Federal Budget Deficit

Next, I'm going to read a list of problems facing the country. For each one, please tell me if you personally worry about this problem a great deal, a fair amount, only a little or not at all. How much do you personally worry about federal spending and the budget deficit?

	Great deal	Fair amount	Only a little	Not at all	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2024 Mar 1-20	51	26	12	10	1
2023 Mar 1-23	52	26	14	8	*
2022 Mar 1-18	48	27	16	10	--
2021 Mar 1-15	49	28	15	8	1
2020 Mar 2-13	44	29	17	9	*
2019 Mar 1-10	50	30	15	5	*
2018 Mar 1-8	51	26	15	7	1
2017 Mar 1-5	49	27	16	7	1
2014 Mar 6-9 ^	58	22	14	6	--
2013 Mar 7-10	61	23	11	4	1
2012 Mar 8-11	60	21	15	3	1
2011 Mar 3-6	64	23	8	4	1
^ Asked of a half sample; * Less than 0.5%
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Which comes closer to your view about the long-term impact the proposed tax cuts would have on the federal budget deficit -- [ROTATED: the tax cuts would increase the deficit in the long run because the government would take in a lot less money that it won't be able to recover, (or) the tax cuts would decrease the deficit in the long run because they would stimulate the economy and bring in more money for the government]?

	Increase deficit	Reduce deficit	No opinion
	%	%	%
Trump tax cuts
2017 Dec 1-2	52	38	10
Bush tax cuts
2003 Jul 18-20	46	48	6
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Regardless of which presidential candidate you preferred, do you think the [ ... ] administration will or will not be able to do each of the following? How about -- Substantially reduce the federal budget deficit?

	Yes, will	No, will not	No opinion
	%	%	%
Joe Biden
2020 Dec 1-17	28	71	1
Donald Trump
2016 Nov 10-11	46	52	2
Barack Obama
2012 Nov 9-12	39	58	3
2008 Nov 7-9	42	56	2
George W. Bush
2005 Jan 14-16 ^	26	70	4
2001 Jan 15-16 #	50	46	4
Bill Clinton
1993 Feb 16-17 ^	50	45	5
1993 Feb 12-14 ^	46	48	6
1992 Nov 10-11 ^	38	54	8
George H.W. Bush
1989 Jan 24-25 ^	39	46	15
1988 Nov 14-Dec 4	33	52	15
Ronald Reagan
1980 Nov 21-24 @	30	55	15
^WORDING: Reduce the federal budget deficit; #Keep the federal budget balanced; @ Balance the budget
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As you may know, the Republicans in Congress and President Obama have not reached an agreement on the federal budget. As a result, the federal government has shut down all non-essential services. Do you personally view this shutdown as a crisis, as a major problem, as a minor problem or as not a problem at all?

	Crisis	Major problem	Minor problem	Not a problem	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2013 Oct 2-3	21	49	18	8	3
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Now, thinking about the budget debate which has been going on in Washington, who do you think has acted more responsibly in the negotiations over the budget -- President Obama or the Republican leaders in Congress?

	President Obama	Republicans in Congress	Neither (vol.)	Both (vol.)	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2013 Sep 27-28	40	35	11	1	13
(vol.)=volunteered response
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Which of the following statements comes closer to your view about the budget debate between Barack Obama and the Republicans in Congress -- [ROTATED: it is an important battle over principles and the future direction of government (or) it is mostly an attempt by both sides to gain political advantage]?

	Important battle over principles	Attempt to gain political advantage	Both/Mixed (vol.)	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2013 Sep 27-28	37	47	4	11
(vol.)=volunteered response
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As you may know, automatic cuts in the federal budget -- known as sequestration -- went into effect on March. All in all, do you think the sequestration is a good thing or a bad thing for the country, or don't you know enough to say?

	Good thing	Bad thing	Don't know enough to say	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2013 Apr 29-30	17	30	52	1
2013 Apr 6-7	18	31	49	2
2013 Mar 11-12	17	27	55	1
2013 Mar 2-3	18	30	51	1
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All in all, do you think the sequestration is a good thing or a bad thing for you personally, or don't you know enough to say?

