Congress is looking for sizable spending cuts in the months ahead, and voters see three so-called “corporate welfare” programs as potential candidates for the chopping block - farm subsidies, aid to large corporations to promote export sales and funding to help other countries buy U.S.-made weapons.
The number of voters who consider the Republican agenda in Congress as extreme has risen to its highest level yet, while a plurality continues to view the Democrats' that way.
More voters still think the average Tea Party member has a better handle on America’s problems than the average member of Congress does, but there’s a sharp difference of opinion between Democrats and Republicans.
Congress and presidents have been playing the “spending cuts” game for years, but most voters know what they’re really talking about.
Defense spending, along with Social Security and Medicare, accounts for over 50% of the federal budget and is sure to come under the knife as Congress and President Obama look for ways to cut the nation’s staggering deficit. Most voters think that’s a good idea.
With faith already lacking in the government and the economy, U.S. voters now have less confidence than ever in the fairness of elections.
Several prominent Democrats and their media friends have charged the Tea Party with being economic terrorists during the congressional budget debates, but most voters don’t see it that way.
Fewer voters than ever feel the federal government has the consent of the governed.
Most voters don’t think members of Congress should be allowed to lobby for several years after they step down.
President Obama and Congress agreed to cut a trillion dollars in federal spending over the next decade as part of the recently concluded debt ceiling deal, but most voters doubt that will actually happen.
Although voters are skeptical that federal spending will actually be cut following the debt ceiling debate, a majority opposes automatic spending cuts if Congress doesn’t reach its reduction goals. A so-called Super Committee has been tasked with finding cuts of $1.5 trillion over a decade and recommending those cuts to the full Congress. If no cuts are agreed upon, automatic cuts are supposed to go into effect.
Congress just can’t win. Most voters still lack confidence even their own local representative and want to replace every single one of them.
Voters continue to believe U.S. society is fair and decent, while the number who believes immigrants should adopt American culture hovers around the all-time low.
Most Americans disapprove of the debt ceiling agreement reached by the president and Congress earlier this week and most doubt it will actually reduce government spending.
Americans think the Constitution calls for a separation of church and state, but they overwhelmingly believe that separation is not violated by plans to include the so-called 9/11 cross in a memorial on the site of the World Trade Center.
An overwhelming majority of voters nationwide want members of Congress to take a pay cut until the federal budget is balanced, and a plurality also thinks the president should chop his salary in half until that time.
The debt ceiling debate has highlighted the political difficulty of coming to grips with the federal government’s massive debt. Voters now are almost evenly divided over whether they prefer a congressman who would reduce that debt with spending cuts only or opt for a mix of spending cuts and tax increases.
Positive ratings for the U.S. health care system peaked last year in the midst of the health care reform debate, but they have fallen since.
With less than five days left until the federal government could begin defaulting on its debts, voters continue to express unhappiness with both sides of the debt ceiling debate. While most voters continue to believe the debt ceiling will be raised before the government defaults, most don’t think the president and Congressional Republicans will agree on significant long-term spending cuts before the 2012 elections.
Voters are more convinced than ever that most congressmen are crooks.
