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As Republicans and the White House continue to jostle over the "fiscal cliff," the public remains pessimistic about a solution and is largely prepared to blame the GOP if no agreement is reached.
A new poll from the Pew Research Center and the Washington Post shows that only four in 10 adults believe that the two sides will hammer out an agreement to dodge the fiscal cliff by its Jan. 1 deadline, while nearly half (49 percent) believe no deal will get done in time.
The $2.2 trillion proposal floated by House Speaker John Boehner was shot down by the White House, which said Republicans' rejection of tax hikes for the wealthy and sweeping cuts to popular social programs are unacceptable. NBC's Chuck Todd reports.
What's more -- in a trend surely being eyed by the Obama administration -- the public still appears ready to place blame for the impasse on congressional Republicans over the White House by a nearly 2-1 margin.
With a divide similar to public perceptions earlier in November, 53 percent of those surveyed said they would point the finger at the GOP for the failure of the negotiations, while just 27 percent say the president would be at fault.
The fiscal cliff counter-offer issued by House Republicans has one thing in common with last week's White House proposal – neither was designed to win any bipartisan support. The Daily Rundown's Chuck Todd reports.
While Democrats surveyed are far more optimistic than Republicans about an agreement (by 55 to 22 percent), all partisan groups appear uncertain about exactly what the consequences of the cliff's automatic spending cuts and tax increases could be. Only about a third of adults overall say they understand the effects of the fiscal cliff "very well," but over 60 percent say those effects will have a "major effect" on the US economy. But not as many respondents think that a tumble over the cliff will dramatically affect their own lives, with 43 percent saying the cuts and taxes would have a "major effect" on their personal finances and 35 percent labeling the consequences "minor" in their own lives.
Yuri Gripas / Reuters
U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) speaks during a GOP news conference on the "fiscal cliff", on Capitol Hill in Washington, November 28, 2012.
The survey was conducted between Nov. 28 and Dec. 2 among 1,003 adults. It has a 3.7 percent margin of error among its overall sample of adults.
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Recalling Congressional representatives should be and is a difficult process. It should only be used against those who violate the trust the people have placed upon them. But, when that sacred trust has been willfully and purposefully violated, then the people have no alternative but to remove them from office. Such is now the case with a group of far right wing, extremist, fanatics in Congress who are holding the people hostage with their demands that all political and economic power in the American Republic be placed in the hands of a small group of vulgarly wealthy individuals whom they represent.
The far right wing, extremist, fanatics in Congress have usurped the power of one of the American Republic’s oldest and most respected political parties, the Republican Party. These individuals have sworn their allegiance to a small group of wealthy plutocrats who control the power to have them elected or defeated for office. To that end, they have taken a pledge not to raise taxes on the wealthy regardless of the needs of the Republic and the people. They have not shared what other directives they have pledged to carry out.
Some brave Republicans have stated that they intend to break their pledge to their plutocrat owners believing their pledge to the Republic and the people are far more important. They have wisely and honorably agreed to enter into negotiations with the President of the United States in a combined effort to seek a “balanced approach” to the nation’s debt crisis. Grover Norquist, the leading and most publically known of these plutocrats, responded to the Republican Congressional delegation that he would make certain any member who breaking the pledge of allegiance to him would not return to his or her Congressional seat in the next election. The current Speaker of the House and the Senate Minority Leader promptly responded by pledging their continued support of their pledge of allegiance to Norquist.
The sacred trust between the people and their Congressional representatives has been violated by far right wing, extremist, fanatics who have sworn their allegiance to a group of plutocrats rather than to the Republic and to the people. The time for action has become necessary.
Petitions of recall are now being raised against the far right wing, extremist, fanatic membership in the Republican Congressional delegation with the stated purpose of returning them to their homes and to replace them with CENTER candidates from whatever party charging them twofold:
(a) To pledge their allegiance only to the American Republic and to its people; (b) and, that they work together in a purposeful, combined effort to resolve the problems coming before the government of the United States of America and its people.
I don't care about parties or politics, I care about this country and until these people up here look into WHO Obama is and WHO he has sorrounded himself with they will never understand what's really going on.
Please think bigger than you are and look up who his czars are, who his dad was that he idealized, his mom, and who his mentors were. If you don't think all of that shaped who he is than READ HIS OWN BOOK...it ties in perfectly with everything he has done and everyone he appointed to positions of power.
