Public Not Holding Its Breath For Budget Settlement, Still Blaming Gop More

Americans have become more pessimistic about the federal budget deadlock and still blame congressional Republicans more than President Clinton, according to a CBS News poll released Thursday.

Asked who they trust more to make decisions about balancing the budget, 43 percent said Clinton, 38 percent said the Republicans. In the standoff, 49 percent blamed the Republicans more while 30 percent blamed Clinton more. Others blamed both sides or were unsure.

Only 37 percent expect a negotiated solution “in the near future,” down from 51 percent last week and 63 percent in early January, CBS said.

The poll of 884 adults was taken by telephone Tuesday and Wednesday. Results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.