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Suffering from sequester burnout? You’re not alone

Posted at 4:57 PM, Feb 28, 2013
and last updated 2013-02-28 16:57:52-05
By Halimah Abdullah

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Barack Obama and political prognosticators are once again warning that fiscal doomsday is imminent.

The cause this time: $85 billion in spending cuts through September that could hurt preschools for low income kids, weaken military readiness and worsen travel delays at airports.

But Americans appear indifferent to the “sky-is-falling” rhetoric out of Washington with no congressional deal in sight ahead of Friday’s deadline to avert the mandatory austerity.

“There is a kind of familiarity with brinksmanship politics and budgeting,” said Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University historian and CNN contributor. “A large portion of the public will tune it out. There’s a numbing affect.”

The public in recent years has endured one fiscal or economic-related crisis after another emanating from the capital — the excruciating debate over federal stimulus, banking and auto bailouts, repeated short-term funding extensions, threats of government shutdowns, a protracted debt-ceiling fight, and rumbles over deficits and taxes culminating with this year’s fiscal cliff showdown.

Lawmakers stilled played the blame game on Thursday as Republican and Democratic alternatives to the sequester failed to move forward in the Senate.

People have had enough.

“I have just about given up. Right now, I agree more with the pope for resigning when he has the capacity to do so under no duress. He is smarter than some up there in Washington who have no business being there. Sure, the founding fathers did not vote on term limits, but the lifespan of a person was not what is now. That is why nothing ever changes,” Allison Cox wrote on CNN Politics’ Facebook page.

According to a new Washington Post-Pew research Center poll, just one in four of those surveyed are paying close attention to the current fiscal crisis consuming Washington.

During the fiscal cliff saga, nearly four-in-10 Americans, or 38%, told Pew they followed passage of the related legislation very closely.

This time around, 18% of those polled said they understood the impact of the looming cuts, which cut across the entire government and take a substantial bite out of the defense budget.

CNN’s Sudip Bhattacharya and the CNN Political Unit contributed to this report.

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