Democrats More Ready to Compromise on Budget

Last week, the drama on Capitol Hill was running high: Would Democrats and Republicans come to a spending deal to keep the government up and running? Just a little over an hour before the midnight Friday deadline, the stalemate ended, and many people across the nation breathed a sigh of relief that the government would not shut down—especially federal employees and contractors who were glad not to sacrifice their paychecks to partisan politics. But both sides had to give a little, and, according to data from a Pew Research Center poll taken a week before the shutdown deadline, those compromises may have angered some. When asked whether it’s better for lawmakers to stand by their principles even if the government shuts down than to compromise on a budget they disagree with, Democrats preferred compromise 69 percent to 21 percent. Republicans were more evenly divided, preferring a shutdown by 50 percent to 43 percent. However, Republicans and Republican-leaning voters who agree with the Tea Party movement prefer a shutdown by a whopping 68 percent to 26 percent. Last week, Tea Party activists waved signs favoring a shutdown outside the Capitol and chanted, “shut it down!” Some say the brinkmanship and rocky road to compromise over the 2011 budget bodes ill for the 2012 budget debate, which has already begun. [Vote now: Who won the shutdown compromise?]