“The American public has not yet come to a strongly shared judgment on the effects of the sequestration cuts,” points out Frank Newport, director of the Gallup poll.
New numbers reveal more than two thirds of the public say they simply don’t know enough to tell whether the cuts are a good thing or a bad thing for themselves or their families. More than half can’t judge the effect on the the nation. The problem: There’s no real authority out there on sequestration.
“Americans are likely basing their opinions of the cuts on what they hear, read, and see in the news and from friends and colleagues, as well as on their own experiences. Apparently, nothing in the information flow from any of these sources has been enough - to date - to move the public’s opinions about the cuts in either direction,” Mr. Newport observes.
And the numbers:
69 percent of Americans don’t know enough about sequestration to judge if Two thirds of it will affect them personally; 47 percent of Republicans and 62 percent of Democrats agree.
55 percent of Americans overall don’t know enough about sequestration to judge its impact on the nation; 39 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of Democrats agree.
27 percent overall say sequestration is “a bad thing” for the nation; 22 percent of Republicans and 28 percent of Democrats agree.
17 percent overall say sequestration is “a good thing”; 27 percent of Republicans and 8 percent of Democrats agree.
Source: A Gallup poll of 1,022 U.S. adults conducted March 11 and 12.
