Posted on 01/15/2011 6:35:37 PM PST by Halo-JM
Salvanto. (Credit: CBS)
A new CBS News poll finds that Americans strongly prefer cutting spending to raising taxes to reduce the federal deficit. While 77 percent prefer to cut spending, just nine percent call for raising taxes. Another nine percent want to do both.
Yet most Americans could not volunteer a program they'd be willing to see cut in order to reduce the deficit - only 38 percent could name a program they would support cutting. The top responses were military/defense (six percent), Social Security/Medicare (four percent) and welfare/food stamps (four percent).
However, Americans are more willing to consider cuts when presented with specific ideas, as the chart above illustrates. The most popular ideas for reducing the deficit are to reduce Social Security benefits for the wealthy, reduce the money allocated to projects in their own community, reduce farm subsidies and reduce defense spending. More than 50 percent supported reductions in each of those programs.
(Credit: CBS)
Democrats and independents were more likely to favor cuts to defense spending than Republicans, only 39 percent of whom favored cuts there to reduce the deficit. Republicans were most likely to favor reducing money for projects in their area (73 percent), reducing social security for the wealthy (66 percent), reducing farm subsidies (58 percent) and reducing money for student loans (54 percent.)
Democrats were most likely to support reducing social security for the wealthy (60 percent), reducing defense spending (58 percent) and reducing farm subsidies (55 percent).
Forty-seven percent say it will be necessary to cut programs that benefit people like them to reduce the deficit. Forty-one percent say it can be reduced without cutting programs that benefit them.
Seventy-two percent say that deficits can be acceptable in emergency situations and when kept manageable. Eighteen percent say deficits are never acceptable, while seven percent say the government should run whatever deficits are necessary.
Most Americans do not know exactly how the government spends its money. For example, when asked what percent of the budget goes to earmarks, 41 percent said they make up less than 20 percent of the budget, 13 percent said 20-50 percent, 4 percent said more than 50 percent and 42 percent didn't know. Earmarks actually make up less than one percent of the budget.
Read the Complete Poll (PDF)
This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,178 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone January 5 - 9, 2010. Phone numbers were dialed from RDD samples of both standard land-lines and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Kbaschke?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/g_YQpNz53rY
Where is Chainsaw Al when we need him?
I think he said he was going shopping for new window dressings at Walmart. /s
At this point, I see it a lot like immigration: a complete moratorium except on current applications.
As far as what to cut, I think we should obvert that to `what should we keep,’ and I can’t get past: the Department of Defense.
No funding to NAACP; LaRaza, ACLU, Planned Parenthood, ACORN, reverse the federal retirement to the highest amount of Social Security (this would save around $50k per retiree, per year); take away Congress retirement (adjust to FICA, now we are at around $125k per year, per retiree). Like you, I can go on and on.
Adults don't count. Voters do.
I would propose cutting retirement benefits for congresscritter—they can serve 1 term and are eligible for a paid retirement sum for life.
If these are off limits, then the budget cannot be balanced. Even if ehverything else is cut to zero.
Another stupid poll devised with a specific outcome in mind.
How about a poll that gives as choices:
Cut all federal employees by 50% immediately.
Cut all federal pay by 50% immediately.
Reduce all congressional staffers to a limit of two staffers per representative/senator.
Eliminate the TSA.
Eliminate the EPA.
Eliminate %75 of all education administrative staffers.
I could go on, but I think that my point is not hard to determine.
and the UN out of the USA.
Defund all the alphabet soup agencies
starting with the 4 letter ones:
BATF, ....
How about hundreds of teams of auditors to find every shred of graft and corruption within the Federal government??? When they’re through with that, they can start on Congress and the Regime.
I say make everyone happy and unhappy, literally cut an equal percentage from everything. EVERYTHING!! Every program has a lot of slop, clean it up! I could do the math but we could start with something like 2% and see what happens.
I’ve known too many government entities who are out there trying to spend every cent they get just because if they don’t spend it all they won’t get higher funding the next time. They are like those food stamp recipients who weigh 300 lbs and are practically starving to death.
Do we really need to watch:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Kbaschke?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/g_YQpNz53rY
3 times?
Add them up. Using 2010 numbers, you can spend $2.1 trillion without running a deficit. You’d have a surplus of $120 billion.
The other 62% are too stupid.
.
Eliminate these:
Environmental Protection Agency
Department of Education - October 17, 1976 - Carter Administration
Department of Energy - August 4, 1977 - Carter Administration
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Department of the Treasury
Department of Labor
Department of the Interior
Department of Agriculture
Department of Commerce
Independent agencies - all 50 of them
.
People are pissing and moaning about States' Rights and sovereignty. Well, let the states deal with all this crap themselves. Get the Feds out of our lives.
If I were John Boehner, at the end of 30 days with all my bills before Congress, I'd be referred to as "Boehner the Butcher," and I'd be damn proud.
The other 62% are too stupid.
.
Eliminate these:
Environmental Protection Agency
Department of Education - October 17, 1976 - Carter Administration
Department of Energy - August 4, 1977 - Carter Administration
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Department of the Treasury
Department of Labor
Department of the Interior
Department of Agriculture
Department of Commerce
Independent agencies - all 50 of them
.
People are pissing and moaning about States' Rights and sovereignty. Well, let the states deal with all this crap themselves. Get the Feds out of our lives.
If I were John Boehner, at the end of 30 days with all my bills before Congress, I'd be referred to as "Boehner the Butcher," and I'd be damn proud.
Pretty much any Progressive inspired idea,program etc...
Start with those and the country would be profitable day 1.
re: x%, across the board
Absolutely. Start doing some serious across the board cutting and you’ll find out real quickly which programs are “essential” and which ones aren’t!
It would also help identify those in government who are able to budget and choose wisely as opposed to those who have spent because it was available.
It will hurt like hell the first few budgets, but then market forces will begin to kick in. And when that happens the economy will begin to grow and with that growth will come increased revenue, increased revenue that comes from growth and not just tax increases.
Cherry picking the items and programs to cut will never get the job done. Tell ‘em all, you will have to do with 30 percent less next year. Period, end of discussion. Deal with it. That alone would spur the economy and reduce the pain.
If we don’t use this approach we’ll just slowly descend into a hell where it all collapses.
Are the people of Seattle so broke they can't go out and buy their own bulbs?
Look at a pie chart of the federal budget, the actual operating costs of the government is clearly not the lion's share of the budget, its all the entitlements!
I know that.
.
If you add up all the other crap, it is significant.
Going back to Bush's proposal in privatizing Soc. Security is the first step. The same could be done with Medicare and using tax incentives. This ain't rocket science.
100 years ago we didn't have any of this crap and Americans were all better off.
You forgot to cut all foreign aid.
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