Rasmussen Questions Media's Take on Spending Cut Polls

Joel B. Pollak - 4 Mar 2013

Pollster Scott Rasmussen is questioning the media's interpretation of polling data that suggest the American public oppose spending cuts and favor spending increases for a variety of programs. In fact, Rasmussen says, Americans favor spending cuts. The misinterpretation, he says, is a result of the fact that the public and the political class interpret the word "cut" differently: in Washington, holding spending steady is defined as a "cut."

In a recent, widely reported Pew Research Center poll, Rasmussen notes a majority of Americans wanted to increase funding or maintain it at current levels for 18 out of 19 programs (the exception being foreign aid for the needy overseas). They were opposed to spending cuts, in the plain English meaning of the word--i.e. they did not want lower spending. But for most of those programs, he observes, a plurality wants to maintain spending at current levels--i.e. more people want to maintain current spending levels rather than increasing or decreasing them……The issue of spending is a repeated theme in Rasmussen's speeches and commentaries. In a speech last year to the RightOnline convention of conservative bloggers in Las Vegas, Rasmussen noted that voter frustration with Washington arises from the fact that neither party has fulfilled promises to limit the size and cost of government....To Read More....