WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - In the latest sign that Democrats are winning the fiscal cliff public relations battle, the results of a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday showed that a majority of voters trust President Barack Obama and Democrats more than Republicans on handling the issue.
The poll found that 53 percent of voters trust Obama and the Democrats in Congress more to avoid the fiscal cliff, while 36 percent said they trust the Republicans in Congress more.
Fifty-six percent of voters also said Obama and the Democrats will make a good faith effort to cooperate with Republicans, while 51 percent said the GOP will not make a good faith effort to cooperate.
Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said, 'Voters see Republicans as more likely to be obstructionist, and have less confidence in their ability to come up with the right solution to the nation's financial woes.'
The survey also showed strong support for Obama's plan to raise income taxes on household income over $250,000 a year, with 65 percent saying they support the idea compared to 31 percent that are opposed.
The proposed increase in taxes on wealthy Americans has strong support among Democrats and Independents and is even supported by 41 percent of Republicans.
Meanwhile, the poll found that voters oppose other proposals to reduce the deficit, including cutting Medicaid spending, raising the age for Medicare eligibility, and cutting military spending.
The release of the Quinnipiac poll results comes on the heels of other recent surveys showing that most Americans would blame Republicans if the U.S. goes over the fiscal cliff.
The results of a Washington Post-Pew Research Center poll released Tuesday showed that 53 percent of Americans think Republicans in Congress would be more to blame if an agreement is not reached, while 27 percent said President Barack Obama would be more to blame.
Without action by Congress, approximately $600 billion in automatic tax increases and government spending cuts are due to go into effect at the end of the year.
Leaders from both political parties have called for compromise, but familiar disagreements over taxes on the wealthy and entitlement reforms have led to gridlock on Capitol Hill.
The Quinnipiac poll also found that Obama has a 53 percent to 40 percent job approval rating, his best score in three years.
'Nothing like winning an election to boost your job approval,' Brown said. 'Obama hasn't had a score this good since his 52 - 40 percent approval rating May 5, 2011, right after the death of Osama bin Laden.'
The survey of 1,949 registered voters was conducted November 28th through December 3rd and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
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