A poll for Mitch McConnell,Judd Gregg et al.
Politicians love to invoke "the American people'' to justify their votes, but a new poll out today by Pew Research and National Journal provides further evidence that The People aren't likely to provide meaningful guidance on tough fiscal issues.
As I noted in the Fiscal Times, the poll suggests that Americans strongly favor "none of the above'' when it comes to dealing with the acute fiscal crises that most states are now battling. An overwhelming majority doesn't want Washington to ride to the states' rescue -- good news for Senate Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell, who blocked a watered-down Democratic bill last week that would have provided states with extra money for Medicaid and a few other things. But lopsided majorities also opposed all of the other main options for balancing state budgets as well.
Specifically, only 26 percent of those surveyed by Pew thought Washington should provide extra money to states, which are already laying off teachers by the thousands and cutting health programs for the poor. Ath the same, 73 percent were against cuts in primary and secondary education; 71 percent were against cuts in police, fire and safety programs; 65 percent were against cuts in state health care services, and 58 percent were against higher taxes.
States face a combined budget shortfall of about $112 billion this year and as much as $180 billion next year, according to estimates by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. And because most state constitutions require balanced budgets every year, the alternatives to federal aid can't be postponed for very long.
If the Pew survey is on target, Republicans will get kudos from voters for giving states the cold shoulder in Congress. What's less clear is whether voters will also give them credit for the inevitable consequences of that cold shoulder.
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It's clear that the GOP is trying to destroy the economy
When cuts in state & local government create a deflationary spiral, the party in power will be blamed. The sad part is that many Democrats are actually buying into the "austerity" nonsense, helping to lay-down the plank they will walk.
Might they blame the state
Might they blame the state governments for cuts or hikes in state taxes?
Unemployment will decide the public's reaction
Unemployment is high and is damaging the economy now and into the future. If the Democrats can focus the public on unemployment, or if it kicks up another few % and the public takes notice on its own, then the austerity platform of the Conservatives will be a political gallows.
re:
The Repubs will deny all state funding requests claiming it wasn't their fault that states entered into sweetheart deals with unions and larded up state employee contracts. In a state like NY, where I live, they would be right - our past republican governor, Pataki, did indeed enter into sweetheart deals with unions, and him and Bruno (another republican, recently convicted of mail fraud) spent like crazy while giving pension bumps to the unions who convinced their members to vote republican.
Unfortunately our state has a 10? billion dollar deficit now, and our state republicans are cutting MTA budgets, teachers salaries, etc. to pay for it, and republicans in the US congress refuse to help. Nice.
Well, not quite...
Unfortunately our state has a 10? billion dollar deficit now, and our state republicans are cutting MTA budgets, teachers salaries, etc. to pay for it, and republicans in the US congress refuse to help. Nice.
Being that the Democrats control the governorship and both houses of the legislature here, it's hard to say the Republicans are cutting anything.
No teacher salaries have been cut, the UFT has seen to that for sure, they've been getting their pay raises all along through this recession (senior teachers' salary in NYC now >$100,000).
As to the MTA, it is indeed broke and is slashing services and raising fares. And amid all this the politicians took $350 million of federal stimulus funds allocated for subway construction and instead gave it to the union for an 11% pay raise.
I wonder what the "multiplier" for that is? How many jobs saved by that? Could that be the sort of thing that makes some folk a bit doubtful of the merits of porking over ever more bailout money to state politicians?