I did my homework, are you doing yours?
John, your getting all worked up over this thing. Barrack Obama is actually a decent family man. He isn't intent on reforming America to his personal liking. Although, some of his policys haven't made things peachy for all. Don't get all caught up in propoganda books about "czars"
Remember the Czars Bush surrounded himself with.. Rumsfeld. Cheney, some pretty unsavory characters, wouldn't you say? Two wars, economic collapse, terrorist attacks, those guys messed up a lot more than our boy Barrack has (so far, anyways)
You need to take a breath, or you'll be digging a fallout shelter, hoarding seeds, and we'll be watching you on Doomsday Preppers..
I'm starting to think the fiscal "cliff" may be necessary medicine. We'll get across-the-board tax increases coupled with meaningful spending reductions. That's probably a better, less political outcome than anything that is likely to come from the current crowd of elected leaders. A short-term recession may result, but that is a better alternative than Greece-like conditions in a decade.
Finally, someone whom I can agree with. Unless everyone shares some pain, the longterm financial problems will never get solved. Oh, and it wouldn't hurt to impose some term limits on Congress at the same time.
Time for Speaker Boehner to man up.
The GOP is the fiscal cliff failure.
Ask yourself a simple question
Do you remember that huge increase in your paycheck when the Bush taxcuts took effect?
I didn't think so
That will be the same as the increase when they end, PERIOD!!
It's alright, I won't be voting any GOP come 2014 and 2016, they sealed their coffin with me, it will take decades of change before anyone will believe the GOP again.
Glad that the TAX cuts will expire, and no deal is needed for that to happen. However, GOP have screwed the middle-class by saying if the wealthy get TAXED more then so do the middle class.
Hey GOP, let me teach you a lesson, Don't continue to piss off majority of America and expect to get elected.
A Democrat not voting Republican.
IF 1003 people determine what the entire nation thinks then this just confirms my thinking that you can get any desired result you seek IF you know where to take the poll.
Fix the debt! Fix Immigration by sending ALL of the illegals back and let them apply the right, proper and ethical way.
Stop the "give away" programs for those too lazy to go to work!
It's politics as usual in Washington. Sadly, the attitude seems to be "the public be damned." There will be a deal reached at the last possible minute and both camps will claim success. Unfortunately, a more favorable outcome would probably be possible if both sides would negotiate in good faith and reach an accord that would produce a more reasoned outcome now, rather than waiting until the last minute to give the public something so that everyone can claim victory with a less than satisfactory result.
When The Fiscal cliff Happens Make Sure You Have A Parachute so you don;t land on all this political bull @!$%# boner needs to be fired and hell fire the rest of the rich and start over with the middle class running the country we could do a better job if they had to earn there pay they would see it from the middle class view so to all replublicans let this country go bankrupt what the hell then they can go and take there millions and get lost
Get educated. The Country will go bankrupt do to our of control spending. If we give the government 5 trillion a year, they would figure out how to spend 10 trillion.
Living within our means is what needs to happen.
Cliff Jumping!
The next great American pastime?
Its time for Congress to so the right thing not the politically expedient thing. Who cares what the people think about tax rates when 47% of them do not pay income taxes!!! What do you think their opinion is going to be?
Even Democrats have to realize that we are broke and merely adding revenue without spending cuts only perpetuates more waste.
Put the cuts on the table now and the GOP will come around to a temporary rate increase on the wealthy. Time to compromise or face the cliff (which may be the best thing to happen. That is except for those in Congress).
maobama,
You know that the House (Republican controlled) is the part of Congress that has all control over the purse strings. It is the Republicans that are out of control spending.
It's time you wingnuts got out of your bubble---the GOP ran the worst presidential campaign in our history. It was so bad that historians will write book after book about their epic failure. Although the GOP tried to fix the election with their voter purge----all that did was make the folks they set out to screw very angry and determined ,more than ever, to vote. Every tactic the GOP tried blew up. The repubs don't like us, but that didn't stop them from trying to get our vote. Some of you think "community organizer" is a bad thing....no it's not. Obama won because he had the ground game organized. I volunteered to work with the Democrats. The neighborhood Dem headquarters were mobbed by folks that wanted to help. We had phone banks and did canvassing. Going door to door in person works...damn those community organizers.
We won--- twice---get over it.
The worst campaign in history???
