Most doubt supercommittee will reach deal

HAMDEN, Conn., Nov. 3 (UPI) -- A majority of U.S. voters said they doubt the supercommittee will come up with a debt reduction plan, a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday indicated.

If the congressional panel does come up with a plan, voters, by a 48 percent-to-39 percent margin, said it should include only spending cuts and no tax increases, the Hamden, Conn., university said.

Sixty-seven percent said they didn't think the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction would come up with a plan by the deadline later this month, while 39 percent said they thought the committee would succeed.

"There is widespread cynicism in the electorate almost across the board about the ability of the folks in Washington to get anything done, much less an agreement on the complicated and emotionally charged issues before the supercommittee," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Those favoring spending cuts only were Republicans 74 percent to 16 percent, and independent voters, 48 percent to 38 percent, the poll indicated. Democrats would include tax increases, 58 percent to 30 percent.

By a 46 percent-to-36 percent margin, voters said they would blame congressional Republicans rather than President Obama and congressional Democrats if the supercommittee fails to reach a deal.

Results are based on telephone interviews with 2,294 registered voters conducted Oct. 25-31. The margin of error is 2.1 percentage points.