The Public on How to Do (and Not Do) Deficit Reduction

[Tennessee Gal]

Public Opinion Snapshot: The Public on How to Do (and Not Do) Deficit Reduction

TAKE A LOOK AT THE CHARTS IN THE LINK

It really is quite remarkable, even by the standards of today’s conservatives, how far their plans for reducing the deficit are from the public’s. Conservatives don’t want to raise taxes in any way, especially on the rich and corporations. They don’t want to touch the military. And they think it’s a dandy idea to take a meat axe to domestic spending programs and Social Security. The public is exactly the opposite, as a recent Pew Center poll shows.

So what does the public approve of for reducing the deficit? They approve of reducing U.S. assistance to foreign countries (72 percent), raising the cap for Social Security contributions (67 percent), raising income taxes on the rich (66 percent), reducing military commitments overseas (65 percent), and limiting tax deductions for large corporations (62 percent). That sure doesn’t sound like the conservative agenda.

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/06/snapshot061311.html