A new Pew Research poll makes it clear that Americans see the national debt and ongoing $1+ trillion budget deficits as a big concern. In the detailed data from which the chart below was generated, no other issue has seen near as big a move as “Reducing the budget deficit” in recent years and the only one that came close was an increase from 41 percent to 52 percent for “Protecting the environment”.
The budget deficit went from the ninth priority to the third in just four years, passing all of the issues below:
- Defending against terrorism
- Making Social Security financially sound
- Improving education
- Making Medicare financially sound
- Reducing health Costs
- Dealing with energy problem
Of course, when Americans are asked how budget deficits should be narrowed, about all they come up with is slashing foreign aid and this remains a big part of the problem for elected officials in Washington.