Cutting Spending and Living to Tell About It

This report was published on March 22, 2004 by The Heritage Foundation.

EXCERPT:

“Conventional wisdom has long held that voters punish politicians who cut government spending. Politicians fear that they will be labeled uncaring, lose friends, and maybe even lose their jobs if they try to scale back the size of government, even for the sake of balancing a budget.

If this was ever the case, it is no longer. In the face of increasing government obligations to fund priority programs, reductions in nonessential spending are not only necessary, feasible, and responsible, but also popular . A survey of state executives makes the point clear: Regardless of party, current governors who have cut state spending to balance their budgets enjoy strong popularity. Further, their counterparts who chose to raise taxes find support waning.”

Click here to view the full Heritage report