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50% Favor Mix of Cuts, Taxes To Reduce Deficit, But 64% Oppose Paying Higher Taxes

Fifty percent (50%) of Americans think President Obama and Congress should consider a mix of spending cuts and tax increases in looking for ways to cut the federal deficit, but nearly two-out-of-three adults (64%) are unwilling to pay higher taxes themselves to reduce that deficit.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 27% of Americans are willing to pay more in taxes to cut the federal deficit. (To see survey question wording, click here.

Still, that’s up nine points from May of last year when only 18% were willing to pay higher taxes to reduce the deficit. 

However, just six percent (6%) of adults think Congress and the president should consider only tax increases in looking for ways to cut the deficit. Thirty-six percent (36%) say only spending cuts should be considered.

This marks a slight shift from last November when 41% called for spending cuts only to reduce the deficit, four percent (4%) wanted tax hikes only and 46% favored a mix of the two. In February 2010, though, 52% preferred a mix of spending cuts and tax hikes, while 35% said Congress and the president should only consider spending cuts.

Thirty-seven percent (37%) of Likely U.S. Voters favor the deficit reduction plan President Obama announced on Monday which calls for a mix of spending cuts and tax increases, but 42% oppose it. Most like the president’s idea of setting a minimum tax rate for those making more than $1 million a year, but voters are lukewarm to his proposal to raise taxes on couples earning more than $250,000 annually.

(Want a free daily e-mail update ? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter  or Facebook.

The national survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on September 21-22, 2011 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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