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68% Favor Smaller Government, Lower Taxes

Sixty-eight percent (68%) of U.S. voters prefer a smaller government with fewer services and lower taxes to a more active one that offers more services and higher taxes. That's the second highest finding in Rasmussen Reports surveying on the question since November 2006, exceeded only by a 70% finding in August of last year.

 A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 24% of voters prefer a more active government with more services and higher taxes. Only 19% felt that way in August 2009 as voters stormed congressional town hall meetings across the country to complain about pending health care legislation, the bailouts of the auto and financial industry and the $787-billion economic stimulus plan.

Just two months ago, 63% favored a smaller government, while 26% opted for a more active one.

In nearly four years of surveying on the question, support for a smaller government has ranged from 55% to 70%, while backing for a more active government has run from 19% to 32%.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on September 2-3, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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