Americans see both political and personal losers from the debt ceiling debate and the compromise agreement that resulted from it. Although more respondents in the latest Economist/YouGov Poll see President Obama and the Democrats as losing than see the Republicans and the Tea Party that way, neither Republicans nor the Tea Party emerge as clear winners. At best, those two groups came out even.
And each political group sees itself as losing more than they won. 43% of Democrats say Democrats lost (and only 14% say the Democratic won most things in the debate). 31% of Republicans say Republicans lost more than they won, compared to 21% who think Republicans won). And even the Tea Party sees itself as net losers: 41% of Tea Party identifiers think the Tea Party lost more than it won; only 19% think the opposite.
How successful were each of the following in achieving their goals when it came to the debt limit agreement? Table displays all respondents perceptions about the parties
| Democrats | Republicans | Tea Party | President Obama | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Achieved almost all of what they wanted | 5% | 9% | 9% | 5% |
Achieved most of what they wanted | 10% | 19% | 16 | 11% |
Came out about even in the compromise agreement | 22% | 26% | 19% | 23% |
Lost most of what they wanted | 28% | 15% | 16% | 25% |
Lost almost all of what they wanted | 10% | 4% | 8% | 12% |
Not sure | 25% | 25% | 32% | 24% |
When it come the social groups, there is a clear perception about who lost in the budget battle: seniors, the poor, students and the taxpayers. Just about two out of three Americans say each of those groups will be hurt by the budget cuts that were part of the debt ceiling increase agreement.
Do you think the budget cuts passed by Congress are likely to help or hurt the following groups?
| Seniors | The poor | The rich | Taxpayers | Students | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Help | 7% | 7% | 36% | 7% | 5% |
No effect | 11% | 15% | 34% | 13% | 14% |
Hurt | 69% | 65% | 16% | 65% | 65% |
Not sure | 14% | 13% | 14% | 15% | 15% |
77% of seniors believe seniors will be hurt.
One group that seems less affected is the rich. Americans see them as either being helped by the budget cuts or not being impacted one way or the other.
Economist/YouGov poll archives can found here.
Photo source: Press Association
