58% Say New Tax Money More Likely To Go To New Programs Than To Deficit Reduction

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

President Obama may have to go back on his campaign promise against raising taxes on Americans making less than $250,000 a year in order to reduce the country’s record budget deficit.

But a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that even if the president and Congress raise taxes to reduce the federal deficit, 58% of voters think they are more likely to spend the money on new government programs.

Just 23% believe they are more likely to use the new tax money for deficit reduction, and another 19% aren't sure.

Only two percent (2%) of voters say Congress and the president should consider just tax increases when looking for ways to cut the federal deficit. Thirty-five percent (35%) say they should only consider spending cuts. Most voters (52%) believe they should consider a mix of the two.

Separate polling shows that the vast majority of voters nationwide (83%) of Americans say the size of the federal budget deficit is due more to the unwillingness of politicians to cut government spending than to the reluctance of taxpayers to pay more in taxes.

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However, 47% of voters do not think it is necessary to make changes to big-ticket programs like Medicare and Social Security to reduce federal deficits over the long term. A third (33%) do think changes need to made to those programs. Another 20% are not sure.

It's interesting to note, though, that only 35% of voters realize that the majority of federal spending goes to defense, Social Security and Medicare.

Men are much more likely than women to believe the government would use new tax dollars intended for deficit reduction to fund new programs instead.

Seventy-two percent (72%) of Republicans and 59% of adults not affiliated with either party think that is the more likely scenario. Democrats are more closely divided, but even a plurality (44%) of the president's party think it's more likely that new tax revenues will go to new programs rather than toward reducing the deficit.

Two-thirds (66%) of Democratic voters and 52% of unaffiliateds favor a mix of spending cuts and tax increases to reduce the deficit. Most Republicans (51%) think spending cuts alone are the best course to follow.

Men feel more strongly than women that changes in Social Security and Medicare are necessary to reduce federal deficits over the long term. Adults under 40 are much more supportive of changing those programs than older Americans are.

Forty-one percent (41%) would rather have a budget deficit with tax cuts over a balanced budget that requires higher taxes. Nearly as many (36%) would rather see a balanced budget with higher taxes.

Forty-six percent (46%) favor an across-the-board income tax cut for all Americans, but 35% are opposed.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_ ... _reduction