Whenever you hear that America is a center-right nation that wants smaller government, think of this poll:
John Sides notes, "The programs that make up the largest share of the federal budget are typically the ones that the fewest people want to cut." Which suggests to me that, whatever the problems with our political system, we do a decent job allocating public resources into programs that people like. Complaints about "big government" and excessive spending are more often based on who is getting the money -- the poor and minorities often inspire the most ire -- rather than the fact that spending is happening at all, despite the framing that conservatives would like to impose on the discussion.
This dynamic will make it hard to cut the federal budget. But it shows, I think, that they key to doing so is not fulminating about foreign aid, entitlements, or earmarks -- the typical red herrings thrown out by people whose concerns are more political than fiscal. Instead, we should focus on serious discussion of what policies the government should fund and what policies it shouldn't, beginning with waste, sector-specific subsidies, and tax expenditures. That's not as fun as demagoguery, but it might solve the problem. Of course, we're going to have to raise taxes, too. Just ask Bruce Bartlett.
-- Tim Fernholz
