Sorry, GOP: You're still losing the sequester blame game

Just before sequestration kicked in, most Americans said they opposed the looming automatic budget cuts and would give Republicans the greatest share of the blame if they ended up taking place. Now, a little over two weeks later, the cuts are in effect and, as they promised they would, Americans are blaming the GOP.

In the latest Washington Post/ABC Poll, 39 percent of Americans approved the automatic budget cuts while 53 percent opposed it. It's not hard to understand why Americans oppose the cuts: 64 percent said they thought the cuts would hurt the economy, 60 percent said they thought the cuts would hurt the government's ability to provide basic services, and 69 percent said they thought the cuts would hurt the military.

Sixty-eight percent of Americans said they wanted President Obama and congressional Republicans to continue discussions about how to replace the sequester, but in the absence of a deal to do so, Republicans are continuing to get more of the blame. Forty-seven percent of Americans blamed Republicans exclusively while just 33 percent blamed the president. Fourteen percent said both sides deserved the blame. These are essentially the same numbers from the previous Washington Post/ABC survey when 45 percent blamed Republicans and 32 percent blamed the president.

The survey also showed the President Obama's job approval rating stood at 50 percent approve, 46 disapprove. This was reported as a drop from his numbers earlier this year, when his approval rating was at 55 percent, but it's also a better approval rating than he had one year ago in the same survey. Then, his rating was underwater with 46 percent approving and 50 percent disapproving.

Meanwhile, Congress as a whole is still wildly unpopular with a 16 percent approval rating and 80 percent disapproval. Congressional Republicans have a 24 percent approval and 72 percent disapproval rating and Democrats have a 34 percent approval and 64 percent disapproval rating.

The poll was conducted from March 7-10 and has a margin of error of ±3.5 percent.