Rasmussen Report: 64% of Americans Prefer a Government With Fewer Services and Lower Taxes
100 replies, posted
[QUOTE]Most voters continue to prefer a more hands-off government in return for lower taxes.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 64% of Likely U.S. Voters prefer a government with fewer services and lower taxes over one with more services and higher taxes. That's unchanged from last month and consistent with findings in regular surveys since late 2006. Just 25% prefer a government with more services. Eleven percent (11%) are not sure which size government they prefer. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
The national survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on May 16-17, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Fieldwork for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC .
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Source: [url]http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/america_s_best_days[/url]
Survey Questions: [url]http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/questions/pt_survey_questions/may_2012/questions_benchmarks_may_16_17_2012[/url]
What exactly constitutes "fewer"? Because this doesn't really tell much. I'm fairly sure most aren't even aware of all the services various levels of government provide.
Not only is it a really random series of questions, it doesn't ask what the persons perception of 'levels of services' is, it's also leading the individual by directly stating 'do you want to pay less tax!?!?' without quantifying what they do or don't want.
This is a terrible questionnaire.
Rasmussen, you mean that polling group that really love to use leading questions?
the only people who respond to telephone surveys are crazies anyways
[QUOTE=Murkrow;36033732]What exactly constitutes "fewer"? Because this doesn't really tell much. I'm fairly sure most aren't even aware of all the services various levels of government provide.[/QUOTE]
They don't elaborate at all in the question, and I am more than inclined to agree with you that most of the people who answered these questions probably have no idea about all the different services the government offers. Most probably can't even realistically define what they really mean when they say that they want a "smaller government".
[quote]3* Generally speaking, would you prefer a more active government with more services and higher taxes or a smaller government with fewer services and lower taxes?[/quote]
I never really got that mentality. I'd gladly pay higher taxes if it meant the government does it's job, which is protecting and providing for the citizens, better. If I pay higher taxes, more people will be saved in the hospital, police forces will receive better training, the armed forces will be better equipped, our infrastructure will be better maintained and life will be made easier for the citizen. The reverse side is I have more money to spend on petty goods.
Oh fuck I just realized I'm a socialist.
[QUOTE=Valdor;36033777]the only people who respond to telephone surveys are crazies anyways[/QUOTE]
I respond to telephone surveys.
But only as my alter ego, Super Dracula.
[QUOTE=LunchboxOfDoom;36033787]They don't elaborate at all in the question, and I am more than inclined to agree with you that most of the people who answered these questions probably have no idea about all the different services the government offers. Most probably can't even realistically define what they really mean when they say that they want a "smaller government".[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Murkrow;36033732]What exactly constitutes "fewer"? Because this doesn't really tell much. I'm fairly sure most aren't even aware of all the services various levels of government provide.[/QUOTE][QUOTE=Valdor;36033777]the only people who respond to telephone surveys are crazies anyways[/QUOTE]
Discredit the questions, fine. But simply saying "well those who answered don't know anything about what they were being asked" is an unproveable generalization.
I dont know I can disagree with this. Because our government needs some SERIOUS trimming.
[QUOTE=DaysBefore;36033792]I never really got that mentality. I'd gladly pay higher taxes if it meant the government does it's job, which is protecting and providing for the citizens, better. If I pay higher taxes, more people will be saved in the hospital, police forces will receive better training, the armed forces will be better equipped, our infrastructure will be better maintained and life will be made easier for the citizen. The reverse side is I have more money to spend on petty goods.[/QUOTE]
This mentality assumes that the government is competent with its money. When every year you witness the county lay down reflective bumps on the road in the fall just in time for the snowplows to scrape them off, or you hear anecdotes about wellfare queens that may not even be true, or you hear about the gross idiocy in the school system, or a host of other things, it's very easy to not trust the government with a lot of things.
[QUOTE=DarkMonkey;36033863]This mentality assumes that the government is competent with its money. When every year you witness the county lay down reflective bumps on the road in the fall just in time for the snowplows to scrape them off, or you hear anecdotes about wellfare queens that may not even be true, or you hear about the gross idiocy in the school system, or a host of other things, it's very easy to not trust the government with a lot of things.[/QUOTE]
One word: Earmarks
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;36033875]One word: Earmarks[/QUOTE]
Yes, the government can set aside money for projects. That in no way stops them from being incompetent in the execution or in the allocation itself.
