Public Opinion Snapshot of the New GOP House Budget

Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–March 19, 2012. The Center for American Progress today released a public opinion snapshot that indicates Americans will reject the House Republican budget plan being released tomorrow. Based on details that have been released already, the budget blueprint promises to call for ending Medicare as we know it, cutting programs that protect the most vulnerable, and preserving tax cuts for the wealthy. Yet polls show that from upending Medicare and cutting Medicaid to taking taxes off the negotiating table, the public disapproves of each of the major elements likely to appear in the House budget blueprint.

Consider the public’s position on Medicare. A recent Kaiser Foundation study found that by an overwhelming 70–25 margin, Americans support traditional Medicare over the House plan to fundamentally transform Medicare to a premium support model.

Beyond their plans for Medicare, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and his GOP colleagues’ spending priorities are entirely out of touch with the issues that concern the American people. While the House GOP seeks to protect tax cuts for the wealthy and maintain current levels of military spending at the expense of average Americans, the public overwhelming favors cutting military spending and raising taxes on the wealthiest 1 percent. In a recent CBS/New York Times poll, the public overwhelmingly favored cutting military spending (52 percent) over cutting Social Security (13 percent) or Medicare (15 percent).

And when it comes to taxing the rich, the public says bring it on! In the same poll, by a lopsided 67–29 margin, the public thought taxes on households earning $1 million or more a year should be increased to help deal with the budget deficit.