A few examples of what the people would like to see cut to help balance the budget!

Ok so I got a hold of some survey results from the Wall Street Journal/NBC. Among the many questions there were some questions about what the survey takers would like to see cut from the budget in efforts to balance things out. Here are what the high points of the results are!

The question was whether or not the taker thinks its acceptable to cut funding for the program in question. Originally this was split into Totally Acceptable, Mostly Acceptable, Mostly Unacceptable, Totally Unacceptable, and Not Sure.

Subsidies to build new Nuclear Power Plants: 57% Acceptable, 40% Unacceptable, 3% Not Sure
Federal assistance to state governments: 52% Acceptable, 45% Unacceptable, 3% Not Sure
The EPA: 51% Acceptable, 46% Unacceptable, 3% Not Sure
Transportation and Infrastructure projects: 51% Acceptable, 46% Unacceptable, 3% Not Sure
Medicaid: 32% Acceptable, 67% Unacceptable, 1% Not Sure
Medicare: 23% Acceptable, 76% Unacceptable, 1% Not Sure
K through 12 Education: 22% Acceptable, 77% Unacceptable, 1% Not Sure
Social Security: 22% Acceptable, 77% Unacceptable, 1% Not Sure

Here are some other things the survey takers were asked about:

Placing a surtax on federal income taxes for people earning over a million dollars a year: 81% Acceptable, 17% Unacceptable, 2% Not Sure
Eliminating Earmark spending: 78% Acceptable, 17% Unacceptable, 5% Not Sure
Eliminating funding for weapon systems the Department of Defense says are not necessary: 76% Acceptable, 22% Unacceptable, 2% Not Sure
Eliminating tax credits for the oil and gas industries: 74% Acceptable, 22% Unacceptable, 4% Not Sure
Ending Bush tax cuts for families earning over $250 million a year: 68% Acceptable, 29% Unacceptable, 3% Not Sure


That is just a smattering of the information from pages 15 and 16 of the survey, which covers far more than just the budget. I suggest you breeze through it, there are some great numbers. For the most part it would seem as if the people would like to see cuts in spending and in tax breaks. Lets hope that someone can listen and someone can figure out how to do it without killing the middle and lower classes.