ISSUE GUIDES: Federal Budget
The Red Flags section offers guidance on areas of public opinion research where findings may be misleading, unstable, or easily misinterpreted. Public Agenda uses several indicators to judge when survey results should be reported and used cautiously.
Red Flag Statements
| Mixed Signals on Government Spending | Taxes: Too much, too complicated? | Waste, Fraud and Abuse? |
People seem conflicted or inconsistent in their thinking about how much the federal government should take on. Most people say they want a smaller government with fewer services, but they also support increasing spending on certain things such as fighting terrorism.
- A majority of voters are willing to pay more in taxes for education and health care, but would cut funding for ...
- Most Americans say they would rather increase government spending on domestic programs than reduce the federal budget deficit
- Survey responses on the size of government vary depending on how the question is worded
- Two-thirds of Americans say wealth should be more evenly distributed but are divided on whether the government should ....
Tags: Half of the public says federal income taxes are too high, but a majority says the amount they pay is fair. The number of Americans who say taxes are too high has declined in recent years, while many are divided or unsure about whether to extend tax cuts or let them expire.
- Americans are divided on whether our country's economic agenda should be focused on tax cuts or reducing the deficit
- Americans are divided on whether the 2001 tax cuts should be extended, but many are unsure
- Half of Americans say federal income taxes are too high, but six in 10 say the income tax they pay is fair
- The number of Americans who say federal income taxes are "too high" has declined since the 1990s
Accountability in government spending is a major concern for the public, with the average American saying about half of every tax dollar is wasted by the federal government. Yet while most say earmarks are unacceptable, half don't know whether their own representative sponsors them and many don't want to eliminate them completely.
- Americans say about half of every tax dollar is wasted by the federal government
- Most Americans say Congress should do something about the practice of earmarking but many don't want to eliminate them...
- Most Americans say earmarks are unacceptable, but half don't know whether their own representative sponsors them
Public Agenda uses several indicators to judge when survey results should be reported and used cautiously:
- Results change when survey questions are reworded slightly.
- Results change when implications or trade-offs of a policy are pointed out.
- Results may be misleading if reported in isolation or out of context.
- Other research suggests that people have incomplete or inaccurate knowledge in this area.
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