New York voters aren’t very optimistic about the financial solvency of their state, but they're also sending their elected representatives mixed signals. They oppose budget cuts in a couple key areas but are against tax hikes even more.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds that 56% of voters say it is at least somewhat likely that New York will be bankrupt by the end of the year. Twenty-one percent (21%) say it is very likely.

Thirty-seven percent (37%) believe that outcome is unlikely, but only nine percent (9%) say it is not at all likely.

An overwhelming 81% of say the bigger problem in New York State today is not that voters are unwilling to pay enough in taxes but that politicians are unwilling to control government spending. Just eight percent (8%) think the bigger problem is voter unwillingness to pay enough taxes.

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New York State faces a $3.2 billion budget deficit this fiscal year, and that deficit is projected to climb much higher next year.

But 58% of voters in the state oppose cuts to social welfare benefits and education spending, both of which are among the highest in the nation, to help reduce the budget deficit, as New York’s unpopular governor David Paterson has proposed. Twenty-eight percent (28%) are in favor of such cuts, and 14% are undecided.

Only 15% think raising state taxes is a good way to help reduce the deficit. Seventy-five percent (75%) are against tax hikes for that purpose.

Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major political party are much more likely than Democrats to predict that the state will go bankrupt.

Seventy-two percent (72%) of Democrats and the plurality (47%) of unaffiliateds oppose cuts to social welfare and education spending. Republicans are almost evenly divided on the question.

But Republicans and unaffiliated voters are much more strongly against raising taxes than Democrats are.

Just 24% of voters nationwide favor federal bailout funds for states that are encountering “serious financial problems.”

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is expected to challenge Paterson for the Democratic Party’s nomination, is still out front in New York’s 2010 gubernatorial race.

Democratic incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand leads former Governor George Pataki 45% to 42% in a hypothetical 2010 Senate match-up in New York State.

Fifty-five percent (55%) of New York State voters oppose U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to try the confessed mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks and five other suspected terrorists in a civilian court in New York City rather than before a military tribunal.

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