Americans are expecting large government spending cuts in the next decade, and are divided on whether or not popular social programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security can continue to be funded as they are now, according to a poll released on Monday.
The Rasmussen poll shows that 83 percent of Americans expect government spending to be reduced at some point before 2020. 59 percent think this is “very likely” to occur. Only 10 percent of Americans doubt that spending cuts will take place.
There is debate as to where those cuts ought to come from. Sixty-nine percent of Americans agree that cuts should come from specific programs, rather than “across-the-board cut in all federal programs,” but Americans are split on whether or not some of those biggest programs — Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security — can be sustained as they are now. According to the poll, 41 percent of Americans believe that these programs can keep being funded as they are, while 37 percent think that they cannot continue as such.
Republicans and unaffiliated voters are more likely to think that spending cuts will occur, while Democrats are less inclined to think so. Adults with lower incomes are also more likely than wealthier adults to think government programs can be sustained as they currently are.