Paging Mister Boehner... Mister Boehner... You Have a Telephone Call at the Front Desk

I'm not an expert at interpreting poll results, but this appears to be compelling evidence that Americans want action on the debt. Right. Now.

As the federal government rapidly approaches the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, 96 percent of Americans say it is important to reduce the national debt, according to a new Reason Foundation-Rupe poll. Of those surveyed, 69 percent believe reducing the national debt is “very important.”

With the debt piling up, it is also clear that taxpayers do not trust the federal government to live within its means. In fact, the Reason-Rupe survey finds 74 percent of Americans support implementing a spending cap that would prohibit the government from spending more money than it takes in during a fiscal year. Only 19 percent oppose a government spending cap.

The most popular policy prescription for reducing the national debt is spending cuts: 45 percent of people say Congress should bring down the debt by reducing spending without raising taxes. Another 16 percent favor reducing the debt primarily through spending cuts, but are open to some tax increases; 14 percent prefer an equal emphasis on spending cuts and tax increases; 8 percent want to reduce the debt primarily through higher taxes with some spending cuts; 4 percent say current spending levels should be maintained and taxes should be raised as needed; and 1 percent of Americans say we shouldn’t do anything about the debt.

I created a graph to illustrate the dichotomy between the realists and, for lack of a better term, the kooks.

The progressives on the right-side of the graph are the outliers. The extremists. The cultists.

We, the Tea Party conservatives, are the mainstream. The majority.

Get it, Mr. Boehner? Not too hard to understand? Now get to steppin'.



Hat tip: Dennis.