Fifty-nine percent (59%) of U.S. voters worry that Congress and President Obama will increase government spending too much in the next year or two, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Only 17% have the opposite concern and are more worried that Congress and the president will cut taxes too much.

Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters expect government spending to go up under the Obama administration, while just 13% think it will go down. Fifteen percent (15%) say government spending will stay about the same, and nine percent (9%) are not sure.

Thirty-one percent (31%) say their own personal taxes will go up under President Obama, but 16% think they will go down. Late in the fall campaign, the number expecting a tax cut with an Obama victory was twice as high—31%. Earlier this month, 21% believed their taxes would go down during his presidency, while 29% expected a tax hike.

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Nearly half of U.S. voters (49%) say Obama is politically more liberal than they are. Forty-five percent (45%) of voters, however, now Strongly Approve of the way that Obama is performing his role as president in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Approval Index. Just 16% Strongly Disapprove.

Fifty-one percent (51%) of voters also think politics in Washington, D.C., will become more cooperative over the next year. Thirty-four percent (34%) expect politics to be more partisan, and 16% are not sure. On this point, voters have become slightly more optimistic since Election Day.

Fifty-five percent (55%) say they are following news stories about Obama’s first days in the White House Very Closely, while just two percent (2%) say they are not following at all.

Obama and the Democratic congressional leadership have proposed an $825-billion economic recovery plan, which includes $550 billion in new spending and $275 billion in tax cuts.

Forty-five percent (45%) of voters support Obama’s economic plan, but 64% say tax cuts for 95% of Americans as Obama promised last fall should be a priority.

Republicans are far more worried about new government spending than Democrats. Eighty-four percent (84%) of GOP voters say they are more concerned that Congress and the president will increase government spending too much over the next year or two. Among Democrats, 33% worry about too much spending, while 26% fear they will cut taxes too much and 42% are not sure. Unaffiliated voters by 54 points worry more about too much spending.

Eighty-two percent (82%) of Republicans say government spending will go up under the Obama Adminstration, as do 73% of unaffiliated voters. Only 40% of Democrats – but still the plurality - agree.

Just over half of GOP voters (51%) think their personal taxes will rise during Obama’s presidency, compared to 12% of Democrats. Twenty-eight percent (28%) of Democratic voters and six percent (6%) of Republicans say their taxes will go down.

Among unaffiliated voters, a plurality (40%) say their taxes will stay about the same, while 36% think they will go up and 10% go down.

Seventy-eight percent (78%) of Democrats think politics will become more cooperative in Washington over the next year, but a majority of Republicans (54%) expect more partisanship. Unaffiliateds are evenly divided.

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