by David Jackson, USA TODAY
President Obama and aides believe they have the
upper hand with public opinion, but there are also risks for them as the
government approaches the fiscal cliff.
A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal
poll says that 56% of Americans will blame both Democrats and
Republicans if they fail to strike a debt reduction agreement, and
expose the nation to a series of automatic tax hikes and budget cuts.
Yet, as with other surveys, most respondents favor Obama's approach to fiscal cliff talks, including his call for higher taxes on the wealthy.
"Twice
as many Americans say they trust the president more in handling this
fiscal situation (38%) than House Speaker John Boehner and the
congressional Republicans (19%)," reports NBC News.
NBC also notes
that "significant majorities believe Obama holds a clear mandate from
the election on issues related to this subject:
-- 68% say he has a mandate on cutting taxes for families earning less than $250,000 per year;
-- 65% say he has a mandate on reducing the deficit by both increasing taxes on the wealthy and reducing federal spending;
-- And 59% say he has a mandate on eliminating the Bush-era tax cuts for household income over $250,000 a year."