Poll Finds Wariness About Cutting Entitlements
By JACKIE CALMES and DALIA SUSSMAN
NYT
As President Obama and Congress brace to battle over how to reduce chronic annual budget deficits, Americans overwhelmingly say that in general they prefer cutting government spending to paying higher taxes, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
Yet their preference for spending cuts, even in programs that benefit them, dissolves when they are presented with specific options related to Medicare and Social Security, the programs that directly touch the most people and also are the biggest drivers of the government’s projected long-term debt.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans choose higher payroll taxes for Medicare and Social Security over reduced benefits in either program. And asked to choose among cuts to Medicare, Social Security or the nation’s third-largest spending program — the military — a majority by a large margin said cut the Pentagon.
While Americans are near-unanimous in calling deficits a problem — a “very serious” problem, say 7 out of 10 — a majority believes it should not be necessary for them to pay higher taxes to bridge the shortfall between what the government spends and what it takes in. But given a choice of often-discussed revenue options, they preferred a national sales tax or a limit in the deduction for mortgage interest to a higher gasoline tax or taxing employer-provided health benefits.
(More here.)
NYT
As President Obama and Congress brace to battle over how to reduce chronic annual budget deficits, Americans overwhelmingly say that in general they prefer cutting government spending to paying higher taxes, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
Yet their preference for spending cuts, even in programs that benefit them, dissolves when they are presented with specific options related to Medicare and Social Security, the programs that directly touch the most people and also are the biggest drivers of the government’s projected long-term debt.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans choose higher payroll taxes for Medicare and Social Security over reduced benefits in either program. And asked to choose among cuts to Medicare, Social Security or the nation’s third-largest spending program — the military — a majority by a large margin said cut the Pentagon.
While Americans are near-unanimous in calling deficits a problem — a “very serious” problem, say 7 out of 10 — a majority believes it should not be necessary for them to pay higher taxes to bridge the shortfall between what the government spends and what it takes in. But given a choice of often-discussed revenue options, they preferred a national sales tax or a limit in the deduction for mortgage interest to a higher gasoline tax or taxing employer-provided health benefits.
(More here.)
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1 Comments:
Oh really? People are weary about having the government freebies scaled back?
It doesn't matter what this poll says, unless we want to go the way of Greece and Spain and Portugal and Ireland, we have no choice but to cut EVERYTHING and move Social Security to an IRA system from the Ponzi Paygo system we have now.
Government at all levels have overpromised what legitimately can be delivered bribing the American voter in to getting re-elected with the voters money. But all the bribes have caught up to su now. We are now in the times of 'later' as in 'we can pay for it later'. 'Later' is here now. The grand experiment in massive borrowing, transferring the tax burden so that only 50% of Americans pay taxes and government induced bubble-burst economy has now come home too roost.
If I were in Congress and some pundit asked me what I would cut, my answer would be 'absolutely everything'. We obviously can't grow our way out of these deficits and debts now, we're way past that point. WE can't inflate our way out of this or tax our way out of this. The only choice we have - the ONLY ONE - is to massively cut government at every level.
I don't how to sayit any plainer than that. And if the pepole don't like it, well, tough shit. We now need toughtlove from our government and tough love take courage to tell the children 'NO'!
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