An overwhelming majority of Americans reject the debt-reduction deal reached this week and don't believe it will reduce government spending, with 53 percent saying they oppose the agreement and just 22 percent voicing approval, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released Wednesday.
Another 26 percent are not sure of the outcome, according to the survey of 1,000 likely voters Monday and Tuesday.
One reason for the tremendous percentage of disapproval might be that most voters, 58 percent, say it’s unlikely the compromise will lead to a major decrease in federal spending; only 35 percent consider significant spending cuts even somewhat likely, the poll shows.
Conservative voters strongly oppose the deal, while liberals are evenly divided; moderates disapprove by a 51 percent to 20 percent margin.
Republicans and unaffiliated voters disapprove by a 4-to-1 margin; Democrats are more evenly divided, with 34 percent favoring the deal and 40 percent opposed.
In addition, 40 percent of voters think despite the debt-reduction deal, government spending will increase over the next few years, while just 16 percent believe it will go down, and 34 percent expect it to remain about the same.
According to Rasmussen, 88 percent of likely voters have been following news of the debt-ceiling debate at least somewhat closely. The end result is exactly what voters polled in recent weeks have indicated they expected, said Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen reports.
“During the debt-ceiling debacle, voters listened to members of Congress like they were the boy who cried wolf,” Rasmussen said. “While official Washington obsessed over the minute-by-minute silliness, voters expected all along that the debt ceiling would be raised without making significant spending cuts.”