76% of Americans Against Raising Debt Ceiling Under Current Conditions

New PJI survey reveals 44% of Americans say debt ceiling should only be raised if large cuts are made, 32% say not at all

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The PJ Institute (PJI) today released a new poll, which revealed 44 percent of Americans believe the debt ceiling should only be raised if Washington makes substantial cuts to the budget, compared to just 8 percent who say the ceiling should be raised unconditionally.  Moreover, 32 percent of survey respondents believe the debt ceiling should not be raised at all.

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"Americans understand that our nation is broke and that it's far past time to get our fiscal house in order," said Laurence Kotlikoff, Boston University economics professor and consultant on PJI's economic initiatives.  "The meager budget cuts made in recent months are a travesty coming after years of massive spending hikes and tax cuts.  Almost half of U.S. households appear to want real fiscal change through spending cuts as a precondition to further government borrowing. Unfortunately, Americans have lost confidence in Congress's ability to follow through on economic reform and view pledges of future, post-election budgetary restraint as very cruel jokes played on our children."

The nationwide PJI survey of 1,000 American adults, which was conducted as part of the Institute's Maxed Out America project, also revealed that of those who believe the debt ceiling should only be raised if substantial cuts are made, 45 percent define "substantial cuts" as over $400 billion and nearly one in five (17%) define "substantial cuts" as over $1 trillion.

Additional Highlights

• 26 percent of self-identified Democrats believe the debt ceiling should not be raised, as do 31 percent of Independents.
• 41 percent of self-identified Democrats believe the debt ceiling should only be raised if substantial cuts are made, as do 49 percent of self-identified Independents.

Methodology

The PJ Institute conducts a monthly survey to determine what Americans think about various aspects of the U.S. economy.  On May 2-4, 2011, PJI and Survey Sampling International conducted an online survey of 1,000 U.S. adults asking them questions about the national debt ceiling. Margin of Error:  +/-3 percentage points

PJ Institute

The PJ Institute™ (PJI), the research and educational division of Pajamas Media™, provides in-depth analysis on a variety of topics – from the economy and personal finance to history and its impact on the present.  Additionally, PJI offers its research and education through an array of new media and social media technologies.  

PJI has two economic initiatives – Maxed Out America and the National Economic Rescue Initiative.  More specifically, the Maxed Out America initiative explores both the amount of time until, and the date when, the U.S. could buckle under its debt burden.  We identify the Fiscal Solution Window as the interval of time the U.S. has to reverse it ever-growing deficit spending and mounting debt.

For more information, please visit www.pjinstitute.com.  

Contact:  Danielle Howe
(703) 535-3390

SOURCE PJ Institute