"The Buck Stops Where? What D.C. Influencers And The Public Say About The National Debt," the November 2010 update of Public Agenda's public opinion surveys on this issue, is Part II in our series of reports designed to examine attitudes among Beltway "movers and shakers" on the nation's fiscal problems.

While leaders and elites continue to hold similar views on the national debt overall, there's a growing gap between the two groups in how strongly they feel about it. For example, majorities of both elites (86 percent) and leaders (77 percent) continue to agree that “there are at least several practical policy approaches to meet the country's needs without causing the national debt to significantly rise.” Yet as in March, more elites (46 percent) “strongly agree” with this statement than do leaders (34 percent).

One significant change since the spring is a widening difference in depth of feeling between elites and leaders on another question, namely whether "pragmatic solutions to the national debt will be impossible to achieve due to partisan politics." Half of the elites we surveyed "strongly agree" with this pessimistic view, up 7 percentage points from March, while only about 3 in 10 leaders (29%) strongly agree. That's down 7 percentage points, suggesting greater optimism about progress.

We also asked the general public several similar questions, and found that in many ways, they mirrored the Washington debate. In particular, partisan differences between Republicans and Democrats are mirrored in both the general public and Beltway surveys.

Other Reports In This Series: Part I in this series of reports by Public Agenda, funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation as part of the Choosing Our Fiscal Future initiative, was released in June 2010. Part III is set for 2011, when Congress is expected to be wrestling with many of the proposals now on the table, as well as new ones likely to emerge.