Eviscerate, I just like it too much not to steal it (just this time). So, there was a poll of bank and business economists asking what is the best way to deal with our deficit problem. The results.... Wow:
When asked "How should Congress reduce the federal budget deficit?," participants were asked to pick from among five fiscal policy options. The most common response was "equally with spending cuts and tax increases" (selected by 45 percent), followed by "mostly with spending cuts" (31 percent), "mostly with tax increases" (14 percent), "only with spending cuts (9 percent), and "only with tax increases (1 percent).
On its face, the survey appears to show more support for Obama-style policies than for those advocated by the president's Republican challenger, Mitt Romney. President Obama, after all, has consistently and loudly called for a "balanced" approach that includes both spending cuts and tax hikes.
The survey found 90 percent of respondents supporting some blend of those two methods of reducing deficits, while Mr. Romney's espousal of "revenue neutral" tax reform lines up most closely with the 9 percent of economists in the survey who called for "spending cuts only."
Yea, that's 90% of bank and business economists say they believe Obamas' "balanced" approach is the way to deal with our national deficit while just 9% agree with the Romney/republican plan to just cut spending. 90% is big, the fact that this is a poll of bank and business economists, as compared to all economists including the "elite" academics who are generally less conservative, makes it BIG.
It gets BIGGER. Just last year the same National Association for Business Economics poll found;
The majority of economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics believe that the federal deficit should be reduced only or primarily through spending cuts.
The survey out Monday found that 56 percent of the NABE members surveyed felt that way, while 37 percent said they favor equal parts spending cuts and tax increases. The remaining 7 percent believe it should be done only or mostly through tax increases.
Read more: Economists Poll: Spending Cuts, Not Tax Hikes, Best for Deficit
I've seen polls swing over time before but I've never seen a swing from 56% against to 90% for any issue. Again, this is a poll of mostly bank an business economists.
Now, I could go on about how the republicans in congress recently crushed a "grand bargain" attempt that was reported to be 2/3 cuts to 1/3 tax increase or how during their debates the republican candidates all said the they would refuse to accept even a 10:1 cut to tax increase deal but here, on Kos, I believe we all know about that.
The reports on the two surveys are here and here. This needs to go viral.