Poll shows Americans oppose entitlement cuts to deal with debt problem

[Cuyo]

Am I the only one willing to say I'm OK with MY OWN taxes going up to fix the deficit; Not just somebody else's?

I'd also like to see the upper limit on payroll taxes go away, along with the exemption for certain types of income... Again something that will have negative financial consequences for me personally.

Also child tax credits to some extent; Why are we incentivising people to have children?

 

[Revere]

Government can't raise any taxes fast enough to keep pace with what they spend.

It's not about taxes.

Keep your money.

 

[Cuyo]

Raise taxes on the wealthy who have jsut benifited hugely from this crash and cut the fuck out of unneeded military spending

You left out cutting the hell out of social programs.

Wiki didn't tell her to so she does not even know they are pretty much the entire problem.

A ticking time bomb? Perhaps.

The entire current problem? Not even a little bit.

 

[Revere]

The Europeans already have all the new and higher taxes American socialists want, and it's not enough.

Now the Europeans are confiscating pensions.

 

[gnurat]

Government can't raise any taxes fast enough to keep pace with what they spend.

It's not about taxes.

Keep your money.

I do not see people as sincere when they state they do not mind if their taxes go up. To me that is just another political tactic, its class warfare. The implication is some rich people are greedy. You are right, its not about taxes.

 

[Oddball]

Raise taxes on the wealthy who have jsut benifited hugely from this crash and cut the fuck out of unneeded military spending

What are you willing to sacrifice for yourself TM?

 

[Oddball]

Government can't raise any taxes fast enough to keep pace with what they spend.

It's not about taxes.

Keep your money.

I do not see people as sincere when they state they do not mind if their taxes go up. To me that is just another political tactic, its class warfare. The implication is some rich people are greedy. You are right, its not about taxes.

They often use the claim as a left-handed avenue to boast about how wealthy they are.

 

[Avatar4321]

Wouldn't be surprised if it's accurate Toro.

Problem is we need to some serious cutting immediately

 

[Avatar4321]

Raise taxes on the wealthy who have jsut benifited hugely from this crash and cut the fuck out of unneeded military spending

What are you willing to sacrifice for yourself TM?

I dont think she is willing...

After all, it's always someone elses fault in her book.

 

[miller]

Every dead beat says he's going to pay but never does.

Only the brainwashed believe the dead beat Americans who keep electing the same idiots who wrecked America.

I told you. edited-meister

 

[miller]

Who should sacrifice in order that we have a future.

The government, through media is great at influencing what we believe and how we debate our problems.

Its called propaganda.

That's why you people are brainwashed.

 

[loosecannon]

This thread is to gauge public opinion on cutting the deficit.

I contend that Americans really aren't all that serious about cutting the deficit.

I concur. It's like that diet that Obese America keeps putting off until next month, then next year......

 

[Revere]

Who is "obese?" Americans or the US government?

 

[DiveCon]

yet we STILL cant see the raw data of this "poll"

 

[loosecannon]

Who is "obese?" Americans or the US government?

Both!

 

[Toro]

This is a poll of self-described Tea Party supporters in South Dakota. And, like most Americans, they appear not yet willing to make the sacrifices needed to balance the budget.

Between February 1-3, The Dakota Poll surveyed 400 registered voters in South Dakota who identified themselves as Tea Party supporters. Despite national headlines suggesting that Tea Party supporters favor heavy cuts in federal spending to reduce the deficit and balance the federal budget, South Dakota Tea Partiers show a clear hesitancy when it comes to cutting any federal programs which might effect their own lives.

As a group, Tea Party supporters tend to be older males ... 43% of South Dakota Tea Party supporters are on Social Security.

–83% said they would prefer to “leave alone” or “increase” Social Security.
–78% opposed cuts to Medicare prescription drug coverage, and 79% opposed cuts in Medicare coverage for physicians and hospitals.
–61% would support leaving federal food program funding alone or increasing it.
...
–96% would support “leaving alone” or “increasing” funding for veterans benefits.
–79% oppose cuts to military spending. 71% would oppose closing Ellsworth Air Force Base, even if a bipartisan base-closing commission made the recommendation.

I'll give them lots of credit for supporting cutting farm subsidies.

The single area of federal policy where Tea Party supporters show a willingness to reduce spending is FARM POLICY. 48% say they would support eliminating or reducing “federal farm payments…” and 47% say they would support eliminating or reducing subsidies for ethanol.

And full credit for their support of keeping religion out of government.

on a cluster of questions regarding the relationship between religion and government, respondents showed an overwhelming interest in keeping the two separate. 87% agreed with the statement “Government should stay completely away from anything that favors one religion over another.” And 70% opposed the statement “Candidates for public office should be required by law to declare their religious preference so voters can make an informed choice.”

But a few findings are disturbing.

–57% believe that Congress should investigate President Obama’s citizenship.
...
–48% believe “the earth is 6,000 years old as calculated by Biblical scholars.”

