…Except “Sin Taxes†Or Cutting Major Programs
If spending must be cut, the space program, welfare and defense top the list of preferred cuts
ROCHESTER, N.Y. [Harris Poll] – Many economists worry about the size of the Federal Government’s budget deficit, but a new Harris Poll underlines the difficulty facing any political leaders who want to reduce it.
There is very strong resistance to raising any taxes and almost no support for cutting the major entitlement programs which account for a big share of Federal Government spending. For example, only 15 percent of all U.S. adults think that taxes should be increased to reduce the budget deficit. And, if taxes have to be increased, there is overwhelming opposition to increasing the estate tax, gas taxes, income taxes, the Social Security tax or the Medicare tax.
These are just some of the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 2,223 adults surveyed online between March 6 and 14, 2007 by Harris Interactive®.
Other findings include:
— A 71 percent to 15 percent majority of adults do not think “it is necessary to increase taxes to reduce the budget deficitâ€. Large majorities of Republicans, Democrats and Independents feel this way;
— Even if taxes “had to be raisedâ€, very large majorities oppose raising the estate tax (64%) gas taxes (82%), income taxes (81%), the social security tax (83%), and the Medicare tax (87%);
— The only two taxes on the list shown to those interviewed which would be acceptable to majorities of adults (“if taxes had to be raisedâ€) are taxes on cigarettes and beer and alcohol, with 73 percent and 72 percent of adults respectively saying these so called “taxes†should be increased;
— When it comes to cutting government spending, there is little support for cutting any substantial programs. Given a list of twelve federal government programs and asked to pick two which should be cut (“if spending had to be cutâ€) space programs top the list by a wide margin (51%). Significant minorities, all under 30 percent, pick welfare programs (28%), defense spending (28%), farm subsidies (24%), environmental programs (16%), homeland security (12%) and transportation (11%). Hardly anyone would cut Medicaid (4%), education (3%), Social Security (2%) or Medicare (1%).
Differences Between Republicans and Democrats
The largest differences between Republicans and Democrats relate to three programs. Republicans (43%) are much more likely than Democrats (18%) to choose to cut welfare programs. They are also more likely than Democrats to choose cuts in environmental programs (30% compared to 7%). Democrats (45%) are much more likely to want to cut defense spending than Republicans (8%).
So What Does It All Mean?
This Harris Poll underlines the political difficulties of closing the budget deficit. Once a tax has been cut, there is usually a lot of resistance to increasing it again. And, once money is committed to a program or entitlements are established, cutting back on that spending is also very tough.
The 2008 elections may well involve some discussion of the need to reduce the budget deficit, but given these results, it will be a brave, and possibly fool-hardy, candidate who gets into specifics about how to do this.