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More Americans Say U.S. Spending Too Much on Defense

More Americans Say U.S. Spending Too Much on Defense

Plurality still satisfied with current spending levels

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- As both houses of Congress take up the issue of the federal budget, they are looking to cut spending in order to reduce the projected budget deficit. Defense spending is one particular area in which Congress will likely approve less money than President George W. Bush requested. A recent Gallup Poll shows that Americans tend to think government spending on national defense is about right, but a growing percentage say the government is spending too much in this area. Nevertheless, most Americans now believe the U.S. national defense is as strong as it needs to be and relatively few say it is stronger than it needs to be. A substantial proportion says it is not strong enough.

The poll, conducted Feb. 9-12, finds nearly half of Americans, 45%, saying that the federal government is spending "about the right amount" on national defense and the military, consistent with opinion in the last few years. However, for the first time in more than a decade, far more Americans are saying that "too much" (31%) rather than "too little" (22%) is being spent on defense, and the percentage saying "too much" is the highest since 1999.

Opinion of Defense Spending

When Gallup first posed this question to the American public during the Vietnam War, a majority of Americans felt the government was spending too much on defense. Those views had moderated by 1976, but following Ronald Reagan's election in 1980, opinion shifted toward the view that the United States was not spending enough on defense. Insufficient defense spending was one of Reagan's major criticisms of then-President Jimmy Carter, who was dealing with the Iran hostage situation and an escalating Cold War with the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. Following his election, Reagan dramatically increased spending on defense and the military.

The military buildup under Reagan may have prompted another shift in opinion, as more Americans began to think the government was spending too much on defense, and this view prevailed at least until the mid-1990s. In November 1998, for the first time, a plurality of Americans said the government was spending the right amount on defense. This view persisted until 2000, when once again a Republican presidential candidate, in this case George W. Bush, sought to blame a Democratic administration for failing to maintain a strong U.S. military and national defense. By August 2000, the plurality felt that too little was being spent. Now, during the Bush administration, public opinion has shifted back to a point at which the greatest proportion of Americans say defense spending is at an appropriate level. But as defense spending has increased in response to the situations in Afghanistan and Iraq, increasing numbers of Americans are saying too much is being spent.

As has generally been the case, political attitudes are related to how one views the issue. Half of liberals say that too much is being spent on defense, while 33% say the right amount is being spent and 14% say too little. Among conservatives, 49% say the right amount is being spent, 30% say too little, and 20% say too much. Moderates' views fall in between, with 46% saying the right amount, 34% too much, and 18% too little.

Opinion of Defense Spending – By Ideology

Strength of National Defense

When asked to evaluate the strength of the national defense system for the United States, a majority of Americans, 54%, say it is about right. Americans are much more likely to believe the national defense is not strong enough (34%) than to say it is too strong (10%).

Opinion of National Defense

Since 1984, only once -- in 1990 -- did about as many Americans say that the defense was too strong (16%) as say it was not strong enough (17%). At that time, a high of 64% felt the defense system was strong enough.

One notable finding on this question concerns the views of veterans. Fifty-one percent of Americans who have served in the military believe the nation's defense is not strong enough, while 44% of veterans say it is about right and only 5% say it is too strong. Among those who have not personally served in the military, 31% say the national defense is not strong enough, 57% say it is about right, and 11% say it is stronger than it needs to be.

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,002 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Feb. 9-12, 2004. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

18. There is much discussion as to the amount of money the government in Washington should spend for national defense and military purposes. How do you feel about this? Do you think we are spending too little, about the right amount, or too much?

 

Too little

About right

Too much

No
opinion

%

%

%

%

2004 Feb 9-12

22

45

31

2

2003 Feb 3-6

25

44

27

4

2002 Feb 4-6

33

48

17

2

2001 Feb 1-4

41

38

19

2

2000 Aug 24-27

40

34

20

6

2000 May 18-21

31

44

22

3

1999 May 7-9

28

35

32

5

1998 Nov 20-22

26

45

22

7

1993 Mar 29-31

17

38

42

3

1990 Jan 4-7

9

36

50

5

1987 Apr 10-13

14

36

44

6

1986 Mar 4-10

13

36

47

4

1985 Jan 25-28

11

36

46

7

1983 Sep 9-12

21

36

37

6

1982 Nov 5-8

16

31

41

12

1981 Jan 27

51

22

15

12

1976 Jan 23-26

22

32

36

10

1973 Sep 21-24

13

30

46

11

1971 Mar 11-14

11

31

50

8

1969 Nov 12-17

8

31

52

9



19. Do you, yourself, feel that our national defense is stronger now than it needs to be, not strong enough, or about right at the present time?

 

Stronger
than needs
to be

Not strong
enough

About
right

No
opinion

%

%

%

%

2004 Feb 9-12

10

34

54

2

2003 Feb 3-6 ^

13

34

52

1

2002 Feb 4-6

6

43

50

1

2001 Feb 1-4

7

44

48

1

2000 May 18-21

6

38

55

1

2000 Jan 13-16

6

39

52

3

1999 May 7-9

7

42

48

3

1990 Jan 4-7

16

17

64

3

1984 ^

15

36

46

3

^

Asked of a half sample.

Gallup/Newsweek.




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