Psst...Tea Party is Just Like Everyone Else...Pass it Around | Capital Gains and Games

 

[Old Rocks]

First, end the Bush tax cuts for everyone. Those working can afford it, those not working will not be affected.

Second, look hard at our present military stance. What do we actually need for the defense of this nation? Is it in our interest to maintain the defense of the oil states to the detriment of our nation?

Third, what is the percentage of the money coming out of our federal taxes that goes to SS and Medicare? I thought that was covered by the FICA tax and Medicare Tax coming out of every one of my pay checks.

 

[beowolfe]

Who should sacrifice in order that we have a future.

The government, through media is great at influencing what we believe and how we debate our problems.

Its called propaganda.

That's why you people are brainwashed.

Which is why Murdoch created Faux News. Now you mental midgets who can't think for themselves are being brainwashed from both directions. And you can't see it.....

 

[Toro]

Here is another poll. Americans want benefits cut, just not cuts that would matter. In fact, support for cutting spending is actually lower than it was when Reagan first took office.

Cutting government spending often sounds like a good idea to many people, and it is a popular rallying cry for many Republicans and Conservatives, but a new Harris Poll underlines how difficult it is. When shown a list of 20 areas of federal government spending, a majority of the public supports cutting only six of them and these do not include the big ticket items that comprise most of the federal budget. Furthermore large majorities oppose cutting Social Security or federal health care programs, which many economists believe are increasing at unsustainable rates.

One other interesting finding that may be noted by advocates on both sides of this debate: far fewer people support cuts in these 20 programs today than did so in 1980 when Ronald Reagan became president. ...

Majorities of the pubic support some cuts in government spending, specifically:

* Foreign aid tops the list of programs that most people would like to see cut - foreign economic aid by 75% to 16%, and foreign military aid by 69% to 20%. (It is important to note, however, that other research in the past has shown that most people greatly overestimate the small percentage of the budget that is actually spent on foreign aid);

· The four other types of spending that majorities would like to cut are spending by regulatory agencies (by 56% to 28%), space programs (by 54% to 37%), subsidies to business (by 51% to 37%), and federal welfare spending (by 51% to 40%).

However, large majorities oppose cutting some of the biggest government programs including:

* Social Security payments (by 80% to 11%);
* Federal aid to education (by 71% to 21%); and,
* Health care (by 67% to 24%).

Furthermore, majorities of the public also oppose cutting seven other areas: revenue sharing with states (by 55% to 28%),Federal highway spending (by 59% to 31%), Federal jobs programs (by 56% to 33%),Federal aid to cities (by 55% to 34%), spending for mass transportation (by 54% to 35%), pollution control (by 54% to 37%), and the food stamp program (by 51% to 40%).

Pluralities oppose cutting spending on the other four areas in the list: housing programs (by 49% to 41%), defense (by 49% to 41%), farm subsidies (by 47% to 42%) and scientific research programs (by 48% to 42%). ...

Those who favor cuts are now more than 20 points lower than they were in 1980 for five areas: revenue sharingwith states (from 53% to 28%), highways (from 59% to 31%), federal jobs programs (from 57% to 33%), federal aid to cities (from 58% to 34%) and the food stamp program (from 65% to 40%).

Harris Interactive: Harris Polls > Cutting Government Spending May Be Popular But There Is Little Appetite For Cutting Specific Government Programs

The math doesn't work.

 

[Toro]

Here is the US budget for this year.

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy12/pdf/BUDGET-2012-BUD.pdf

Total expected spending: $3.8 trillion.
Total expected tax revenue: $2.2 trillion.

Deficit: $1.6 trillion.

If the government cannot issue any more debt, and we're not going to raise taxes, then the deficit must be eliminated by drastic spending cuts.

Interest payments are expected to be $200 billion. Those must be met, unless we are planning to default. Thus, we can only spend $2 trillion. Here are the line items of the budget.

Social security, $800 billion.
Medicare and medicaid, $800 billion.
Defense, $800 billion
Interest, $200 billion. (Can't cut that though.)
Everything else, $1.2 trillion.

As you can see, social security, medicare and medicaid, and defense account for $2.4 trillion in spending. That means if we eliminate "everything else," and I mean everything, we have to cut $400 billion from those three. What do you cut? Social security? Medicare and medicaid? Defense?

And remember, we don't have any government employees any more, because we fired them all, since they were part of "everything else," so no one will actually be collecting and disbursing any revenues from the government any more.



BTW, if we go cold turkey and are forced to match expenditures with revenues, i.e. not raise the debt ceiling, the government will stop spending $1.6 trillion a year, or about $130 billion a month, which accounts for 11.3% of GDP. IOW, GDP will start falling by about 1% a month. As a comparison, the economy fell by 3.1% top to bottom during this most recent recession. So forcing the government to balance its budget by not raising the debt ceiling would contract the economy in one quarter what it did during the entire recession.