	Good thing	Bad thing	Don't know enough to say	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2013 Apr 29-30	11	24	62	3
2013 Apr 6-7	14	25	57	4
2013 Mar 11-12	14	24	60	2
2013 Mar 2-3	17	26	55	2
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Would you tell your representative in Congress to vote to pass legislation this week to avoid the scheduled budget sequestration or let the budget sequestration go into effect as scheduled?

	Vote to avoid	Let go into effect	No opinion
	%	%	%
2013 Feb 25-26	45	37	19
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Do you think the U.S. economy will or will not get worse this year if the budget sequestration goes into effect as scheduled?

	Yes, will	No, will not	No opinion
	%	%	%
2013 Feb 25-26	56	30	13
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From what you know or have read, do you approve or disapprove of the agreement to avoid the "fiscal cliff" tax increases and spending cuts in the federal budget?

	Approve	Disapprove	No opinion
	%	%	%
2013 Jan 3	43	45	12
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Based on what you have heard or read, do you approve or disapprove of the way each of the following handled the fiscal cliff budget negotiations? How about -- [RANDOM ORDER]?

	Approve	Disapprove	No opinion
	%	%	%
President Barack Obama	46	48	6
Vice President Joe Biden ^	40	42	17
Democratic leaders in Congress ^	34	55	11
Speaker of the House, John Boehner ^	31	50	18
Senate Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell ^	28	46	26
Senate Democratic Leader, Harry Reid ^	27	48	25
Republican leaders in Congress ^	25	67	8
^ Asked of a half sample; Jan 3, 2013
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As you may know, Congress can reduce the federal budget deficit by cutting spending, raising taxes, or a combination of the two. Ideally, how would you prefer to see Congress attempt to reduce the federal budget deficit -- [ROTATED: only with spending cuts, mostly with spending cuts, equally with spending cuts and tax increases, mostly with tax increases (or) only with tax increases]?

	2012 Nov 9-12	2011 Jul 7-10	2011 Apr 20-23
	%	%	%
Only with spending cuts	10	20	20
Mostly with spending cuts	30	30	28
Equally with spending cuts/tax increases	45	32	37
Mostly with tax increases	8	7	9
Only with tax increases	3	4	2
Other (vol.)	1	1	1
No opinion	3	5	3
(vol.) = Volunteered response
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Please tell me whether you favor or oppose each of the following as a way to reduce the federal debt. How about -- [RANDOM ORDER]?

	Favor	Oppose	No opinion
	%	%	%
Increasing income tax rates for upper-income Americans	66	33	1
Increasing tax revenues by making major changes to the current federal tax code	60	33	7
Cutting spending for programs other than defense, Social Security and Medicare	59	37	5
Cutting defense spending	47	51	2
Making significant changes to the Social Security and Medicare programs to reduce their cost	42	56	2
Aug 4-7, 2011
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As you may know, as part of the agreement to raise the debt ceiling, Congress will appoint a special committee to look at ways to further reduce federal spending and the national debt. If that committee does not reach an agreement, the law would impose major cuts in most federal spending including Medicare and defense. What would you like the members of this committee who represent your views on spending and the debt to do? Should they -- [ROTATED: hold out for a plan you would agree with, even if it prevents the committee from reaching an agreement, (or should they) agree to a compromise plan, even if it is a plan you would disagree with]?

	Hold out for plan	Agree to compromise	No opinion
	%	%	%
2011 Aug 4-7	35	60	5
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Next, I'd like to ask you about the agreement reached by the president and Congress to raise the federal debt ceiling. Based on what you know or have read about this agreement, do you approve or disapprove of it?

	Approve	Disapprove	No opinion
	%	%	%
2011 Aug 2	39	46	15
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Based on what you know or have read about the agreement, do you view it as a step forward, a step backward or neither in terms of addressing the federal debt situation?

	Step forward	Step backward	Neither	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2011 Aug 2	20	22	50	8
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What effect do you think the agreement will have on the U.S. economy -- will it -- [ROTATED: make the economy better, not have much effect (or will it) make the economy worse]?

