Fifty-one percent of Americans believe that President Barack Obama and Congressional Republicans will fail to strike a deal in order to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff,” according to a new poll released Tuesday.
The survey, from the Washington Post and Pew Research Center, shows that only 38 percent believe an agreement will be reached while 11 percent have no opinion.
A failure to produce a deal before the January 1, 2013 deadline will trigger a host of automatic spending cuts and tax increases, something that 44 percent of respondents said would have a “major” effect on their personal financial situation. Sixty-eight percent believe that the more than $500 million in spending cuts and tax increases that would result from unsuccessful negotiations would also have a major effect on the economy.
The poll was conducted Nov. 8-11 using live phone interviews with 1,000 American adults. It has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.