Questions - Government Shutdown - February 24-25, 2011

National Survey of 1,000 Likely Voters
Conducted February 24-25, 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, but authorized spending for a few months. That authorization will expire soon and Congress must act quickly or some federal government services could be shut down. As Congress authorizes spending for the rest of 2011, should they authorize spending at the same levels as last year, authorize less spending than last year, or authorize more spending than last year?

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* Would you rather have Congress avoid a government shutdown by authorizing spending at the same levels as last year or would you rather have a partial government shutdown until Democrats and Republicans can agree on what spending to cut? 

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