Perspectives on National Government Spending Professors Mark A. Smith and Rebecca Thorpe
The budget deficit is once again a prominent item on the political agenda. The fiscal cliff deal signed on January 2 included tax increases for the highest earners. The “sequestration” process, which began on March 1, implemented cuts in discretionary spending that Congress and the President initially agreed to in 2011. For now, at least, the sequestration is taking effect. What is the likelihood of a follow-up deal with significant cuts in entitlement spending? Not very. So there is majority support for reducing the role of government and cutting government spending, right? Not necessarily. The Pew Research Center for People & the Press asked Americans, “Thinking about the federal budget, if you were making up the budget for the federal government, would you increase spending, decrease spending, or keep the same spending for…” The poll then led respondents through a series of eighteen government programs such as education, veterans’ benefits, social security, health care, environmental protection, energy, and military defense. Remarkably, a plurality of Americans wanted to increase rather than decrease spending on fifteen of the eighteen programs. Only one program—“aid to the world’s needy”—received strongly negative evaluations. The opening weeks of 2013 played true to form. Despite all of the talk about the nation’s long-term deficits, which are driven mainly by entitlement spending, both parties have resisted offering any cuts to entitlements. Republicans seem more committed than Democrats to deficit reduction, but Republican leaders nevertheless want to avoid alienating their constituents by advocating specific reductions to popular (and expensive) programs like social security and Medicare. Mark A. Smith is Professor of Political Science. His most recent book is The Right Talk: How Conservatives Transformed the Great Society into the Economic Society (Princeton University Press, 2007). Rebecca Thorpe is Assistant Professor of Political Science. Her forthcoming book is The Warfare State: Perpetuating the U.S. Military Economy (University of Chicago Press).
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