These Poll Questions Show Why The GOP Thinks It Has A Huge Edge On The Debt Ceiling Debate
As Congress prepares to enter into a debate over whether to pay the nation's bills and raise the debt ceiling, a new poll provides a glimpse into what could be some crucial points of Republican leverage in any negotiations.
The poll, from the Republican Winston Group, displays a mentality among the public that raising the debt ceiling is a bad idea — even though Americans as a whole still have a gross general misunderstanding of the debt ceiling.
Consider this question and its results:
That goes along with the general sentiment that hearing anything about "debt" — let alone increasing it — is a bad thing.
But if Congress did not raise the debt ceiling, the U.S. would be caught in the bind of not being legally able to borrow the money to pay its bills but still being legally required to pay them in full. This would force drastic, basically overnight spending cuts. Or more likely, it would force the U.S. to default on its debt, see its credit rating downgraded and would ignite a financial crisis.
The Winston Group's follow-up question, though, is even more interesting. It asks if respondents would be willing to accept "major reductions" in Medicare, defense, education and other government programs.
Respondents still said they would be in favor of not increasing the debt ceiling:
This is where Republicans will have some leverage in any negotiations with President Barack Obama and Democrats. More practically, though, the Winston Group's last question on the debt ceiling is a good sign for Republicans who think they have the leverage to implement cuts in exchange for a debt-ceiling increase.
The question shows that the so-called "Boehner rule" — every dollar in a debt ceiling increase must be matched with an equal amount of spending cuts — polls well with Americans:
