A recent study by the Pew Research Center revealed that the American public is decidedly pessimistic that Congress and the president will ever reach an agreement to avoid the "fiscal cliff" before January 1. The study also found that if the two parties do not reach an agreement, Americans are more likely to place the blame on Congressional Republicans rather than on the president.
According to the Pew Research Center, 49 percent of Americans believe that an agreement will not be reached before January 1. Another 40 percent do believe an agreement will be reached and 11 percent are unsure. This marks a slight positive improvement in the last few weeks.
In the previous poll conducted on November 8-11, only 38 percent believe an agreement would be reached and 51 percent believed no agreement would be settled.
The new poll, conducted on November 28- December 2, revealed that 53 percent of Americans say that Congressional Republicans are to blame if an agreement isn't reached. Only 27 percent would blame President Barack Obama and 12 percent would blame both.
The study's report added that Democrats are more likely to be optimistic about a fiscal cliff compromise than Republicans or independents. It found that 55 percent of Democrats believe Obama and congressional Republicans will come to an agreement before January 1. Conversely, only 22 percent of Republicans and 37 percent of independents are optimistic about any sort of compromise.
A large majority of Democrats say that Congressional Republicans should be blamed for failed compromises (77 percent), while Republicans say the blame should be put on Obama (62 percent). Independents, on the other hand, are more likely to side with Democrats, with 52 percent saying that Congressional Republicans would be to blame.
A small percentage of Americans say they understand the consequences of a failed compromise, the study revealed. Only 28 percent said they "understand the consequences very well" and another 29 percent said they "understand them fairly well." According to the Pew Research Center, lower-income individuals, those with less education and those younger than 30 are more likely to say they have a weak understanding of what will occur if an agreement isn't reached.
Individuals ages 50-64 reported understanding the consequences the most at 66 percent, while those ages 18-29 reported understanding the least at 44 percent. Seventy-two percent of individuals with family incomes above $75,000 said they understood, compared to 42 percent with family incomes lower than $30,000.
News of the impending fiscal cliff has dominated national news since President Obama was re-elected in November. The president and Congressional Republicans must come to an agreement before the end of the year. If not, automatic spending cuts and tax increases will go into effect on January 1, 2013.
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