Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

The U.S. public shows little appetite for making the spending cuts often discussed as part of a “grand bargain” on the federal budget, according to a national survey by the Pew Research Center conducted in December 2013. The survey found that majorities say it is more important to maintain spending on Social Security and Medicare (69 percent) and programs to help the poor (59 percent) than to take steps to reduce the deficit. About half of Americans (51 percent) say reducing the deficit is more important than keeping military spending at current levels. Pew reports that views of tradeoffs between government spending and deficit reduction are divided along partisan lines with 84 percent of Democrats prioritizing spending on programs that aid the poor and needy over deficit reduction and 55 percent of Republicans prioritizing deficit reduction.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
Paul Stolz
11 years 4 months ago
Why is there an assumption that simply because the federal goverment funds a social program that is actually helping the poor? While if they make cuts its harmful? Is it not at all possible that we should look at all the spending, determine which programs are effective and which are not, determine what is wasteful or what services are duplicative, and then channel resources in a more effective manner?

The latest from america

President Donald Trump meets South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Trump offered a vibrant demonstration of the kind of worst-case scenario Pope Leo may have had in mind about the collapse of critical thinking.
Kevin ClarkeMay 22, 2025
In his first appointment of a top-level official of the Roman Curia, Pope Leo XIV named Sister Tiziana Merletti, a canon lawyer, to be secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
“We were once leaders in petroleum and gas research; now we’re becoming leaders in green hydrogen and carbon capture. This isn’t just a technological shift; it’s a spiritual one.”
Gerard O’ConnellMay 22, 2025
A cardinal reflects on his experience of the conclave