The issue of out-of-control government spending, which once dominated the political discussion, has receded as an issue in recent years. But a new Washington Examiner/YouGov poll suggests it could be on the cusp of making a comeback.
According to the new survey, 70% of voters say they are “very” or “somewhat” worried by the current level of government spending. Not only are 77% of Republicans at least somewhat worried, but so are 70% of independents and 65% of Democrats.
True, voters often express concerns about the size of government, the level of spending, or the national debt while supporting all of the specific policies that drive up the debt. For instance, other surveys have shown broad public support for additional COVID-19 relief money.
That said, there are a few factors that could make spending emerge as a bigger issue.
One is that it is becoming a bigger problem. In the fiscal year that just ended in September, the federal government spent $3.1 trillion more than it took in — as a share of the economy, that was the largest gap since World War II. Piled on top of existing obligations, this is expected to drive debt to record levels in the coming years.
Another issue is that if Joe Biden is elected, Republicans will likely return to caring more about federal spending. Traditionally, Republicans have always tended to care more about spending and the size of government when there has been a Democratic president, only to be more freewheeling when a Republican is in office. This has been all the more true during the Trump administration. President Trump ran as a populist and, in many ways, in opposition to the limited government wing of the party — promising to invest trillions of dollars on infrastructure (on which he was not successful) and to avoid reforms to Social Security and Medicare (on which he was successful). Republicans who elevated the spending issue during the Obama administration gave Trump a pass.
Finally, there is the reality that Biden is proposing an objectively staggering amount of federal spending. A Moody’s Analytics study touted by the Biden campaign found his proposals would cost $7.3 trillion over a decade — that’s above already inflated spending levels.