	Better	Not much effect	Worse	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2011 Aug 2	17	33	41	9
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Which concerns you more -- [ROTATED: the government would not raise the debt ceiling and a major economic crisis would result (or) the government would raise the debt ceiling but without plans for major cuts in future spending]?

	Not raise/major economic crisis	Raise/no plan for cuts	No opinion
	%	%	%
2011 Jul 15-17	35	55	10
2011 Jul 7-10	32	51	17
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From what you know or have read about the discussion of raising the debt ceiling, would you want your member of Congress to -- [ROTATED: vote in favor of raising the debt ceiling, vote against raising the debt ceiling] -- or don't you know enough to say?

	Vote for	Vote against	No opinion
	%	%	%
2011 Jul 7-10	22	42	35
2011 May 5-8	19	47	34
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What are some of the reasons why you would want your member of Congress to vote in favor of raising the debt ceiling? [OPEN-ENDED]

Based on those who want their representative to vote to raise the debt limit

	2011 Jul 7-10
	%
To avoid economic catastrophe	32
To not default on debt	23
Necessary/No choice	17
To avoid government shutdown/suspension of services/benefits	16
Would have negative effect on U.S. standing in world	7
To avoid credit downgrade of U.S.	6
Other	7
No reason in particular	5
No opinion	1
Percentages total more than 100% due to multiple responses
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What are some of the reasons why you would want your member of Congress to vote against raising the debt ceiling? [OPEN-ENDED]

Based on those who want their representative to vote against raising the debt limit

	2011 Jul 7-10
	%
Already have too much debt/Cannot afford more	38
Need to stop spending /Cut spending	21
Does not address problem/Would keep raising limit in future	17
U.S. needs to live within its means/Budget better	13
Would lead to tax increases/Taxes are already too high	6
U.S. should pay off debt it already owes	4
Harmful to future generations	3
Cut government jobs/reduce salaries first	2
Stop giving money/aid to other countries	2
Being in debt to other countries not good for U.S.	1
US is broke/bankrupt	1
Other	3
No reason in particular	4
No opinion	1
Percentages total more than 100% due to multiple responses
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Which do you think is more to blame for the federal budget deficit -- [ROTATED: spending too much money on federal programs that are either not needed or wasteful, (or) not raising enough money in taxes to pay for needed federal programs]?

	Spending too much	Not raising enough taxes	No opinion
	%	%	%
2011 Apr 20-23	73	22	5
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How long do you think it will be until the costs of the Medicare and Social Security programs create a crisis for the federal government -- are they already creating a crisis, will they create a crisis within the next 10 years, within 10 to 20 years, in more than 20 years or not for the foreseeable future?

	Already creating crisis	Within 10 years	Within 10-20 years	More than 20 years	Not for foreseeable future	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%	%
2011 Apr	34	33	19	4	7	2
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Do you think the government should completely overhaul Medicare to control the cost of the program, make major changes to Medicare but not completely overhaul it, make minor changes to Medicare, or should the government not try to control the costs of Medicare?

	Completely overhaul	Make major changes	Make minor changes	Not try to control costs	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2011 Apr 11	13	18	34	27	8
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On a different subject, who do you think is doing the better job in the current efforts to agree on a new federal budget -- [ROTATED: Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress (or) The Republicans in Congress]?

	Obama/Democrats	Republicans in Congress	Both equally (vol.)	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2011 Apr 5	41	34	5	20
2011 Feb 22	39	42	3	16
(vol.)=volunteered response
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Do you think the budget proposals being made by -- [RANDOM ORDER] -- [ROTATED: go too far in cutting federal spending, are about right (or) do not go far enough in cutting federal spending]?

	Go too far	About right	Do not go far enough	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
Barack Obama/Democrats in Congress
2011 Apr 5	15	26	45	14
2011 Feb 22	13	29	48	10
Republicans in Congress
2011 Apr 5	32	22	30	15
2011 Feb 22	25	25	37	13
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Next, please say whether you favor or oppose cutting government spending in each of the following areas. How about -- [RANDOM ORDER]?

