Poll: Americans see debt deal as bad for nation
By Steven Thomma | McClatchy Newspapers
August 8, 2011
It's not just the stock markets. The marketplace of public opinion also is turning thumbs down on the debt-ceiling deal, according to a new McClatchy-Marist Poll.
The poll found that Americans think the deal is bad for the country, bad for members of Congress who voted for it and bad for the poor, the middle class and the elderly. Americans think that the only ones whom the deal treated fairly were the wealthy and corporations.
"They're negative on the debt deal, negative on the outcome, negative on the process," said Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion in New York, which conducted the survey.
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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/08/08/119959/poll-americans-see-debt-deal-as.htmlMAJOR POLL RESULTS
By 65-27 percent, they think it treated the elderly unfairly. That belief was found almost evenly across party lines.
By 63-29, they think it treated the poor unfairly. Independents felt the strongest, 69-26.
By 61-30, they think it treated the middle class unfairly. Republicans felt the strongest, 66-27.
By 69-28, voters support raising taxes on people with annual incomes of more than $250,000.
By 62-32 they support eliminating subsidies to oil and gas companies.
By 84-14 they oppose cuts in Medicare or Social Security.
By 50-46, they support cutting defense spending.
By 73-23 they oppose cutting Medicaid and entitlements.