Welcome Mahablog readers, discussion continues at a followup post.The debt ceiling is a cap set by Congress on the amount of debt the federal government can legally borrow and by a 47 percent to 19 percent margin with 34 percent saying they don't know enough to say, a plurality of Americans are against raising the debt ceiling.
Even more worrisome for Congress members and Barack Obama is that 57 percent of Americans are closely following the public discussion about raising the debt ceiling. Especially members that are up for reelection in 2012.
A majority of Americans (57%) say they are closely following the news about "discussions to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, the maximum amount of money the U.S. government can borrow by law." Republicans are following the issue more closely than are Democrats and independents; upper-income Americans are following it more closely than lower-income Americans; and those with a postgraduate education more so than those with a high school education or less.
More on the implications over at Gallup.
The Hill:
Republicans and some Democrats have said that they will not vote to raise the debt ceiling without serious spending cuts and fiscal reforms attached. But President Obama and Democratic leaders have urged Republicans not to play politics with the vote, arguing that failing to hike the limit would lead to a debt default that would send shockwaves throughout world financial markets.
Considering more Americans by a very large margin do not want to see the debt ceiling raised than those that do, Democrats can cry foul about attaching spending cuts and fiscal reform conditions and call it "playing politics" all they want, but Republicans who campaigned on these issues and were handed control of the House of Representatives and a net gain in the Senate in 2010, understand that without those attachments they will be publicly breaking trust with the voters that elected them.
As far as the so-called progressive left is concerned, Americans simply are too stupid to actually understand the issue.
But my impression is that most people in this country aren’t even being exposed to basic explanations of the issue. They just hear “debt” and “raise,” and they’re agin’ it.
Then again that is the same old song the left like to sing whenever the majority or plurality of Americans disagree with them. In their minds the American public isn't educated enough on (insert issue here), the American public aren't capable of looking into an issue and making their own determination.
I completely disagree with that. I believe the American public is watching the issue closely, they understand the ceiling is going to be raised but want to make sure the endless merry-go-round of borrowing, spending and being forced to borrow more because Washington overspends, ends.
Poll after poll done' this year, from a variety of polling organizations, show that the economy, jobs and the national deficit are the top issues in the minds of Americans.
American voters are watching, they are engaged more than I have ever seen in my 40+ years and I seriously doubt they appreciate being told they are too stupid to understand what they are seeing.
[Update 5/15/11] Maha responds and I respond back, all links found here.
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