I think that would have to go to Walter Mondale in 84'.
And they voted for Obama since he appeared to be the lesser of 2 a$$holes.
Also the food stamp crowd voted for him in droves as well. When there are 47 million on food stamps that equals a lot of votes.
So Romney threw the 47 million on food stamps under the bus. He should have thought about that before he threw them into the street. Too bad. Republicans are really slow thinkers.
Poll? I don't believe in no freak'n poll!
Next thing you gonna tell me is the poll says Obama is gonna be re-elected.
We been obstruct'n and lie'n and supress'n for four years now.
How's Obama gonna win the freak'n election again.
PSYCHE!!!!!
FOUR MORE YEARS FOUR MORE YEAR FOUR MORE YEARS BABY FOUR MORE YEARS
I'm not on any public assistance and I thought that Omama was clearly much better than Romney.
Why should people who do not pay income taxes have a right to demand that the top 2% pay more in taxes?
I mean the survey has to have an asterisk by it since is it really right for people that have no chips in the game to ask that the wealthy do more?
Hilarious! You GOP'ers keep telling yourselves that everyone that wants the rich to pay their fair share are welfare recipients. Maybe you even believe it. Just goes to show how stupid you are.
Not necessarily welfare recipients, but 47% of Americans do not pay income taxes.
It's really interesting, now that almost all the ballots have been counted, that Romney only got 47% of the popular vote. I guess all those that do not pay taxes voted for Romney. Go figure that one.
The fact is that the Executive and Legislative branches of the government are elected to govern. This oneupsmanship and grandstanding by both parties in both branches is not governing. Delaying making any decisions until the very last minute, and then just kicking the can down the road (which is how we got to the 'fiscal cliff') is not governing. We have not nearly enough statesmen (or women) who will ignore the partisanship and pollsters and get the job done. But apparently too many voters condone this non-governing by their representatives, and so we are where we are, and we are to blame. If any of us worked at our jobs the way Congress works, we'd be fired for our inability or unwillingness to do the jobs we were hired to do. So why does Washington get away with it time and time again?
Obviously the public should blame the GOP. BO was elected so that we get more or at least we dont give up what free stuff we get now.
Kick out all of the GOP if they dont agree to automatic raise to spending limits. This should not be hard for smart voters to figure out.
We voted and the Republicans lost the election! Now they need to do what the public majority voted for.
I wish Obama would just do it (tax the rich), without congressional approval, that's the way George Bush ran the government when he was is office and no one complained. Democracy did not exist for those eight years, we had a military government. How do the think the rich got these tax cuts in the first place?
Since BO is already on a socialist path, he should go all the way and adopt Marxist policies. No point doing it half ass.
Why is it that people find this so complicated? Yes, business is greedy. So are rich people, poor people, and everyone in between.
There is one common thread amongst all of us. This country's government is spending too much money based on what it is earning. We are in a struggle between who will decide how our earnings are spent. Do we decide more as individuals or do we want our government to make greater decisions?
Does anyone remember what business managers are measured on? It isn't how many jobs they create or where they create them? They are rated on the profitability of their companies. Most of our retirement plans also rely on the success of those companies. They have no obligation to create domestic jobs.
There is only one simple answer, we as a country need to be competitive. If it costs more to produce things here, our businesses and others will produce elsewhere. It's called a market! The rest of the world doesn't care what we think is fair; they will try to get the most out of their efforts too.
The only win here is to stop trying to manipulate our society with the tax system. Develop a flat tax with a base line exclusion. The 1st $40K (name your favorite amount here) is tax free for everyone rich, poor and everyone in between. Above that amount, it's all taxed at a flat rate.
Public would blame GOP more. Of course we would, because it's there fault.
The GOP is not based at all in reality.
@ AC, Boston
Well said. In all the election hyperbole, many forget they have 401K plans and other investment too and they are invested in offshore. Its not only the rich, but middle class people have investments too.
Flat taxes is an interesting thought. Govt revenues would go down at a faster paste when the economy slows down (less consumption / purchasing will lead to less revenue). Secondly a flat tax system has less flexibility in redistributing wealth (what will the politicians do if they cannot free stuff ?).
