The GOP has the whip hand going in to the debt ceiling debate, according to this CBS Poll:
…So how do Americans propose to address the deficit? By cutting programs, not raising taxes. Sixty-two percent would prefer to cut programs from which they benefit, including 81 percent of Republicans. Just 29 percent want taxes raised, including 42 percent of Democrats.
Pollsters asked Americans which of three programs – the military, Medicare and Social Security – they would be willing to change to cut government spending. The military was by far the top choice, cited by 55 percent. Twenty-one percent cited Medicare, and 13 percent Social Security.
Asked specifically which of four options they would prefer to reduce military spending, the top choice (cited by 55 percent) was reducing troops in Europe and Asia. Nineteen percent wanted to eliminate weapons programs, 12 percent wanted to reduce non-combat military pay, and seven percent wanted to reduce the size of the armed forces…
This does show that military spending cuts will have to be on the table – our job, as Republicans, is to ensure that we’re really just cutting fat (and there is plenty of that in Defense, as anyone familiar with military service can tell you); we must, that is, prevent Obama and his liberals from hollowing out our military. That said, the poll does indicate that there is stomach for quite a lot of non-defense cutting – I’m rather surprised that as may as 13% prefer cuts to SS to other forms of cuts (this doesn’t mean that only 13% favor cuts, but that 13% favor making SS the first target of cuts…broadly speaking, there are probably a lot of people who are ok with the idea of SS cuts to make ends meet).
As we enter the debt ceiling debate we on the GOP side must stand firm – the Democrats will use hatred and fear to try and derail any attempt to seriously cut the budget (and, in to the bargain, help Obama towards re-election in 2012…which is really all they care about, at the moment) and we dare not flinch. The people are on our side – they know that the debt is crushing the life out of the United States and that spending must be cut. If we stand firm, we’ll not only help our nation, but we’ll help our conservative ideals…as we are able to cut without the world coming to an end we’ll gain public acceptance for further cuts, as well as public trust as the party which can be relied up on to keep its word.
Stand firm, and win it all – it really is just as simple as that.
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