March 2, 2011 - American Voters Split On Government Shutdown, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Democrats, Republicans Divided On Gov't Worker Pay Word format American voters are split as 46 percent say it would be a good thing and 44 percent say it would be a bad thing if the U.S. government shut down because of disagreement in Washington over federal spending, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Looking at the controversy over pay for government workers, 35 percent say the pay is "about right," while 15 percent say it is too little and 42 percent say it is too much. To reduce state budget deficits, collective bargaining for public employees should be limited, 45 percent of American voters tell the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll, while 42 percent oppose limits on collective bargaining. But voters say 63 - 31 percent that government workers should pay more for benefits and retirement programs. Efforts by governors to limit collective bargaining rights are motivated by a desire to reduce government costs rather than to weaken unions, voters say 47 - 41 percent. If the federal government is forced to shut down because of the impasse over spending, voters say by an overwhelming 78 - 18 percent neither President Barack Obama nor members of Congress should be paid for that period. Voters would blame Republicans more than President Obama 47 - 38 percent if the government shuts down. "There is a partisan tinge to American voter attitudes toward government workers: By wide margins, Republicans say these workers are overpaid; want them to pay more for their benefits and want to limit collective bargaining," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Democrats say 2-1 that government workers are paid about right or too little, rather than too much and split over whether they should pay more for benefits, but they solidly defend collective bargaining. Independent voters, as usual, are in the middle." Democrats say 62 - 28 that shutting down the federal government would be a bad thing, the mirror image of Republicans who say 63 - 28 percent it would be a good thing. Among independent voters, 47 percent say "good" and 42 percent saying "bad." Men say it would be a good thing 50 - 40 percent, while women say it would be bad 48 - 41. White voters say it would be good 48 - 42 percent, while blacks voters say bad 59 - 30 percent. Government workers are paid too much, 59 percent of Republicans say, while 6 percent say too little and 28 percent say pay is "about right." Pay is too much, 42 percent of independent voters say, as 13 percent say too little and 37 percent say "about right." While 31 percent of Democrats say pay is too much, 24 percent say too little and 38 percent say "about right." Men say workers are overpaid, not underpaid 44 - 11 percent, with 39 percent saying "about right." Women agree 41 - 19 percent, with 31 percent saying "about right." Among voters in union households, 37 percent say pay is too much, with 22 percent saying too little and 34 percent saying "about right." Democrats split 47 - 45 percent on whether public employees should pay more for their retirement and health benefits, but the call for higher contributions is 72 - 22 percent among Republicans and 70 - 26 percent among independent voters. This support is 68 - 27 percent among men, 58 - 35 percent among women and 67 - 29 percent among white voters, while black voters oppose higher payments 49 - 44 percent. Support for limiting collecting bargaining to reduce state deficits is 59 - 25 percent among Republicans, while independent voters split 45 - 43 percent. Defending collective bargaining are Democrats 56 - 33 percent and voters in union households 62 - 29 percent. Men are split 47 - 45 percent while women would limit bargaining 43 - 39 percent. White voters split 44 - 43 percent. Black voters back limits 49 - 37 percent. From February 21 - 28, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,887 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.3 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and the nation as a public service and for research. For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter. 33. If congress fails to raise the debt ceiling, the government will be shut down except for those workers deemed essential. - Some people say shutting down the government except for essential personnel would be a bad thing because many federal services would be unavailable. - Others say it would be a good thing because it would stop the government from going further into debt. Which comes closer to your point of view? