The Deficit Has Become Sexy Again

OK, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit (maybe the pie chart above doesn’t really do it for you), but sexy is a relative concept, and at least compared with a few months, a year, or even several years ago, the federal budget deficit is getting a lot more attention from the American public lately. A few questions in an NBC/Wall Street Journal Survey and a CBS/New York Times poll (both released Thursday) highlight the issue.

In the NBC/WSJ survey (link to full survey here), 24 percent of respondents list the federal budget deficit as the single “most important economic issue facing the country” today (question #23)–second only to unemployment (at 35 percent) and double what the response was just half a year ago (Dec. 2008). The “cost of health care” drew only an 11 percent share, and “federal taxes” (presumably if people think they’re too high) was selected by just 4 percent. At 24 percent, the vote for the federal budget deficit was the highest it’s been since the mid 1990s, when we were in full swing of the Clinton Administration’s deficit reduction policies.

In the CBS/NYTimes poll, when asked “How serious a problem is the deficit?”, 52 percent said “very serious” and 38 percent “somewhat serious.” In other words, 90 percent think the deficit is a somewhat or very serious problem.

Question 24 of the NBC/WSJ survey asks (emphasis added):

Which of the following two statements comes closer to your point of view?

Statement A: The President and the Congress should worry more about boosting the economy even though it may mean larger budget deficits now and in the future.

Statement B: The President and the Congress should worry more about keeping the budget deficit down, even though it may mean it will take longer for the economy to recover.

On this, 58 percent of respondents chose statement B, and just 35 percent chose statement A. This is quite consistent with the result from the CBS/NYTimes poll (illustrated in that “sexy” chart above), that by 52 to 41 percent, Americans would prefer the federal government focus on reducing the budget deficit rather than spending to stimulate the economy.

Question 25a of the NBC/WSJ survey shows that about three-fourths of the American public blames the Bush Administration for current economic conditions (including the deficit situation)…

25a. When you think about the current economic conditions, do you feel that this is a situation that Barack Obama has inherited or is this a situation his policies are mostly responsible for?

Situation Obama inherited………………………………………. 72
Situation Obama’s policies mostly responsible for ………. 14

…even though the bulk of the worsening ten-year budget outlook under the Obama budget is due to the extension of (most of) the Bush tax cuts, and even though 60 percent of respondents to the CBS/NYTimes poll complain that President Obama “does not have a clear plan for dealing with the budget deficit.”

Comments

[nobby73:]

Question 24 is framed to lead people to answer B, through the second half of each statement.

We all know what needs to happen and now the people are being prepared for the spending cuts and tax increases to come. After all, the foreign holders of US assets are driving the bus now and this is where they want to go...

Jun 21 10:49 AM

[1RuleNoRules:]

It has been the(supply side) argument that tax cuts generate revenue not decrease it at high bracket taxation levels. It also has been customary for CBO and WHBO to project reductions in revenue for tax cuts and increases in revenue for tax hikes with the result being the opposite. I remember David Stockman testifying before congress that deficits will be ballooning and continuing into the new millennium. He did not foresee balanced budgets and $0 debt in between while he complained of tax cuts.
$0 debt coincidentally occurred during the administration of a Democrat, and more importantly, Gingrich as speaker as if things needed to be more confusing.

Jun 21 12:56 PM

[1RuleNoRules:]

The same is true for answer A.
They want to know if accept the answer even if the result is bad.


On Jun 21 10:49 AM nobby73 wrote:

> Question 24 is framed to lead people to answer B, through the second
> half of each statement.
>
> We all know what needs to happen and now the people are being prepared
> for the spending cuts and tax increases to come. After all, the
> foreign holders of US assets are driving the bus now and this is
> where they want to go...

Jun 21 12:59 PM