The Hill News

A wide majority of the public prefers a bipartisan deal on a long-term federal spending bill over a government shutdown, a new poll found.



The poll, released Wednesday by Bloomberg News, found that 77 percent want Democrats and Republicans to find a compromise rather than allow a federal shutdown.

Additionally, 45 percent think Republicans would benefit more, in terms of their legislative agenda, from a compromise than by allowing a shutdown.



Just 6 percent of Democrats think federal spending is so bloated that failure to have a new long-term spending bill with cuts warrants a shutdown. Ninety-two percent are more interested in avoiding a shutdown.

Twenty-nine percent of Republicans think significant spending cuts are so important to a longterm spending bill that it's worth risking a government shutdown to get those cuts. 



Forty-six percent of Republicans think the deficit is the most important is! sue facing the country, compared to just 16 percent of Democrats who rank the deficit above jobs as the number one issue. 



Bloomberg also found that most think the deficit can be fixed without raising taxes: Sixty-one percent say serious deficit reduction is possible without raising taxes; 37 percent say it's not possible.



Despite the poll's results, the possibility of a deal any time soon appears unlikely. House Republican are preparing another stopgap continuing resolution that would keep the government running for a few weeks. Republicans are hoping to cut federal spending by a total of $61 billion but Democrats say that number is too large.