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Questions - Government Shutdown - March 30-31, 2011

53% Say Even GOP Spending Cuts Won't Dent The Deficit
57% Okay With Government Shutdown If It Leads to Deeper Budget Cuts
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National Survey of 1,000 Likely Voters
Conducted March 30-31, 2011
By Rasmussen Reports

 

 

1* How closely have you followed recent news reports about the federal budget debate in Congress?

 

 

2* Will the spending cuts proposed by congressional Republicans significantly reduce federal spending and deficits or will they have little impact on overall levels of spending and deficits?

 

 

3* Congress never passed a budget for 2011 and has approved several short-term budget measures while Republicans and Democrats battle over spending cuts. Now many Republicans are saying they will not support any further short-term measures and want a budget agreement with deep spending cuts. Without a budget agreement, some federal government services could be shut down. As Congress authorizes spending for the rest of 2011, what’s more important – avoiding a partial government shutdown or making deeper cuts in government spending?

 

 

4* If Democrats and Republicans fail to reach a budget agreement soon, there will be a partial shutdown of the federal government. Payments for things like Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment benefits would continue, but some federal government services could be shut down until an agreement is reached. Would a partial shutdown of the federal government be good for the economy, bad for the economy, or   have no impact on the economy?

 

 

5* Republicans want to make much deeper spending cuts than Democrats are willing to agree to. Would you rather have Congress avoid a partial government shutdown by authorizing spending at a level most Democrats will agree to or would you rather have a partial government shutdown until Democrats and Republicans can agree on deeper spending cuts?

 

 

 

NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence