Over two thirds of voters oppose increasing the nation’s borrowing limit, known as the debt ceiling, without any policy changes like tax reform or a delay of Obamacare according to a poll released Thursday by a pair of right-leaning policy groups.
The poll, which surveyed 800 registered voters on their attitudes toward the debt ceiling debate, found that 52 percent were in support of President Barack Obama negotiating with Congress and 65 percent were opposed to Congress voting to raise the debt ceiling “cleanly” without an reforms.
“Speaker John Boehner and the House Republicans have the opportunity, in the wake of the Obamacare debate, to demand some serious cuts in the budget before any discussions of a debt limit increase,” Brian Baker, president of Ending Spending said in a statement.
“The President may get his way on Obamacare, with the help allies in media and in Congress, but the American people are looking for meaningful trade-offs in exchange for raising the debt ceiling and want President Obama to negotiate with Congress in order to find a path forward on the national debt,” Baker said.
According to the survey, some of the trade-offs Americans would approve in exchange for raising the debt ceiling include delaying the implementation of Obamacare by at least one year as well as easing America’s dependence on oil in the Middle East by enacting a pro-growth energy policy.
Americans would also be in favor of eliminating certain tax breaks for people and businesses as part of the tax reform code along with reforming certain entitlement and support programs.
“Spending reforms and policy trade-offs are essential in a debt limit bill otherwise we simply kick the can down the road by buying time before the debt limit is approached again,” Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum, said.
The U.S. is set to hit the debt ceiling Oct.17, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced Wednesday, causing the government to default on its obligations if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling in time.