Plurality Feel Obamacare Hurts Economy More Than Sequester Spending Cuts

By Susan Duclos

Barack Obama is spending a lot of taxpayer money, flying around the country in a campaign style to scare Americans about the sequester cuts going into effect on March 1, 2013, pitching worst case scenarios, using facts and figures that have been disputed, even by the Obama friendly mainstream media, but his doomsday rallies haven't had the intended fear-inducing effect that he has been aiming for.

Polling News

Americans are far less concerned with the sequester cuts than they are over the negative impact to the nation's economy by Obamacare.

Despite the inside-the-Beltway warnings about the economic impact of the impending sequester spending cuts, voters are more worried about what President Obama’s new health care law will do to the economy. Forty-eight percent (48%) of Likely U.S. Voters think the health care law is more likely to hurt the economy than cutting government spending. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 29% believe spending cuts will hurt the economy more. Fifteen percent (15%) think neither will hurt economically. 

Here is Obama's problem in a nutshell.

Obama may have his media shills pushing his doomsday scenarios for him and his diehard supporters may be loud and vocal, but the majority of Americans believe Washington has a spending problem,  that includes 55 percent of Democrats, according to the latest polling.

Opposition to another round of stimulus runs two-to-one, according to the poll. This could be because 73 percent of voters polled say cutting government spending would be more likely to help strengthen the nation’s economy -- as opposed to just 15 percent who believe increasing spending would do the trick.

While Obama reportedly has said he doesn't believe the government has a spending problem, the poll showed that out of 13 issues tested, more voters are "extremely" concerned about government spending than any other issue.

Even a majority of Democrats -- 55 percent -- agreed that cutting spending is the way to help the economy. Ninety-one percent of Republicans held that view. 

Via Gallup, who tested Obama's approval and disapproval on nine key issues, large majorities disapprove of his handling of the federal budget deficit (65%) and the economy (60%) with only 31 percent and 39 percent approving of his job performance on those two issues, respectively.

In that poll Obama only saw a majority approval on just one issue out of nine, national defense, with a plurality and majorities disapproving of his job performance on the remaining eight issues.

In another poll, 72 percent believe the economy is a very important issue, 71 percent naming government spending and 68 percent naming job creation, making those three issues the top three out of 15 issues asked about.

The reason Obama's campaign by fear is not resonating the way Obama and his shills wanted it to is because in the end, when all is said and done, Americans know Washington has a spending problem and want spending cuts, even if they are leery of specific programs being part of those cuts.