Deficit Solutions Meet With Public Skepticism - Pew Research Center

In many respects, there is a broad public consensus when it comes to the federal budget deficit: seven-in-ten say it is a major problem that must be addressed right away, and roughly two-thirds say that the best way to reduce the deficit is through a combination of cutting major government programs and increasing taxes. These views cross partisan lines, with majorities of Republicans, Democrats and independents saying we must deal with it now, and that the best approach involves both program cuts and tax increases.

Yet this general consensus evaporates when concrete deficit reduction proposals are tested. And the Bowles-Simpson commission's effort to package spending cuts and tax increases into a comprehensive package has met with far more public opposition than support. Among those who have heard of the deficit commission's proposal, 48% disapprove and just 30% approve.

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Dec. 1-5 among 1,500 adults finds that the deficit commission is not the only group that faces public skepticism when it comes to deficit reduction proposals. Neither Republican nor Democratic congressional leaders have much credibility on this issue, with majorities saying they have little or no confidence in each when it comes to dealing with the deficit. Obama is viewed more positively, by comparison, with a slim majority expressing at least a fair amount of confidence in his leadership on the deficit.

Most of the major deficit reduction proposals under discussion meet with public disapproval. Particularly unpopular are provisions that would tax the health insurance people receive from their employers (72% disapprove), raise the national gasoline tax (74% disapprove), and reduce federal funding to states for things like education and roads (71% disapprove). Of 12 ideas tested, just two meet with majority approval: increasing the amount of earned income that is subject to Social Security withholding (64% approve) and freezing the salaries of government workers (59% approve); the latter proposal is supported by President Obama and many Republicans.

Another proposal -- reducing Social Security benefits for seniors with higher incomes -- divides the American public; 48% approve and 47% disapprove with no difference of opinion across party lines.

Republicans are somewhat more willing than Democrats to rethink Social Security and Medicare benefits in the interest of deficit reduction. While Democrats disapprove of gradually raising the Social Security retirement age by a two-to-one margin (65% disapprove, 33% approve), half (50%) of Republicans disapprove while 42% approve. Republicans also are slightly more supportive of raising the amount people on Medicare contribute to cover their health care costs (37% of Republicans, 29% of Democrats), though most disapprove of this idea across party lines.

Continue reading the full report, including findings on the Tea Party and deficits as well as who the public trusts on the issue, at people-press.org.