Focus on Jobs , it sounds great, Boehner & McConnell could care less about JOBS, they both get a pay check for doing nothing. This is not about what is good for the Republicans or the Democrats. It should be about what is good for the United States of America and these two ???? have lost site as to why they are even in Washington DC. They have given the good paying jobs away and still expect taxpayers to believe they are working for the common person. If this pair had to live what they preach about social security, medicare, and entitlements. the issues related to a financial cliff wouldn't exist. Wake up America - Term LIMITS now and get their health care, pensions in line with their constituents. Get TERM LIMITS on the ballot and we might get back on trACK.
The simple truth is if Obama had implement his tax reform in either 2009 or 2010, with his democratically controlled congress that was passing everything he wanted, like he promised to do in his first campaign, we wouldn't be facing this financial cliff.
All this poll reveals is how stupid the American people have become wallowing in Obama's political rhetoric.
Reelecting Obama has condemned this country to financial suicide by Obama. Its only a matter of time.
Right! Blame the election results on "stupid" people. Republicans still don't understand that 'what happened' is more and more people are beginning to see through the GOP obstructionist tactics which are intended to benefit the uber-rich. LOL
@what happened: Like the rest of your republican comrades you too have a short memory. The GOPs played the filibuster rule to the limit during those years and were successful in preventing any kind of meaningful legslation from occuring. Pat yourself on the back if it makes you feel any better.
Btw, how is it in the world of denial? Elections have consequences and it's about time that people like yourself wake up to that fact.
Thank you for demonstrating that my post was factual. You people are stupid. I love the way you take the filibuster deception hook line and sinker. If what you said were true or you were informed, you would know that the democrats in congress had procedural rules to prevent a filibuster on anything they wanted and used them. Duh! how do you think they got Obamacare through Congress when the Republicans vowed to filibuster it. To quote Homer Simpson, "DUH!"
Obama added over $6 trillion to the national debt in less than 4 years, but what it produced is even more important as he added 15.2 million people to the food stamp rolls. That an average of 73,077 people getting added to the food stamp rolls each week Obama's been in office. Compare this number to the number of people who have dropped off the unemployment roll and you'll find out that Obama's job numbers are a fantasy.
You two people are so brilliant you should have no problem in explaining how the republicans fillibustered Obama's tax reform in 2009 and 2010 when Obama hadn't propose his tax reform to congress in those two years.
So if the republicans filibuster all of Obama's policies, then in 2010 when Obama was lobbying for and got the Bush tax cuts to the rich extended, why didn't they filibuster this Obama action? After all, of the 19 richest congress members, 11 of them are democrats and the Republicans obstruct anything that benefits democrats.
Not to worry and stay in your fantasy world for when reality returns to you, your going to be crying like babies. Adding an average of 73,077 people to the food stamp rolls/week is not a sign of economic growth and Obama letting austerity get one food in our door is just a sign of failed leadership.
You Obama supporters are funny. Thanks for the laugh.
375 filibusters in less than four years isn't exactly a myth. The ONLY way to override a filubuster is 60 votes and if you think even one repub is going to cross the aisle you're dumber than I thought. Look in a mirror, pal, because you're the one living in fantasy land.
And btw, in case you forgot, after your hero GWB enacted tax cuts unemployment was stagent to lower. 860,000 job losses/month when he left office isn't exactly something to brag about. And to refresh your memory, under his leadership the financial industry came close to collapse. Wanna brag about that or wait until 2016 when the GOPs get their collective asses kicked like they've been before. Your party is a bunch of losers on a track toward oblivion. Keep up the good work!
Obamacare passed because the democratic leadership used procedural rule to prevent a republican filibuster, not override it.
If there was a filibuster, it was because the democratic leadership allowed it to happen.
I voter for Obama as I had been a democrat for 45 years, but when Obama hired Bush's economic adviser and stayed the Bush economic course of Bailouts, stimulus and tax cuts to the rich, I stopped supporting him.
I had read Obama speech on the Senate floor explaining the perils of raising the debt limit and increasing the national debt. I ddn't like Bush adding $5.1 trillion to the national debt in 8 years, I'm certainly not going to support a man who added over $6 trillion to the National debt in less than 4 years.
Especially when the perils to our economy he explained have now become the realities of today.
All I can tell you Obama supporters to do is buy a lot of tissues. You're all going to be crying like baby when the reality of Obama's policies and debt crisis lowers your standard of living big time.
whathappened,
Ya, and 2 Republicians crossed over because the "independent" Lieberman voted with Republicians.