If it's in the News, it's in our Polls. Public opinion polling since 2003.

BUSINESS

64% Favor Looking for Spending Cuts Throughout the Federal Government

A sizable majority still favors across-the-board spending cuts in the federal budget, but voters remain slightly less enthusiastic about including the military in those cuts.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 64% of Likely U.S. Voters think thoughtful spending cuts should be considered in every program of the federal government as the nation searches for solutions to the budget crisis. Just 24% disagree with considering cuts in every government program, while 12% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

But when asked if thoughtful spending cuts should be considered in every government program - except the military, just 39% agree. A plurality (49%) opposes protecting the military from the mix of potential cuts. Another 12% are undecided.

These findings mark little change from a month ago

Defense spending, along with Social Security and Medicare, accounts for over 50% of the federal budget, a fact 51% of voters now recognize.  Forty-eight percent (48%) of Americans feel it is possible to significantly reduce military spending without putting the the nation at risk, but 37% disagree.

(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 survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on September 4-5, 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.

Want to read more?

Become a Rasmussen Reader to read the article

Have an account?

Log In

Become a Reader

Subscribe

Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.

We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

Some information, including the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll and commentaries are available for free to the general public. Subscriptions are available for $4.95 a month or 34.95 a year that provide subscribers with exclusive access to more than 20 stories per week on upcoming elections, consumer confidence, and issues that affect us all. For those who are really into the numbers, Platinum Members can review demographic crosstabs and a full history of our data.

To learn more about our methodology, click here.