	Favor	Oppose	No opinion
	%	%	%
Foreign aid	59	37	4
Funding for the arts and sciences	46	52	2
Aid to farmers	44	53	3
Homeland security	42	56	3
The military and national defense	42	57	1
Anti-poverty programs	39	55	6
Medicare	38	61	1
Social Security	34	64	2
Education	32	67	2
Jan. 14-16, 2011. Asked of a half sample
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As you may know, the government will be forced to raise the legal limit on the national debt soon or the United States will default on its debts and force a government shutdown. What would you like to see Congress do -- [ROTATED: vote to raise the debt limit to avoid a government shutdown even if Congress cannot agree on measures to reduce the deficit in the future, vote to raise the debt limit only if Congress can agree ahead of time on measures to reduce the deficit in the future], or don't you know enough to say?

	Raise limit even if no plan for defict	Only raise limit if plan for deficit	No opinion
	%	%	%
2011 Jan 14-16 ^	16	50	33
^ Asked of a half sample
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Next, how important is it to you that the president and Congress deal with each of the following issues in the next year -- is it -- extremely important, very important, moderately important or not that important? How about -- the federal budget deficit?

	Extremely important	Very important	Moderately important	Not that important	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2011 Jan 7-9	44	40	12	3	2
2007 Jan 5-7	42	34	19	3	1
2004 Dec 17-19 ^	35	42	18	3	2
2003 Jan 3-5 ^	32	36	25	5	2
2002 May 28-29 ^	25	37	28	8	2
2002 Jan 11-14	30	35	28	5	2
^ Asked of a half sample
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If you had to choose, which of these do you think would be the best approach for Congress and the president to take in dealing with the U.S. economy -- [RANDOM ORDER: increasing government stimulus spending, cutting taxes, reducing the federal budget deficit and national debt, (or) increasing taxes on the wealthy]?

	Reducing deficit	Increasing taxes on wealthy	Cutting taxes	Increasing stimulus spending	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2010 Nov 19-21	39	31	23	5	2
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In thinking about the trade-offs between spending government money to improve the economy versus adding considerable amounts of money to the federal debt, which do you think is the greater risk -- [ROTATED: spending too little to improve the economy (or) adding too much to the federal debt]?

	Spending too little	Adding too much debt	No opinion
	%	%	%
2009 Feb 20-22	37	59	4
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If you had to choose, which of the following would be more important to you -- [ROTATED: increasing spending on domestic issues such as education and health care (or) holding down the federal budget deficit]?

	Increasing domestic spending	Holding down deficit	Both (vol.)	Neither (vol.)	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2006 Feb 9-12	58	33	7	1	2
2002 May 28-29	65	28	4	2	1
(vol.) = Volunteered response
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Which of these statements do you think best describes the federal budget deficit -- [ROTATED: it is a crisis, it is a major problem for the country but is not a crisis, it is a minor problem for the country (or) it is not a problem for the country at all]?

	Crisis	Major problem	Minor problem	Not a problem	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2003 Jul 18-20	20	57	18	3	2
(vol.) = Volunteered response
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Thinking about the trade-offs the government must make when creating a federal budget, would you rather see the government give a higher priority to -- [ROTATED: reducing the federal budget deficit (or) cutting federal income taxes]?

	Reducing deficit	Cutting taxes	Both equally (vol.)	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2003 Jan 13-16	48	42	5	5
(vol.) = Volunteered response
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In your opinion, is the current federal budget deficit a very serious problem for the country, a fairly serious problem, not a serious problem or is this something you haven't thought much about?

	Very serious	Fairly serious	Not serious	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
1998 Jan 6-7	40	34	7	19
1989 Jan 24-26	63	20	3	14
1985 Nov 11-18	61	23	3	13
1985 Aug 13-15	57	21	2	20
1985 Apr 12-15	58	23	5	14
1984 Dec 7-10	54	29	5	12
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Do you think that tax cuts and deficit reduction can be accomplished at the same time, or do you think they cannot be accomplished at the same time?

	Yes, can	No, cannot	No opinion
	%	%	%
1996 Jun 18-19 ^	44	48	8
1996 May 28-29	55	39	6
1994 Dec 16-18	52	43	5
^ Asked of a half sample
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Federal Budget Deficit

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