Another Terrifying Debt Ceiling Poll Shows How Republicans Are Willing To Go Nuclear
According to the poll, 52% of Republicans would consider it a "good thing" if the debt ceiling is not raised, compared with 40% who said it would be a "bad thing."
Overall, 56% of Americans said this would be a bad thing, and 38% said it would be a good thing. On Tuesday night, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew sent a letter to Congressional leaders notifying them that the Treasury was using its "final extraordinary measures" before an Oct. 17 deadline.
In the CNN/ORC poll, the possibility of breaching the debt ceiling is described as one in which the "government will not have enough money to pay all of its debts and keep all existing government programs running."
This aligns with a recent Washington Post/ABC poll, which found that Republicans split 25-61 against raising the debt ceiling.
The poll showed that overall, voters believe that by a 46-43 margin, Congress should raise the nation's debt limit before a mid-October deadline - perhaps underestimating the consequences of the last near-crisis.
In that poll, however, a vast majority of Republicans - and the vast majority of Americans overall - said that not raising the debt ceiling would "cause serious harm" to the U.S. economy. By a 66-27 split, Republicans are aware that failure to lift the nation's borrowing limit could inflict serious consequences. Overall, 73% of Americans believe it will cause serious harm.
According to the CNN/ORC poll, Republicans would take the brunt of the blame from a public that, overall, thinks it would be a bad thing if the debt limit is not raised. 53% of respondents said they would blame Congressional Republicans, while 31% would blame President Barack Obama.
On Tuesday, Obama blasted Republicans in a speech from the White House Rose Garden and cast them as potential "deadbeats" for thinking about the possibility of not raising the borrowing limit.
"Think about that. If you buy a car and you've got a car note, you do not save money by not paying your car note. You're just a deadbeat," Obama said.
"If you buy a house, you don't save money by not authorizing yourself to pay the mortgage. You're just going to be foreclosed on your home. That's what this is about."
Obama has said he won't negotiate over the debt ceiling like he did in 2011.