<<http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/01152004/news/70419.htm>>
... By a whopping ratio of 60 percent to 21 percent, Americans say they would prefer to reduce the deficit by "canceling some recent tax cuts" - the course advocated to some degree by all the Democratic presidential contenders - rather than by spending less on programs like health and education. Among Democrats, an even more lopsided 76 percent majority favors canceling some tax cuts to reduce the deficit. Spending restraint, combined with hoped-for economic growth, is the approach advocated by the White House. In addition, Americans say by a solid 11-percentage-point margin that they prefer the Democratic Party’s approach to deficit reduction over that of the Republican Party. Indeed, on their handling of taxes and government spending-big Democratic liabilities before President Clinton presided over the return of budget surpluses in the 1990s-Democrats now essentially are tied with Bush’s party in respondents’ eyes. "The line of scrimmage has moved" on fiscal issues, says Democratic pollster Peter Hart, who conducted the Journal/NBC poll with his Republican counterpart, Robert Teeter. "It puts the Democrats in a much more offensive position-they can get out of their crouch" produced in the past by their tax-and-spend reputation, he argues. The survey of 1,002 American adults, conducted Saturday through Monday, has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points. The first vote of the primary-election season comes with Iowa’s caucuses on Monday, followed by the Jan. 27 New Hampshire primary. ... There are cautionary signs as well. After another month in which few new jobs were created, Americans remain split on Bush’s handling of the economy. Just 37 percent say they feel positively about both the economy and the war on Iraq. That means a robust majority feels negatively about at least one of the two major issues looming over the campaign. On other 2004 hot buttons, Americans oppose by 52 percent to 38 percent. President Bush’s goal of overhauling the Social Security system with private investment accounts, a top priority in White House campaign planning. And by 53 percent to 40 percent, they oppose Bush’s plan to provide temporary legal status to foreign workers who entered the U.S. illegally. In both cases the proportion of political independents opposing the president’s policy is even larger than among Americans as a whole. ... ----- "I can't imagine that I'm going to be attacked for telling the truth. Why would I be attacked for telling the truth?" Paul O'Neill, 60 Minutes _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
