Today in Budget Fantasy

It's old news that Americans like to think of themselves as conservatives who oppose "government spending" but actually support almost all of the spending the government in fact does. A recent poll asked us if we prefer a budget “with $1 trillion in tax hikes and $100 billion in cuts that does not balance the budget” or one “that does not raise taxes, cuts $5 trillion and balances budget”. And, no surprise, 55 percent favored the budget that cuts spending and balances the budget. But against that is the reality shown in the Pew Poll reported above, that there is not a majority for cutting ANY particular category of government spending.

The best news in that Pew Poll, if you ask me, is that the number favoring defense cuts has gone up to 32 percent, which is nowhere near a majority but is the highest such figure since 9-11. I wonder why unemployment aid fared poorly; perhaps there is fatigue setting in after five years of extensions, and people are starting to think that some of the long-term unemployed are just slackers.