Voters Put Spending Cuts Ahead of Deficit Reduction
Friday, December 10, 2010 Email to a Friend ShareThis.Advertisement
First things first. Despite official Washington’s increasing fixation on the federal budget deficit, most voters think cutting federal spending is a bigger priority.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 57% of Likely U.S. Voters think reducing federal government spending is more important than reducing the deficit. Thirty-four percent (34%) put reducing the deficit first. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
It’s telling to note that while 65% of Mainstream voters believe cutting spending is more important, 72% of the Political Class say the primary emphasis should be on deficit reduction.
Most voters are still not convinced, even with a new Republican majority in the House, that Congress will actually cut government spending substantially over the next year. GOP voters are among the most doubtful.
Sixty-nine percent (69%) of voters, in fact, are pessimistic about what Congress will accomplish in terms of government spending.
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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters nationwide was conducted on December 7-8, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Seventy-four percent (74%) of Republicans and 50% of voters not affiliated with either of the major parties say cutting spending is more important than reducing the deficit. Democrats are more narrowly divided on the question.
Most conservatives and moderates say spending cuts should come first, but most liberals say deficit reduction is paramount.
Voters have consistently said in surveys for years that increased government spending hurts the economy, while decreased spending has a positive effect on the economy. But they expect government spending to rise during the Obama years.
Americans overwhelmingly anticipate that the federal government will have to dramatically cut spending like France and Britain are doing now, and a sizable number suggest that even Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid may have to be on the cutting block.
The president’s bipartisan deficit reduction commission failed to agree on a set of proposals to send to the Congress, but a number of its ideas are expected to come up in congressional debate next year.
Most Americans are receptive to a proposal to increase the level of income taxable for Social Security, although most don’t like the idea of raising the retirement age.
But Americans are narrowly divided over a proposal limiting the income tax deduction on interest paid on home mortgages.
Suspicious that Congress is more likely to follow commission recommendations for tax increases over spending cuts, 58% of Adults believe voters should be given the chance to vote on the commission's recommendations rather than Congress.
Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.
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