Cutting Government Spending May Be Popular but There Is Little Appetite for Cutting Specific Government Programs ; Much Less Support for Cutting Programs Now Than in 1980 When Ronald Reagan Was Inaugurated

U.S. Newswire › February 16, 2011

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NEW YORK, Feb. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Cutting government spending often sounds like a good idea to many people, and it is a popular rallying cry for many Republicans and Conservatives, but a new Harris Poll underlines how difficult it is. When shown a list of 20 areas of federal government spending, a majority of the public supports cutting only six of them and these do not include the big ticket items that comprise most of the federal budget. Furthermore large majorities oppose cutting Social Security or federal health care programs, which many economists believe are increasing at unsustainable rates.

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Cutting Government Spending May Be Popular but There Is Little Appetite for Cutting Specific Government Programs ; Much Less Support for Cutting Programs Now Than in 1980 When Ronald Reagan Was Inaugurated

One other interesting finding that may be noted by advocates on both sides of this debate: far fewer people support cuts in these 20 programs today than did so in 1980 when Ronald Reagan became president.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,566 adults surveyed online between January 17 and 24, 2011 by Harris Interactive.

Majorities of the public support some cuts in government spending, specifically:

Foreign aid tops the li...

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