Americans back mixed solution for debt
By Steve Holland
Americans overwhelmingly are concerned about the U.S. debt crisis and a majority backs the type of compromise pushed by President Barack Obama, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found on Tuesday.
The poll found that 56 percent of Americans want to see a combination of government spending cuts and tax increases included in a deal to bring down the U.S. budget deficit and permit a vote to raise the country's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling.
This is the approach favored by Obama and his fellow Democrats to begin to put America's fiscal house in order.
Republicans oppose tax increases and instead want to cut back deeply on spending, saying the federal budget has gotten out of control.
"It does seem to be that the popular narrative is falling on the side of the president on this one," said Ipsos pollster Julia Clark.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll of 600 adults, including 512 registered voters, had a margin of error of 4 percentage points for all respondents and 4.3 percentage points for registered voters. It was conducted overnight on Monday.
