Over 2/3 In The U.S. Fear A New Economic Meltdown Is Coming Soon

The Republicans in Congress haven't just hurt their own political brand by engineering the government shutdown, they are also scaring a lot of people in this country. Americans know that the current economy is weak, and could easily slip into another recession. Just last April, about 59% of Americans said the country was in danger of another financial meltdown.

Now with the GOP shutdown of government, the percentage of those expecting another meltdown has jumped another 9 points to 68% or slightly more than 2/3 of the population (nearly 7 out of 10 people). And instead of trying to work with Democrats to open the government again and start fixing the economy, the Republicans are doubling down on their threats to the government and the economy -- by saying they won't vote to raise the debt ceiling unless the Democrats give in on Obamacare and a list of other items, like cutting entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.).

What makes it even worse is that these Republicans don't seem to understand the disaster they are courting. Several in both the House and Senate are now saying that not raising the debt ceiling wouldn't cause any problems for the economy or the government, and might even improve things. No one believes that, especially American voters. They saw the government credit status devalued after just a very short refusal to raise the debt ceiling in 2011. Now the Republicans are talking like it could be much longer this time.

The American people aren't as stupid as these GOP congresspeople seem to be. They know a crisis is looming if the GOP follows through on their attempt to blackmail the government into giving them what they couldn't get legislatively or at the ballot box. What the hell are these congressional Republicans thinking? Are they really ready to cause the government to default on its debts and throw the economy into another recession -- just to get approval of their dangerous ideology?

This is why it's crucial to vote the GOP out of power in 2014. It's the only way to get this country back on a sane economic policy footing.

The chart above was based on a recent Rasmussen Poll (taken on October 7th and 8th of 1,000 adults nationwide (with a 3 point margin of error).