Nearly half of Americans doubt that President Obama and Congress will strike a deal on the so-called “fiscal cliff” before the year-end deadline but a majority is prepared to blame Republicans on Capitol Hill for such a failure, a poll released Tuesday shows.
The latest Washington Post/Pew Research Center poll shows that 49 percent of Americans do not think an agreement will be reached before January 1, 2013, when self-imposed automatic spending cuts and tax hikes are slated to take effect if a deal is not produced.
But the poll also shows that 53 percent believe that the congressional GOP will be more blameworthy if an agreement isn’t ironed out, while 27 percent believe Obama will be more to blame. Twelve percent said that both sides should share the blame equally.
