Americans’ concerns about the federal budget deficit and government dysfunction rose high enough in January to knock unemployment out of the top two slots on Gallup’s “most important problem” list for the first time since 2009. [cont.] Frank Newport, Gallup Read more »
Congressional Republicans Are Striking Out
Just about anyone who follows baseball has seen a game where all the close calls seem to go one way, benefiting one team at the expense of the other. So it is with the public’s view of the fiscal-cliff debacle that marked the end of the 112th Congress. Neither party […] Read more »
Republicans fall over the cliff
Just how much did the fiscal-cliff debate hurt the GOP? A lot. Politically attuned Republicans ought to consider the damage already wrought as they plan strategy for the next round, instead of getting giddy about a government default. While the fiscal cliff did not command as much attention as some […] Read more »
Public Lukewarm on Cliff Deal, But Obama Bests Boehner
Americans give a lukewarm response to last week’s agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff, albeit with higher marks for the deal to President Obama than to House Speaker John Boehner. More people in this ABC News/Washington Post poll approve than disapprove of the agreement, but just by a 7-point margin, […] Read more »
The Polls Don’t Say What You Think They Do on the Debt Ceiling
Here we go again. Because the fiscal cliff deal left the debt ceiling issue untouched, Americans can count on a rerun of the mid-2011 “debt ceiling” debate over whether the United States government should be allowed to pay its bills. … It’s generally agreed that Obama and the Democrats did […] Read more »
Most Say Politics in Washington Cause Serious Harm
More than three-quarters of Americans (77%) say the way politics works in Washington these days is causing serious harm to the United States, providing still another indicator of the low esteem in which Americans hold their elected officials and the way the federal government works. [cont.] Frank Newport, Gallup Read more »