Thread: California Voters Say Cut Government Spending

California Voters Say Cut Government Spending, Don’t Raise Taxes

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Californians will vote next Tuesday on a series of budget-related propositions, and one thing is clear from new Rasmussen Reports telephone polling in the state: Voters aren’t in the mood for tax increases to ease California’s budget woes.

Seventy-three percent (73%) of California voters oppose raising state income taxes to eliminate the budget deficit. Raising the state sales tax is opposed by 69%.

At the same time, 69% favor major cuts in government spending to eliminate the budget deficit. Just 16% oppose the spending cuts.

There is strong support for one concept that will be on the ballot next week. Ninety percent (90%) of voters say legislators should not get a pay raise if they fail to pass a balanced budget. Just five percent (5%) disagree.

In fact, most California voters want to go even further. Seventy percent (70%) believe that if the legislators can’t balance the budget, they should take a significant pay cut.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls.) Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday that California now has a $15 billion-plus deficit and warned that it will grow even larger if voters reject next week’s budget propositions. The propositions stem from a February compromise budget agreement.

There’s one tax, however, that California voters do not strongly oppose. Forty-five percent (45%) say the state should legalize and tax marijuana, but 46% disagree.

Some legislators and others say the problem really lies with the voters who want more government programs but aren’t willing to pay enough in taxes to cover them. However, 84% of California voters say the bigger problem for the state is the unwillingness of politicians to control government spending. Only eight percent (8%) put more blame on voters’ unwillingness to pay enough in taxes.

Fifty-two percent (52%) also say the state’s elected officials are most to blame for California’s budget problems. Fifteen percent (15%) say labor unions are most to blame, followed by 12% who blame the economy and 11% who see other special interest groups as being chiefly at fault. Just three percent (3%) say California voters are most to blame for the budget crisis.

Schwarzenegger is taking his share of the blame for the state’s financial crisis, too. Just 7% say they Strongly Approve of the Governor’s performance while 38% Strongly Disapprove. Those numbers are down a bit from the already low ratings earned by the Republican Governor in March.

In January, California voters were evenly divided over whether they preferred tax hikes or spending cuts.

http://tinyurl.com/pxe2kj

Get the illegals off of the welfare roles and out of our schools and send them packing, to restore California.

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