Polls show Americans blame both parties equally as federal government shutdown drags on
With Democrats and Republicans continuing to point fingers at each other as the federal government shutdown drags on into its third week, polling has shown over the past few weeks that Americans have moved toward blaming Republicans, Democrats, and President Donald Trump almost equally, after being skewering a bit more towards blaming Republicans or Democrats earlier.
A poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research (AP-NORC) published on Thursday and taken in mid-October, for instance, found that 58% of U.S. adults, think Trump has "a great deal/quite a bit" of responsibility for the shutdown, while a similar 58% say Republicans in Congress do and 54% say Democrats in Congress do.
But a Reuters/Ipsos poll taken at the beginning of October found Americans feeling Republicans were less to blame for the shutdown.
When that poll asked Americans who is most to blame for a deal not being reached and subsequently causing the shutdown, they indicated Democrats in Congress and President Donald Trump were tied for most blame, while Republicans in Congress received the least amount of blame.
The poll said 37% of Democrats in Congress deserve blame the most for no deal being reached, while 37% said Trump and 19% said Republicans in Congress.
That said, 63% of Americans said at the time that Democrats in Congress deserve "at least a fair amount" of blame, and the same amount said so of Donald Trump; a slightly higher 67% said Republicans in Congress deserve that.
An earlier Washington Post poll taken on Oct. 1, at the start of the shutdown, found that more Americans blamed congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump (47% of Americans) than Democrats (30% of Americans) -- though around 1 in 5 said then that they were not sure who was to blame.
A New York Times/Siena College poll taken at the end of September, before the shutdown began, found similar results.
More voters said then that they would blame Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress (26% of voters) than Democrats in Congress (19% of voters). But around a third of registered voters then said that they'd blame both parties equally.
One of the sticking points between the parties during the shutdown has been insurance subsidies that Democrats want to extend now and Republicans want to discuss extending at a later point.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, or premium tax credits, help lower or eliminate the out-of-pocket cost of monthly premiums for those who purchase insurance through the health insurance marketplace.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, during an interview on MSNBC, which aired Thursday, said he has offered Democrats a vote on extending the Affordable Care Act premium subsidies as part of the ongoing stalemate on government funding, but that it was not enough to break the logjam.
When the AP-NORC poll asked Americans if they support or oppose "extending the federal tax credits for individuals who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace," 43% said they favor that but 42% said they neither favor or oppose.
But in a poll from KFF taken right before the federal government shutdown began, 78% of Americans said they want the ACA marketplace tax credits extended -- including 59% of Republicans.
Among Americans who told KFF they want to "extend the enhanced tax credits," around the same amount -- nearly 40% for each -- said they'd blame Trump or Republicans in Congress the most if they expire, while 22% said Democrats would shoulder the most blame.
