An overwhelming 94% of California voters regard the state’s budget crisis as very serious, but most oppose raising taxes as a solution to the problem.
A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in California finds that just 28% of voters prefer raising taxes to cutting back on services or having the state file for bankruptcy.
Forty-three percent (43%) think cutting back on state services is the better way to go, and another 15% favor state bankruptcy. Fourteen percent (14%) aren’t sure.
A year ago, California voters were evenly divided over whether taxes should be raised or government spending cut to reduce the state budget deficit.
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Sixty-three percent (63%) now prefer cutting the pay of state workers by 14% as has been proposed rather than raising taxes. Just 27% believe that raising taxes is the better way to go.
Only when given the option of eliminating the state’s main welfare program and cutting back on health care services for the disabled and the elderly do a slight majority (52%) favor raising taxes instead. Thirty-one percent (31%) support cutting the state programs, and 17% are undecided.
Fifty-nine percent (59%) in the state agree with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to raise revenue by allowing the resumption of offshore oil drilling. Thirty-one percent (31%) oppose new offshore drilling.
Forty-two percent (42%) also think the federal government should provide bailout funding to the state to keep it from going bankrupt, as the governor has requested. But 36% disagree, and 22% more are not sure.
Nationally, just 27% of voters believe the federal government should provide bailout funding for California. Fifty-five percent (55%) think the government should let the state go bankrupt instead.
Only 16% of all California voters say Schwarzenegger has done a good or excellent job handling the state budget crisis. Fifty percent (50%) rate the governor’s performance as poor.
Female voters are slightly more inclined to raise taxes to deal with the budget crisis, while male voters more strongly prefer cutting back on state services.
Sixty-four percent (64%) of Republican voters in the state and 50% of those not affiliated with either major political party favor cutting state services. A plurality (43%) of Democratic voters says raising taxes is a better plan.
Fifty percent (50%) of Republicans opt for cutting social service programs rather than raising taxes, while 75% of Democrats support raising taxes when given that choice. Unaffiliated voters are almost evenly divided.
Eighty-three percent (83%) of GOP voters and 67% of unaffiliateds would rather cut state workers’ pay by 14% than raise taxes. Democrats are closely divided, giving a slight edge to a tax hike.
Some Democrats have speculated about Senator Dianne Feinstein entering this year’s race for governor in California, but former Governor Jerry Brown actually runs just a bit better against both of the major remaining Republican challengers in the race.
Twenty-two percent (22%) say the state’s senators and congressmen in Washington, D.C. are doing a good or excellent job representing California. Twice as many (44%) say they’re doing a poor job on the state’s behalf.
In this year’s California Senate race, incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer holds a narrow lead over three potential Republican challengers.
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