United Liberty

A new poll from Rasmussen shows that Americans aren’t willing to pay higher taxes for entitlements and more government employees:

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Adults shows that only 19% would be willing to pay higher taxes to avoid layoffs of state employees. Sixty-nine percent (69%) say they would not be willing to pay more in taxes for this reason. Another 11% are undecided.

Adults feel similarly when it comes to funding entitlement programs. Twenty-two percent (22%) would pay higher taxes to prevent cuts in entitlement programs for low-income Americans. Sixty-three percent (63%) say they would not pay more to keep these programs afloat. Another 15% are undecided.

Americans are slightly less opposed to paying higher taxes for education. Thirty-four percent (34%) say they are willing to pay higher taxes to provide funding for public education, but 54% say they are not. Another 12% aren’t sure.

Thirty-seven percent (37%) say they are willing to pay higher taxes to increase the number of police and firemen in their communities. Still, 52% say they would not be willing to do so. Another 10% are not sure.

This isn’t all that surprising. Most people aren’t willing to pay more for entitlements, even though almost half of Americans pay don’t pay federal income tax anyway. Now if you wanted to start rolling back benefits for entitlements, touching the third-rail of American politics, I doubt you’d see a lot of enthusiasm.

Eventually, reforming these programs and tackling the $45+ trillion in unfunded liabilties they represent is going to have to be addressed, and some great alternatives to increasing taxes have been offered, especially for Social Security, but Washington is lite on leadership.