"Fiscal Cliff" Stakes Higher For The GOP

Last year, the Republicans and Democrats made an agreement that if the so-called "super committee" could not agree on how to reduce the budget, then certain things would happen at the beginning of 2013. Among those things were across the board cuts to discretionary government spending (including military spending), the end of the Bush tax cuts, and the end of the payroll tax cuts. The super committee failed to reach agreement, and now that agreement is looming.

Neither side is happy about this. So the politicians, especially the Republicans, are now warning that to let this happen will drop the nation off of a "fiscal cliff" and into a new recession -- and they are backed up by a number of economic "experts". Of course, these are the same experts that failed to see the housing bubble would burst and the stock market would crash (losing trillions of investor dollars) -- so their insight is questionable to say the least.

However, a newly released CNN/ORC Poll shows that the politicians and the pundits seem to have convinced a large part of the public that the "fiscal cliff" does pose a danger to the economy. Here is what the poll showed when it asked how serious the "fiscal cliff" was for this country:

Crisis...............24%
Major problem...............44%
Minor problem...............24%
No problem...............7%
No opinion...............1%

That's 68% of the population that thinks this is a serious economic problem and something should be done to correct it. And an even larger percentage (72%) think the two sides should compromise to find a solution, including 96% of Democrats, 67% of Independents, and 43% of Republicans.

But after the ludicrous scene they witnessed last year when Congress tried to reach agreement on the debt ceiling, most people don't expect the two sides to make a serious effort to find a workable compromise. Only about 28% of elected Washington officials to act like adults in finding a solution, while 67% say they will squabble like spoiled children.

But the Republicans need to be careful about sticking to close to ideology and refusing to compromise, because the poll seems to show they will be hurt the most if we see a repeat of the debt ceiling debacle. Consider the following poll results:

SHOULD TAXES ON THE WEALTHY BE KEPT LOW OR HIGH?
Low...............36%
High...............56%
No opinion...............8%

WHO DO YOU WANT TO HAVE MORE CONTROL OVER THE NATION'S DIRECTION?
Obama...............51%
Republicans...............42%
Both equally...............3%
No opinion...............5%

IS THE GOP IN CONGRESS DOING ENOUGH TO COOPERATE WITH PRESIDENT OBAMA?
Yes...............24%
No...............70%
No opinion...............6%

PERCENTAGE SAYING GOP IS NOT DOING ENOUGH TO COOPERATE.
Democrats...............90%
Independents...............67%
Republicans...............48%

IF AN AGREEMENT IS NOT REACHED, WHO WOULD BE THE MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT?
Obama...............34%
Republicans...............45%
Both...............15%
Neither...............1%
No opinion...............4%

SHOULD THERE BE ONLY SPENDING CUTS OR A COMBINATION OF CUTS AND TAX INCREASES?
Spending cuts only...............29%
Cuts and tax increases...............67%
Other...............1%
No opinion...............3%

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORABLE OR UNFAVORABLE OPINION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY?
Favorable...............51%
Unfavorable...............41%
No opinion...............8%

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORABLE OR UNFAVORABLE OPINION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY?
Favorable...............38%
Unfavorable...............53%
No opinion...............9%