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Bad thing 44% 28% 62% 42% 40% 48% 42% 59% Good thing 46 63 28 47 50 41 48 30 DK/NA 10 10 10 11 9 11 9 11 AGE IN YRS....... INCOME............. POL PHIL......... 18-34 35-54 55+ <50 50-100 >100K Lib Mod Con Bad thing 51% 38% 46% 45% 48% 42% 61% 56% 25% Good thing 42 53 41 42 46 53 32 36 62 DK/NA 7 9 13 13 6 5 6 8 14 EDUCATION.... WHITE............. Union NoColl Coll BrnAgn HsHlds Degree Degree Evngl Prot Cath Bad thing 51% 42% 50% 30% 37% 38% Good thing 44 46 44 56 52 52 DK/NA 5 12 6 13 11 10 34. If the federal government shuts down, who would you hold more responsible, President Obama or the Republicans in Congress? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Obama 38% 65% 19% 34% 41% 35% 42% 16% Republicans 47 18 74 48 44 50 43 72 DK/NA 15 17 7 18 15 15 15 12 AGE IN YRS....... INCOME............. POL PHIL......... 18-34 35-54 55+ <50 50-100 >100K Lib Mod Con Obama 36% 41% 36% 35% 40% 40% 13% 31% 59% Republicans 51 42 50 46 50 50 75 54 25 DK/NA 13 16 14 18 10 11 12 15 16 EDUCATION.... WHITE............. Union NoColl Coll BrnAgn HsHlds Degree Degree Evngl Prot Cath Obama 37% 39% 35% 55% 47% 41% Republicans 48 44 54 26 37 42 DK/NA 15 16 11 19 16 17 GOV SHUTDOWN Q33 Bad Good Obama 24% 52% Republicans 65 32 DK/NA 11 17 35. There is a bill that would prohibit members of Congress and the President from being paid during a government shutdown. Do you think that bill is a good idea or a bad idea? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Good idea 78% 79% 74% 81% 75% 80% 82% 63% Bad idea 18 14 22 15 20 15 13 33 DK/NA 5 6 4 4 4 5 5 4 AGE IN YRS....... INCOME............. POL PHIL......... 18-34 35-54 55+ <50 50-100 >100K Lib Mod Con Good idea 71% 84% 76% 72% 85% 86% 81% 80% 76% Bad idea 24 13 19 22 12 13 15 18 17 DK/NA 5 3 6 6 3 1 4 2 6 EDUCATION.... WHITE............. Union NoColl Coll BrnAgn HsHlds Degree Degree Evngl Prot Cath Good idea 85% 76% 81% 81% 81% 85% Bad idea 12 19 14 13 12 13 DK/NA 3 5 5 5 7 2 GOV SHUTDOWN Q33 Bad Good Good idea 76% 84% Bad idea 21 13 DK/NA 3 3 36. In general, do you think public employees are paid too much too little or about right? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Too much 42% 59% 31% 42% 44% 41% 44% 31% Too little 15 6 24 13 11 19 13 27 About right 35 28 38 37 39 31 35 34 DK/NA 8 6 8 8 6 9 7 8 AGE IN YRS....... INCOME............. POL PHIL......... 18-34 35-54 55+ <50 50-100 >100K Lib Mod Con Too much 34% 41% 49% 40% 43% 41% 22% 38% 58% Too little 25 16 7 17 14 16 27 14 10 About right 38 34 34 34 36 38 43 41 26 DK/NA 3 9 9 9 7 5 8 8 6 EDUCATION.... WHITE............. Union NoColl Coll BrnAgn HsHlds Degree Degree Evngl Prot Cath Too much 37% 46% 33% 51% 47% 49% Too little 22 15 16 12 14 10 About right 34 31 44 29 32 33 DK/NA 7 8 6 8 7 9 37. In order to reduce state budget deficits, would you support or oppose making public employees pay more for their benefits and retirement programs? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Support 63% 72% 47% 70% 68% 58% 67% 44% Oppose 31 22 45 26 27 35 29 49 DK/NA 6 6 8 3 4 7 5 7 AGE IN YRS....... INCOME............. POL PHIL......... 18-34 35-54 55+ <50 50-100 >100K Lib Mod Con Support 49% 67% 69% 57% 65% 76% 52% 59% 73% Oppose 46 28 24 37 30 20 40 35 23 DK/NA 5 5 7 6 5 4 8 6 3 EDUCATION.... WHITE............. Union NoColl Coll BrnAgn HsHlds Degree Degree Evngl Prot Cath Support 57% 62% 66% 68% 68% 72% Oppose 39 33 29 27 26 23 DK/NA 4 6 5 5 6 4 PUB EMPLY PAY Q36.. 2Much 2Ltle Right Support 83% 36% 56% Oppose 14 58 39 DK/NA 3 6 5 38. In order to reduce state budget deficits, would you support or oppose limiting collective bargaining for public employees? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Support 45% 59% 33% 45% 47% 43% 44% 49% Oppose 42 25 56 43 45 39 43 37 DK/NA 13 16 11 12 8 18 13 13 AGE IN YRS....... INCOME............. POL PHIL......... 18-34 35-54 55+ <50 50-100 >100K Lib Mod Con Support 38% 48% 47% 43% 43% 53% 26% 39% 62% Oppose 47 40 40 42 44 41 63 49 26 DK/NA 15 12 14 15 13 5 12 12 13 EDUCATION.... WHITE............. Union NoColl Coll BrnAgn HsHlds Degree Degree Evngl Prot Cath Support 29% 44% 47% 51% 48% 49% Oppose 62 41 45 33 38 40 DK/NA 10 15 8 16 14 11 PUB EMPLY PAY Q36.. 2Much 2Ltle Right Support 63% 29% 33% Oppose 24 56 59 DK/NA 12 15 8 39. Do you think the effort to limit collective bargaining by public employees is more about weakening unions or more about controlling government costs? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Weakening unions 41% 29% 54% 42% 40% 42% 42% 38% Controlling costs 47 60 36 45 51 43 47 44 DK/NA 12 11 10 13 9 15 11 18 AGE IN YRS....... INCOME............. POL PHIL......... 18-34 35-54 55+ <50 50-100 >100K Lib Mod Con Weakening unions 38% 44% 39% 39% 45% 46% 61% 50% 27% Controlling costs 53 44 48 48 43 48 28 41 61 DK/NA 9 12 13 13 11 6 11 9 13 EDUCATION.... WHITE............. Union NoColl Coll BrnAgn HsHlds Degree Degree Evngl Prot Cath Weakening unions 62% 39% 48% 29% 39% 45% Controlling costs 30 48 43 58 47 47 DK/NA 8 13 8 13 14 8 PUB EMPLY PAY Q36.. 2Much 2Ltle Right Weakening unions 30% 49% 52% Controlling costs 59 43 39 DK/NA 11 9 9
