Poll: Most voters say 'super committee' will fail

Posted at 12:39 PM on November 21, 2011 by Catharine Richert
Filed under: Campaign 2012, MPR in D.C.

President Barack Obama and a congressional 'super committee' tasked with crafting a plan by Thanksgiving to reduce the nation's deficit will fail to reach an agreement, say 69 percent of voters.

The statistic is part of a nationwide poll conducted by Quinnipiac University. Just 24 percent of Americans say that the administration and the panel will be able to come up with a plan.

Republicans and Independent voters are more likely to predict failure than Democrats, according to the poll. Still, a majority of Democrats - 54 percent - say there will be no agreement.

About 49 percent of voters want only spending cuts and no revenue increases to close the deficit gap, while 39 percent favor a mix of spending cuts and tax increases. Those figures change depending on party affiliation. For instance, most Republicans want spending cuts, while Democrats are more likely to want a mix of cuts and tax increases.

The super committee was formed last summer as part of a final deal on a plan to increase the debt ceiling. The idea was for Democrats and Republicans to agree by Nov. 23 on a strategy to trim at least $1.2 trillion from the nation's debt over 10 years or face automatic spending cuts to programs that both parties hold dear.

The Quinnipiac University survey include 2,552 registered voters and had a margin of error of 1.9 percentage points.

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