BULLETIN: China Urges "Responsibility;" Boehner Ties CCB Bill to Debt Deal
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America's political leaders appear to be nearing ground zero on the financial tightrope they have been walking for months.
America's political leaders appear to be nearing ground zero on the financial tightrope they have been walking for months.
In the last 24 hours:
Pending is agreement on a proposed $1.5 trillion debt reduction over 10 years, worked out by senators Harry Reid, Democrat, and Mitch McConnell, Republican.
A number of political elements have played into the dramatic drawing down of tensions over the debt ceiling, due to expire Aug. 2.
President Barack Obama appears to have won the struggle for public opinion, although it is not totally clear cut.
"The American people aren't very happy about their leaders, but President Barack Obama is viewed as the best of the worst, especially when it comes to the economy," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling institute.
"Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of President Obama's handling of the economy, but by 2-1 they pin the blame on former President George W. Bush rather than Obama, who is now more than 60 percent through his term of office."
"Given this public view, it might be reasonable to expect that the president's re-election campaign will be, as it was in 2008, running against the former president, in addition to the actual GOP nominee," said Brown. "The key voting bloc, independents, say 49 - 24 percent that Bush is more responsible for the economy than Obama."
American voters disapprove 56 - 38 percent of the way President Barack Obama is handling the economy, but by 45 - 38 percent they trust the president more than congressional Republicans to handle the economy, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
The country is in a recession, 71 percent of American voters say, but by 54 - 27 percent they blame former President George W. Bush more than President Obama.
The president gets a 47 - 46 percent job approval rating, unchanged from the June 9 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. That tops a 64 - 28 percent disapproval for Democrats in Congress and a 65 - 26 percent disapproval for Republicans. Obama outscores congressional Republicans on several points in the deficit reduction battle:
--> Voters will blame Republicans over Obama 48 - 34 percent if the debt limit is not raised;
--> Voters say 67 - 25 percent that an agreement to raise the debt ceiling should include tax hikes for the wealthy and corporations, not just spending cuts;
--> Voters say 45 - 37 percent that Obama's proposals to raise revenues are "closing loopholes," rather than "tax hikes"
--> But voters say 57 - 30 percent that Obama's proposals will impact the middle class, not just the wealthy.
By a 62 - 32 percent margin, American voters say it's more important to reduce unemployment than to reduce the federal budget deficit. But they say 49 - 43 percent it's more important to reduce unemployment than to reduce government spending.
While 71 percent of voters say they like the president personally, they dislike most of his policies 48 - 45 percent.
When it comes to Obama's job approval, his base remains intact. Democrats give him a thumbs up 81 - 11 percent, while disapproval is 83 - 13 percent among Republicans and 53 - 40 percent among independent voters. Obama gets a 50 - 41 percent approval rating among women, but men disapprove 51 - 43 percent.
"Obama has established a bond with the American people on a personal level. Even Republicans say 49 - 32 percent they like him personally. But his policies are another story," said Brown. "Look at independents, who like him as a person 70 - 15 percent, but dislike his policies 55 - 35 percent."
Voters say 55 - 39 percent that the U.S. should not be fighting in Afghanistan, although they approve 75 - 19 percent of Obama's decision to begin withdrawing troops. The U.S. should not be involved in Libya, voters say 56 - 32 percent.
American voters are divided on whether they would support a law to legalize same-sex marriage in their state, with 46 percent in support and 48 percent opposed. Voters under 35 years old support same-sex marriage 57 - 36 percent, while voters 35 to 54 years old split 49 - 46 percent and voters over 55 years old are opposed 56 - 38 percent. White Catholics support same- sex marriage 56 - 38 percent while white Protestants are opposed 61 - 34 percent.
"American attitudes toward homosexuality in general and same-sex marriage in particular are changing," said Brown.
From July 5 - 11, Quinnipiac University surveyed 2,311 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.
The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia and the nation as a public service and for research. For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter.
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