[QUOTE=DarkMonkey;36033910]Yes, the government can set aside money for projects. That in no way stops them from being incompetent in the execution or in the allocation itself.[/QUOTE]
It gets bad when Congressmen are more concerned about racking up earmarks for projects for their hometown before the hometown of others.
I don't like survey's that use such a small voting base, go onto the millions tier and I'll be more convinced about opinions of the people.
[QUOTE=Robrosky;36033997]I don't like survey's that use such a small voting base, go onto the millions tier and I'll be more convinced about opinions of the people.[/QUOTE]Its not exactly easy to conduct a survey of millions of people. Also, the idea is that a study on a sample group drawn randomly from the greater pool of people will scale up with a relatively high level of accuracy, which is where the margin of error comes in to play is that, as it scales up, the overall score could sway by plus or minus so many points.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;36033830]Discredit the questions, fine. But simply saying "well those who answered don't know anything about what they were being asked" is an unproveable generalization.[/QUOTE]
if you answer telephone survey questions and allow your phone # to be on those lists then you are crazy
i dont give a shit about how they answer a survey, but good job assuming
Now, that being said, any honest statistician or surveyor will tell you that it is incredibly easy to lead your subjects towards a desired conclusion or manipulate your data to make it say what you want it to.
FP knows jackshit about statistics
[QUOTE=Doctor Zedacon;36034050]Its not exactly easy to conduct a survey of millions of people. Also, the idea is that a study on a sample group drawn randomly from the greater pool of people will scale up with a relatively high level of accuracy, which is where the margin of error comes in to play is that, as it scales up, the overall score could sway by plus or minus so many points.[/QUOTE]
You don't just draw randomly. There is practically a whole science on how to properly sample, and the margin of error is generally based around how they sampled. A purely random sample could have an accuracy between 0% and 100%, which is as unreliable as it sounds.
I would be interested in seeing how people above and below the poverty line answer this question. I'm sure that people who are economically comfortable want fewer services.
also this questionnaire is poop
[QUOTE=Valdor;36034077]if you answer telephone survey questions and allow your phone # to be on those lists then you are crazy
i dont give a shit about how they answer a survey, but good job assuming[/QUOTE]To be fair, many people don't ask to be put on these lists, their number just makes it out to the public by some means and it occasionally put on these lists by people who find it.
I'd chalk that up as an example of tyranny of the majority. Most people have no idea what it's like to actually [I]need [/I]these services and are naturally concerned with their own interests.
you know american government sucks when you go to the doctor and they ask debit or credit.
why isn't the government paying for this?
why is my tax rate just 8%?
why aren't we like every other first world country?
[QUOTE=meppers;36034169]you know american government sucks when you go to the doctor and they ask debit or credit.
why isn't the government paying for this?
why is my tax rate just 8%?
why aren't we like every other first world country?[/QUOTE]
Because we're terrible at bureaucracy.
This is also a good episode if you want to see how statisticians can alter numbers to fit their agenda. Like people have been saying, asking questions in certain ways can lead people to give certain answers that might benefit a partisan agenda.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVsPHRsCvlY[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBjQy9LHpcs[/media]
[QUOTE=Valdor;36034077]if you answer telephone survey questions and allow your phone # to be on those lists then you are crazy[/QUOTE]
My cell phone number has never been put out to the public (and in fact is on the Do Not Call list) and I still get political survey groups calling me. They've always been robots too, never actual humans.
I think they use a random number generator.
[QUOTE=meppers;36034169]you know american government sucks when you go to the doctor and they ask debit or credit.
why isn't the government paying for this?
why is my tax rate just 8%?
why aren't we like every other first world country?[/QUOTE]
My hospital and doctor's office doesn't deny service based on ability to pay. If you're broke and need an X-Ray, you can still get one, even if it's not an emergency. They will still give you a bill and try and arrange a payment plan or charity care, though.
I don't think the common american understands what their tax money is actually going to pay for, and if they think they do, I'm pretty certain it's because they're being fed the data by the media who obviously don't provide the whole story or change the numbers based on their "agenda"
[QUOTE=meppers;36034169]you know american government sucks when you go to the doctor and they ask debit or credit.
why isn't the government paying for this?
why is my tax rate just 8%?
why aren't we like every other first world country?[/QUOTE]Because of people like [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Party_movement]these[/url] and [url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Ron_Paul.jpg/400px-Ron_Paul.jpg]this[/url].
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