A poll conducted in late March shows that funding programs like Social Security and Medicare is a top priority for more Americans than it was 10 years ago.
The poll, performed by Fox News on a randomly selected nationwide sample of more than 1000 voters, asked participants which they deemed more important reducing the federal budget deficit or continuing to fund "entitlement programs," also known as government benefits.
Other entitlement programs include Medicaid, Unemployment, and welfare programs.
Of those surveyed, 71% picked entitlement programs as the priority, while 26% chose to reduce the budget deficit. The remaining 3% refrained from responding.
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The results mark a significant shift in public opinion. In a survey performed in April 2013, the same question received just 54% support for maintaining entitlement programs and 40% of support for reducing the budget deficit.
This means that today's average voter is at least 14% more likely to support government funded social aid and healthcare than one surveyed 10 years ago.
A majority of voters also supported increasing taxation for individuals making more than $400,000 a year, with 68% supporting this proposal as a possible way of reducing the federal budget deficit.
This number, however, remains in line with opinions from a previous poll, conducted in 2012, in which 69% of participants agreed that increasing taxation on individuals making more than $250,000 a year would be a positive way of reducing the deficit.
Increasing taxes on businesses and corporations, meanwhile, received 15% more support in 2023 as compared to a 2011 poll, reaching 63% vs. 48% over a decade ago.
When it comes to cutting defense spending as a means of reducing the budget deficit, Only 37% of those surveyed in 2023 were in favor of that proposal, compared to 45% in 2011 and 2012.
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