America Approves Of The Tea Party and Wants Obamacare Defunded

A shocking poll was released today by Rasmussen Reports that absolutely obliterates commonly repeated themes, by both Republicans and Democrats; that the Tea Party is too extreme for the average American voter. Indeed, the poll results are a clear vindication of limited government movement, both on principles AND on strategy. The upshot is this: America wants Obamacare defunded, even if it means shutting down the government to do so. This latest poll is also backed up by a Pew study of the previous day that definitively shows that Obamacare is more unpopular than ever on the eve of its implementation.

The Rasmussen poll is a clear repudiation of the ranking Republicans in Congress, who have advocated a non-aggression pact with Democrats like Nancy Pelosi that would allow full implementation and funding of this unpopular Democrat law. Indeed, Politico reported today that there is a real possibility that John Boehner might work with Pelosi to avoid a shutdown. In a previous post, I made the assertion that Republican voters want more Tea (and more spine) in their party, and this new poll proves that this view is shared across the board, not just among Republican voters. As reported by Rasmussen,

58% favor a federal budget that cuts spending, while only 16% prefer one that increases spending. Twenty-one percent (21%) support a budget that keeps spending levels about the same.

This helps explain why 53% would rather have a partial government shutdown until Democrats and Republicans can agree on what spending to cut. Thirty-seven percent (37%) would prefer instead that Congress avoid a shutdown by authorizing spending at existing levels as the president has proposed.

Some conservative Republicans in both the House and Senate are refusing to approve a budget unless it slows or stops funding for the health care law, but the president and most congressional Democrats are adamantly opposed to any such cuts. However, 51% of voters favor having a partial government shutdown until Democrats and Republicans agree on what spending for the health care law to cut. Forty percent (40%) would rather avoid a government shutdown by authorizing spending for the health care law at existing levels.

Adding insult to injury for the spineless Republicans, Rasmussen also reports (in a previous poll) that 42% of Republicans surveyed thought that threatening a governmental shutdown over Obamacare would HELP the GOP – only 28% of Republicans thought it would hurt the party.

Both Rasmussen and Pew this week are reporting that Obamacare remains wildly unpopular. And Pew had an interesting side note in their report: more Americans trust the Republicans on health care than Democrats. That’s right, now that they know what Democrats really want to do to our health care system (and that the free lollipops and rainbows may not actually be free), voters are starting to favor those who advocate conservative fixes for health care.

Additionally, among the highly coveted Independent voters, Obamacare is viewed by 52% as negative, versus 30% of Independents who view it positively.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but these results show that opposition to Obamacare is a winning issue for conservatives.

Other findings in the Rasmussen survey, courtesy of IJ Review:

  • Approval of the Tea Party is at 39%.
  • 78% of Republicans think its at least somewhat important for congressional leaders to work with the Tea Party.
  • Only 24% of voters think the sequester was too deep a cut, while 44% think it wasn’t cut enough.

These results are just the latest in a long series of polls showing that America wants limited government Republicans to continue to fight for individual freedom and a control on spending. Spinmeisters who tell the opposite tale – from either the Republican or Democratic Party – should not be trusted.

FreedomWorks has been on the forefront of those pushing for the defunding of Obamacare. Click here to see how you can get involved.

Follow Jeff on Twitter @ChargerJeff.

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