the economy. So why are Republican lawmakers hearing a different message? Because most of them represent districts so conservative that they […] Read more »

Fight over spending, debt and health law has risks for Republicans and Obama

… The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that a majority of Americans say that they oppose the law—52 percent, compared with 42 percent who favor it. Among Republicans, 78 percent oppose it, and 68 percent of Republicans oppose it strongly. Overall, Democrats like the act, although 31 percent of […] Read more »

Public Splits on Debt Limit Even with Fears of Damage

Americans are expressing conflicted attitudes about the next round of budget battles in Washington, with the public evenly divided on increasing the nation’s debt limit – yet also broadly concerned about economic impact of failing to do so. Forty-six percent in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll favor raising the […] Read more »