Polling Memo: Voters Want a Balanced Budget

Voters to Government: Balance Your Budget

“It is important to reduce the debt, and balancing gets you there faster….That’s paramount.” ¹

~ Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office

In voters’ minds it’s simple.  You can’t keep spending money you don’t have.  Their solution?  It’s called a balanced budget, and the numbers prove it as nearly 9 in 10 voters say the “federal government should be required to balance its budget just like American families do at home.”

Last week, House Republicans did this and passed a fiscally responsible budget plan that balances the budget in ten years.  Meanwhile, President Obama continues to play politics by filling out a March Madness bracket before he submitted a budget.  He even admitted two weeks ago that he was not seeking to balance the budget “just for the sake of balance.”  Sorry Mr. President, voters could not disagree more.

POLLSTER: Anderson Robbins Research (D) / Shaw & Company Research (R) for Fox News

DATE: Conducted 3/17-19/2013

SAMPLE: Sampled 1,002 Adults; MoE ±3.0%

SOURCE: Q14; http://www.foxnews.com/politics/interactive/2013/03/20/fox-news-poll-voters-say-debt-is-immediate-problem/

 ¹   (Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Former Director of the Congressional Budget Office via Annie Lowrey, 3/12/13; The New York Times, “Balanced Budget Dispute Is Fiscal and Philosophical”)