Cut My Taxes? YES! Cut Government Spending? NO!

From WisPolitics:

Taxes has ranked No. 1 in 11 out of 14 polls conducted by St. Norbert/WPR, and has never ranked lower than third. However, the percentage of people listing taxes as the biggest problem has varied widely – from a low of 14 percent in October 1996 to a high of 54 percent in March 2003, with the latest poll in April showing that 26 percent of respondents ranked taxes as the state’s biggest problem. Economy and jobs (15 percent), education (12 percent) and health care (10 percent) were next in line. Government budget and spending ranked seventh on the “biggest problem” list at 5 percent

If taxes are the biggest problem, shouldn’t government budget and spending levels be close behind? Not in the minds of those responding to the poll. Apparently, people are not making the connection that one drives the other.

Wisconsin citizens love to complain about taxes in the abstract, much like they gripe about the weather. But when it comes to doing something drastic to reduce taxes, they’re not so sure they want to live with the consequences.