Rasmussen
Poll: Just 37% consider themselves fiscal conservatives
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 37% of Likely U.S. Voters now say they are conservative when it comes to fiscal issues such as taxes and government spending. That’s the first time that number has dipped below 40% in surveys dating back to November 2007. Thirty-nine percent (39%) consider themselves fiscally moderate. One-in-five (20%) now say they are fiscally liberal. That’s up from 11% in January and the highest finding to date.
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I’m getting mine.
CW on December 15, 2012 at 3:36 PM
Ask ‘em again in a year. It’s easy to be fiscally liberal if you don’t see yourself as picking up the bill
Sekhmet on December 15, 2012 at 3:36 PM
This.
Bitter Clinger on December 15, 2012 at 3:39 PM
The obvious is very indignant.
The Oamas thank you profusely.
Schadenfreude on December 15, 2012 at 3:39 PM
Damned socons.
davidk on December 15, 2012 at 3:40 PM
We still outnumber fiscal liberals nearly 2-1, so I feel fine about that.
vegconservative on December 15, 2012 at 3:40 PM
First they came for social conservatism, then they came for fiscal conservatism, then…
IR-MN on December 15, 2012 at 3:40 PM
The freebies cost money. The typical medicare recipient receives about three times their “investment”.
CW on December 15, 2012 at 3:41 PM
Roughly a two-to-one margin of conservatives to liberals. Allowing for margin-of-error, that’s the same as it’s been for the past thirty years.
logis on December 15, 2012 at 3:45 PM
BobMbx <- 37%er
BobMbx on December 15, 2012 at 3:48 PM
If it’s something like fiscal conservatives are for fewer taxes and less spending, while fiscal liberals are for more taxes and more spending (with moderates a mixed bag), then why are we as a country heading in a fiscally liberal direction for the foreseeable future when only 20% support it?
theperfecteconomist on December 15, 2012 at 3:49 PM
Well 47% pay nothing and are helped by the “safety net” so they don’t care and 16% are rich enough that they do not care as they make more in 1 months than other make in 2 years. Thus you get 37% that the cost of things affects.
tjexcite on December 15, 2012 at 3:52 PM
In terms of political affiliation, about half of “moderates” consider themselves Democrats, quarter indy, quarter GOP. That’s why fiscal liberals are probably 30% of the population to our 40%. The rest 30% don’t have strong views and are easily persuadable by the media culture.
IR-MN on December 15, 2012 at 3:56 PM
For decades, the Left has fostered the idea that the wealthy have secret stores of money, and are so fabulously wealthy that they can afford to pay for every hare-brained idea for spending that comes down the pike. The tax burden, they have been assured, would never fall on them, so they felt free to be generous with other peoples’ money.
If we go off the cliff, and try to go for a flat tax at the nearest politically possible opportunity, we let the taxPAYERS decide how they want their money spent. When it’s YOUR money, paying for thousands of manicures and weaves in the hope of feeding one starving child becomes a much less efficient use of tax monies.
Sekhmet on December 15, 2012 at 3:58 PM
The problem is that roughly 50% of politicians are fiscal libs. Oh, sure, they’ll call themselves moderates, but they’re for higher taxes and more spending in both platform and votes. Or like how Obama wails on and on about a “balanced” approach, which would seem to suggest a moderate approach, but it’s still for higher taxes and more spending, i.e. fiscally liberal.
theperfecteconomist on December 15, 2012 at 3:58 PM
We’re terminally Bo(eh)ned.
Steve Eggleston on December 15, 2012 at 4:06 PM
That’s how it went on the other side of the Pond too.
Steve Eggleston on December 15, 2012 at 4:07 PM
Heh. “Math made easy.”
I nominate this theory for the coming end-of-the-year HA survey (new category): the “Occam’s razor” reader comment award.
ShainS on December 15, 2012 at 4:07 PM
Might explain being $200+ trillion in unfunded liabilities.
tom daschle concerned on December 15, 2012 at 4:10 PM
Well, when a record number of people are unemployed and live off the government of course those numbers are going to fall. People see that out of control spending and high taxes allows them to sit on their butts and not work.
The Notorious G.O.P on December 15, 2012 at 4:27 PM
I call either:
(1) BS — to the extent the public is (a) informed/aware/understanding of the literally unimaginable magnitude of the national debt, especially with unfunded liabilities included, and (b) how it is exponentially worsening daily, rational individuals should be historically more fiscally conservative than at any time since the Founding; or
(2) Shotgun — to the extent that the assumption made in (1) is false regarding the public being informed/aware/understanding of the looming crisis (day of reckoning), I wish to be either (a) in the passenger’s seat so I can bale out (go totally Galt, perhaps become an expat) before the federal government drives us over the real approaching fiscal cliff, or (b) in possession of a weapon for self-defense and possibly suicide before being hauled off to a re-education/death camp …
ShainS on December 15, 2012 at 4:30 PM
50% seems a tad low considering the so called conservative house passed the obscene continuing resolutions for 2011 and 2012.
chemman on December 15, 2012 at 5:17 PM
I’d like to see a similiar poll, conducted by Rasmussen, on the percentage of people who consider themselves to be socially conservative, socially moderate or socially liberal.
The voters of my state (Washington) are fiscally conservative but socially liberal.
Mycroft on December 15, 2012 at 5:27 PM
At least 10% and probably more like 20-30% don’t even know what the word fiscal means. A similar percentage don’t know what conservative or liberal mean in this context. They only know that conservative = bad, liberal = good.
WeekendAtBernankes on December 15, 2012 at 5:50 PM
Two comments — first, on this same page Rasmussen has links to two other surveys that show that majorites also think that government is trying to do too much (although that number has shrunk since the election) and that only 19% think more stimulus spending is the correct path to take. Sounds to me that people have no idea what the labels they are selecting for themselves mean.
Second, I wonder how many conservatives (fiscal or otherwise) are currently not passing Rasmussen’s likely voter screens because of withdrawal, depression, and otherwise not giving a damn about politics at the moment? I don’t think his voter sentiment, Presidential approval numbers, or affiliation surveys mean squat at the moment. Let’s revisit this in 6-12 months.
SCSoxFan on December 15, 2012 at 5:54 PM
That’s about right IMO because maybe 1/3rd of Americans have any clue about finances and economics whatsoever.
MelonCollie on December 16, 2012 at 9:39 AM