None of the above: The public weighs in on the state fiscal crisis

A new poll from the Pew Research Center presents interesting findings about the state of public opinion regarding the state fiscal crisis.  A late June poll of 1,001 adults found a majority of respondents saying that states should fix their own budget problems by cutting services or raising taxes,  rather than relying on additional help from the federal government (In the poll, just 26 percent agreed that,”The federal government should give more money to states, even if it increases deficit,” compared to 56 percent who said, “States should take of this, by rising taxes or cutting services). However, when asked about the actual options for balancing state  budgets, solid majorities of Americans said no to everything:

The message from the American public couldn’t be clearer: balance the budget, but don’t cut services and don’t raise taxes. With such a strong popular mandate from the voters, is it any wonder that our elected officials are so eager to make the tough political choices?