WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Americans say they don't want an increase of the debt ceiling to be blocked as a way to halt the Affordable Care Act, a CNN poll released Wednesday indicated.
A majority said congressional Republicans were to blame if the nation's ability to borrow more money is not increased, results of the CNN/ORC International survey indicated.
Non-essential parts of the government shut down Tuesday because of a partisan standoff over a stopgap spending bill and the Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as Obamacare.
However, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has said the nation's debt ceiling will be reached Oct. 17, meaning the country won't be able to pay on debts already incurred.
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Congressional Republicans have signaled they would like to use the debt ceiling debate to relitigate Obamacare. Senate Democrats and President Obama say they won't negotiate over raising the debt ceiling.
The CNN poll indicated 56 percent of respondents said they thought it would be bad if the debt ceiling weren't raised and 38 percent said it would be good.
Fifty-one percent said it was more important to raise the debt ceiling than delay Obamacare, while 43 percent said they had the opposite view, results indicated.
If the debt ceiling isn't raised, 53 percent said congressional Republicans would be more responsible, with 31 percent pointing fingers at the president.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday indicated 64 percent said they opposed blocking an increase in the debt ceiling as a way to eliminate the healthcare law while 27 percent said they favored it.
Results for the CNN poll are based on nationwide telephone interviews with 803 adults conducted Sept. 27-29. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points.
