Voters do not trust pols to cut budget

WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- About 70 percent of likely U.S. voters do not believe elected officials are willing enough to cut the federal budget, a poll released Thursday indicates.

Only 17 percent said politicians are more willing than the public to make cuts, the Rasmussen Reports poll said. While 55 percent said President Obama's $3.7 trillion proposed budget does not cut enough spending, 40 percent said Republican plans do not do so either.

Other polls have shown that voters, while they favor a smaller budget, are far less likely to want to cut specific programs. They also show widespread ignorance about the details of federal spending with 56 percent of respondents to a recent Rasmussen poll unaware the United States spends six times as much on its military as its closest competitor, the report said.

Half of the respondents to the most recent poll said they do not support new spending President Obama proposed in his State of the Union speech in areas like education and encouraging technological innovation. Only 41 percent agreed with the president.

Rasmussen surveyed 1,000 likely voters on Feb. 14 and Feb. 15. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.