Seven out of 10 Americans (70%) think a balanced budget is good for the economy, but nearly as many (64%) believe it unlikely that John McCain can achieve such a budget by 2013 as he has promised.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey conducted last night (Monday) also finds that 69% of voters think the government can cut large amounts of wasteful spending without harming important programs.

If the president vetoes all wasteful spending approved by Congress and a budget deficit still exists, 53% of voters favor cutting government programs while 31% support tax increases to balance the budget.

The Republican presidential candidate last week pledged to balance the budget by the end of his first term, returning to a pledge he had abandoned in April. At that time, he said it might take him two terms because of his proposed tax cuts and the sickly state of the economy.

McCain, who has been perhaps the most outspoken critic in Congress of so-called pork barrel spending, has not specified what government cuts he has in mind if elected.

His Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, characterized McCain’s plan as “overly ambitious.” “I do not make a promise that we can reduce [the budget deficit] by 2013 because I think it is important for us to make some critical investments right now in America’s families,” Obama said. Despite Obama’s refusal to make a balanced budget promise, tracking data shows that voters currently trust the Democrat more than McCain when it comes to balancing the budget.

Only 33% of voters think McCain can achieve a balanced budget by 2013. Here the partisan divide is clear: 58% of Republicans think it is likely, compared to 18% of Democrats. Only 27% of unaffiliated voters agree.

Eighty-five (85%) of self-designated Obama voters do not think McCain is likely to fulfill his promise, but 62% of McCain think he can.

Support for raising taxes to balance the budget also shows a split along party lines. Forty-seven percent (47%) of Democrats support tax increases if necessary versus 36% who favor cutting government programs. Among Republicans, 78% support cutting programs as opposed to 14% who endorse tax hikes. Unaffiliated voters give the edge to cutting programs (51%) over raising taxes (27%).

Support for cutting programs as opposed to increasing taxes is significantly higher in every income bracket.

Nearly three out of five Democrats (58%) and a nearly identical 60% of liberals think the federal government can eliminate large amounts of wasteful spending without harming important government programs. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Republicans and conservatives agree, as do 66% of moderates.

Voters overwhelmingly support using the financial savings from bringing the troops home from Iraq to help balance the budget (67%) compared to 19% who prefer to spend it on other government programs.

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