If the federal government finds itself with a budget surplus this year as expected, almost half of the Americans responding to a recent poll said they would want the federal government to increase spending on programs such as health care, education and the environment, rather than reducing federal debt or taxes.
In a USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll taken this week, 43 percent of those polled said they want Washington to increase spending, 30 percent want the feds to pay down the debt, and 22 percent want the excess funds returned to taxpayers.
Offered a list of eight specific ways to use the surplus, 56 percent said tax credits to reduce pollution should be a "top" or "high" priority. About 40 percent said pollution-abatement tax breaks should get "low" or "no" priority.
More than half of respondents, 58 percent, said highway spending is a "low" or "no" priority; 11 percent called it a "top" priority, and 29 percent said it was a "high" priority.
Overall, 69 percent were skeptical that the budget would actually be balanced in 1999. The telephone poll of 1,015 respondents was taken on 1/6 and 1/7 and has a margin of error of +/-3 percent.
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