FORT WORTH, Texas, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Americans in uniform are focusing on looming federal budget cuts when choosing a presidential candidate, a survey released Tuesday indicated.
The Financial Behavior Index of the investment firm First Command Financial Services, a company serving professional military families, reveals that 76 percent of what it designates "middle-class military families" -- those with pay grades of E-6 or above -- who are aware of the upcoming budget cuts known as sequestration, say the issue is an important one in deciding they want as their next president.
This compares with 51 percent of the general population of middle-class families, a First Command release said.
Sequestration is the automatic lowering of $1.2 trillion in federal spending, half of it by the military, called for in the Budget Control Act of 2011 and scheduled to take effect in early 2013.
Military families also preferred the candidacy of Republican nominee Mitt Romney to that of Democratic President Barack Obama by 56 percent to 31 percent, the study said.
The index is a quarterly survey of about 530 consumers. The findings were taken in a September survey, and have a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.
