Barack Obama is fond of saying that “the majority of Americans” agree with him on his “balanced approach” to deficit reduction—which these days seems to mean increasing tax revenues through rate hikes and big defense spending cuts with relatively insignificant cuts elsewhere. At the beginning of his second term, the president appeared to be moving forward with an agenda that assumed the previous election settled the question of which party Americans liked more on taxes and spending. But a new poll from the Washington Post and ABC News shows Obama may not be winning the politics of deficit reduction.
When asked who they trust to do a better job “finding the right balance” between cutting unnecessary federal spending and maintaining necessary programs, respondents rated Republicans in Congress on par with Obama, with 44 percent preferring the GOP and 43 percent preferring Obama.
