The People Aren’t Stupid � The Quick and the Ed

The People Aren’t Stupid � The Quick and the Ed

The People Aren’t Stupid

by Kevin Carey

Kevin Drum cites an Economist poll finding that while the public prefers spending cuts over tax increases by a 62% to 5% margin as a means of cutting the deficit, the public also doesn’t want to cut spending in any specific area, except for foreign aid, which makes up less than 1% of spending. “Ah, the American public. God love ‘em.” says Drum. Jacob Weisberg used similar data a couple of months ago to level a broader indictment against “the childishness, ignorance and growing incoherence of the public at large.”
I think these polls actually reveal very little useful information. Everyone pays taxes and the large majority of people pay federal taxes. The benefits of most federal programs, by contrast, are either hard to quantify and personalize (national defense) or vary substantially among different groups (Social Security, Medicare). Thus, the general tax increase vs. spending cut question boils down to choosing between a certain loss (higher taxes) and an uncertain loss (some unidentified program from which I may or may not benefit). Naturally, people prefer the latter.
Nor is it surprising that the poll respondents don’t want to cut spending on specific programs. Unlike actual