Americans are fed up with Washington and want a resolution to the current problems, a new Pew Research Poll reveals.
The poll reveals three quarters of registered voters would like to see most members of Congress replaced and the overall satisfaction with Washington has fallen 13 points since July, which is the lowest it has been since the 2008 financial crisis.
Ideally, Americans’ confidence and satisifcation will rise once again now that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced today a Senate deal to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government.
“The compromise we reached will give our economy the stability it desperately needs,” said Sen. Reid. “Sen. McConnell and I have sat in very serious discussions over the last few days, and we’re going to do everything we can to change the atmosphere in the Senate and accomplish things that need to be done for our country.” Moments later, his colleague Sen. McConnell echoed Reid’s optimism of passing the bill. “I’m confident we’ll be able to do both of those things later today.”
Convincing Congress that raising the debt ceiling is one thing, convincing the American public is another. A recent Pew Research Poll shows 52% of Republicans, 19% of Democrats and 24% of independents believe the U.S. can pass the debt ceiling deadline without causing major economic problems.
Throughout the shutdown the GOP has carried much of the blame from Americans. The Pew poll shows that 46% blame Republicans for the deadlock in Washington, rising 8 points from when the same question was asked a week ago. While only 37% blame President Obama. An ABC News/Washignton Post poll released Monday shows similar results. 74% of Americans criticize Republicans for the issues at hand in Washington. Only 61% found fault with how Democrats were handling the debt negotiations and 53% blame President Obama.
Abby Borovitz