Public strongly opposes debt level increase: Reuters/Ipsos poll

[bemildred]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - The U.S. public overwhelmingly opposes raising the country's debt limit even though failure to do so could hurt America's international standing and push up borrowing costs, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday.

Some 71 percent of those surveyed oppose increasing the borrowing authority, the focus of a brewing political battle over federal spending. Only 18 percent support an increase.

The poll underscores the tough task ahead for U.S. lawmakers as the debt nears its current ceiling of $14.3 trillion. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner last week warned that a failure to raise the borrowing limit in the coming months could lead to "catastrophic economic consequences."

Brian Riedl, the lead budget analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said the poll findings put "a lot more pressure on those who want to raise the debt limit to make a convincing argument to a very skeptical public."



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70B52I20110112