Most Voters Still Think Tax Cuts, Spending Decreases Benefit Economy
Most voters continue to feel that tax cuts and decreases in government spending help the U.S. economy.
The latest national telephone survey finds that 54% of Likely U.S. Voters think, generally speaking, tax cuts help the nation’s economy. That finding has ranged from a low of 50% to a high of 63% since early July 2008. Only 21% believe tax cuts hurt the economy, while 13% say they have no impact. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Just over half (51%) also believe decreases in government spending help the economy. Twenty-four percent (24%) think decreases in government spending hurt economic conditions in the country. Thirteen percent (13%) say these decreases have no impact. These results have changed little for the past two years.
But while voters strongly believe cutting both taxes and government spending are good for the economy, they don’t see it happening any time soon. In fact, 56% believe government spending will go up under the Obama administration. Eleven percent (11%) feel government spending will go down, and another 25% say it will stay about the same. Belief that spending will go up under Obama has run from 58% to 74% since he took office in January 2009.
Only seven percent (7%) of voters feel their taxes will go down under the current administration. Thirty-four percent (34%) believe their taxes will go up, while a plurality (46%) says they’ll stay about the same. The number of voters who feel their taxes will go up under Obama has ranged from a low of 30% to a high of 48% during his presidency to date.
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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on May 31-June 1, 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.
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