Poll Finds US Voters Prefer Balanced Budget Over Tax Cuts

by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York

15 April 2004

A recent poll of US voters has suggested that the electorate places a higher priority on a balanced fiscal budget and spending on health and education than further tax cuts.

The survey of 1,001 randomly selected voters conducted by Ipsos on behalf of the Associated Press found that 61% of respondents would choose to balance the budget, compared to 36% who would choose further cuts in taxation.

However, when asked to choose between balancing the budget and spending more on health, education and economic development, 62% chose the latter option, against 36% who preferred a balanced budget.

Despite President Bush’s commitment to continue cutting taxes if re-elected, most of those polled do not expect taxes to fall in the next administration. Surprisingly, 34% thought taxes will go up under Bush, whilst 46% anticipated little or no change. Only 16% predicted taxes will be cut.

Perhaps less surprising was the revelation that 51% of respondents expected their taxes to increase should Democrat candidate John Kerry be elected, with 30% expecting little change.

Nevertheless, voters feel that there is little to choose between the two main parties on the issue of tax, with 44% trusting the Democrats more on taxation, and 42% preferring Republican policies.

Another surprising finding was the perception amongst those polled that taxes have gone up over the last three years. When asked to consider all forms of local, state and federal taxes, 49% felt the burden has increased, whilst 20% reporting that taxes had gone up a lot. 36% said that the amount of tax they paid had changed little over the last three years, and only 3% said taxes had gone down a lot.

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