Ending ‘Corporate Welfare’ Is Popular With Voters

Among a variety of size-of-government issues, voters most strongly support eliminating government subsidies to business.

A new national telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports and the Woodford Foundation finds that 62% of Likely U.S. voters favor ending “corporate welfare,” and believe government should not give handouts to businesses. Only 20% disagree, while another 18% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

There is almost no partisan difference on this issue. Sixty-five percent (65%) of Republicans support ending “corporate welfare,” as do 61% of both Democrats and voters not affiliated with either major party.

A majority (54%) of voters also agree that taxes and government spending should be cut 50% or more. Thirty-two percent (32%) disagree and 14% are not sure. Far more Republicans (74%) than Democrats (40%) or unaffiliated voters (49%) favor such a proposal.

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The survey of 1,032 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on August 30-31, 2022 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.

Another popular proposal, also favored by 54% of voters, is to maintain Department of Defense spending at 4% of Gross Domestic Product. Seventeen percent (17%) disagree and 29% are not sure. Sixty-two percent (62%) of Republicans, 56% of Democrats and 43% of unaffiliated voters favor this idea.

Among other findings of the Rasmussen Reports/Woodford Foundation survey:

– Forty-six percent (46%) think Obamacare should be repealed, while 44% disagree and 11% are not sure. Voters under 30 are most opposed to repealing Obamacare. Men (52%) are much more likely than women voters (41%) to support the repeal of Obamacare. Fifty percent (50%) of whites, but only 33% of black voters, 41% of Hispanics and 45% of other minorities support repealing Obamacare.

– Forty-nine percent (49%) of voters believe government should do much less, and allow people to work things out voluntarily among themselves. Thirty-eight percent (38%) disagree and 13% are not sure.

– Forty-six percent (46%) believe people should be able to control their own retirement and Social Security should be privatized. Forty-one percent (41%) disagree and 13% are not sure. Privatizing Social Security is most popular among voters under 40.

– Thirty-six percent (36%) agree that global warming is not a threat to the world, but 55% disagree. A majority (58%) of Republicans don’t see global warming as a threat to the world, but majorities of both Democrats (74%) and unaffiliated voters (60%) think global warming is a threat.

– Just 27% believe Health Savings Accounts should replace Medicare and Medicaid, while 56% disagree.

– Most voters disagree with proposals to eliminate the federal Education Department and Agriculture Department, and 58% disagree with repealing the Endangered Species Act.

In general, voters who are married with children are most in favor of proposals to reduce the size and expense of government. For example, on the question of whether taxes and government spending should be reduced by 50%, married-with-children voters agree by more than a 2-to-1 margin, 62% t0 27%.

Although gasoline prices have fallen from their record-breaking peak, a majority of voters are still concerned about fuel costs and expect the issue to matter in November.

President Joe Biden campaigned on a promise to unite the nation, but his speech earlier this month in Philadelphia has Americans divided.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to the public as well as to Platinum Members.

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