9 in 10: 'Force' government to live within income

Editor's Note: This is another in a series of reports on the polling by Clout Research, a national opinion research firm in Columbus, Ohio, for WND.com.

Just as there are reports on Monday of a new budget-busting deal between Congress and the White House that would provide a massive hike in the nation's borrowing – that procedure that Barack Obama already has used to borrow trillions of dollars, there's a new poll revealing that's not what Americans want.

Not even close.

The deal, as reported by the Hill, apparently would extend the debt ceiling to March 2017 and "bust budget limits set by a 2011 agreement that imposed a decade of reduced spending known as sequestration."

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But the massive new spending authorization, which could be finalized this week yet, flies in the fact of the results of a new poll, where Americans expressed a strong message for Washington: Quit spending what you don't have.

A stunning 9 of 10 respondents to a new poll say the federal government should be "forced" to live within its income and operate with a balanced budget.

And even more startling is the result that more than 75 percent say they would be more likely to "support a presidential candidate who pledged to shut down the government temporarily, if necessary, to stop borrowing and bring spending in line with tax revenue."

The results are from a WND/Clout poll by Clout Research, a national opinion research firm in Columbus, Ohio. The telephone survey Oct. 15-19, had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.43 percentage points.

Asked whether you "agree or disagree that the federal government should be forced to live within its means and operate with a balanced budget," 82.9 percent of the respondents said they "strongly agree." Another 10.7 percent said they somewhat agree.

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The combined total for Republican respondents was 94.3 percent, for independents 93 percent and for Democrats, who leaned more heavily to "somewhat agree," 85.7 percent.

Regarding candidates who would shut down the government to keep spending in line, 76.1 percent of all respondents said they would be more likely, or a little more likely, to support such a candidate.

For Republicans, the total was 78.1 percent, for independents 78.5 percent and for Democrats 17.8 percent.

"GOP sentiment on the debt reflects that Washington is out of control and needs a strong dose of restraint," explained Clout Research partner Fritz Wenzel.

"The poll shows there is little confidence that under the current circumstances things will change, but they clearly favor strong medicine for the federal government. Right now, strong political medicine is being offered by a collection of outsider presidential candidates who are vying for the GOP nomination, and nationally, Republican voters are responding quite favorably towards Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina.

"The survey’s finding that 84 percent of Republican voters would be more likely to vote for a presidential candidate who promised not to raising the debt limit and to stop borrowing to cover the government's spending is strong evidence that outsiders have a strong political base to stand upon.

"What is more surprising is that 76 percent of Republican voters said they are more likely to vote for a presidential candidate who pledged to temporarily shut the government down if necessary to stop the borrowing and to bring spending in line with revenues. It is likely that most voters know the feds have been bringing in record amounts of tax revenue in recent quarters, so the fact that the debt ceiling still needs to be raising is likely galling to many," he said.

The Hill reported the deal looming in Congress would raise borrowing caps "by a total of $112 billion fiscal 2016 and 2017."

The report said some GOP members Congress complained to outgoing Speaker John Boehner, who responded that Obama is "looking for ways to shut down the government."

The report said the deal would continue a 2 percent payment cut to Medicare and create a "flat benefit" for disability recipients.

Wenzel continued: "Given that the GOP nomination will be won or lost substantially on economic issues like these, it is no surprise that the leaders for the nomination continue to be Trump and Carson. Trump leads all with 33 percent support nationwide, while Carson wins 24 percent. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio wins 10 percent support, followed closely by Fiorina and Cruz at 9 percent, Bush at 8 percent and Kasich at 4 percent."

The message of the poll, he said, is that Americans are uneasy about their economic situation and that of the nation and they are concerned about spending.

Eighty-three percent of Republicans nationwide said they are very concerned about the national debt, which now exceeds $18.4 trillion.

More than 92 percent were very concerned or somewhat concerned about the level of debt for every man, woman and child in America, and 82 percent of respondents oppose raising the debt ceiling again.

Respondents also had little expectation that the federal budget will balance within their lifetimes. Only 31 percent say that is somewhat or very likely. Democrats had the lowest expectation, only 14 percent.

Three of four said they strongly agree or somewhat agree that passing on federal government debt to the next generation is unconstitutional because "it amounts to taxation without representation."

See the results:

Question 9: I now have a question about the national debt, which currently exceeds 18-point-4 trillion dollars, which amounts to $57,000 for every man, woman and child in America. The debt has nearly doubled in the last seven years. Knowing this about the debt, are you very concerned, somewhat concerned, not very concerned, or not at all concerned that this will eventually cause serious harm to our nation and our future?

Question 10: The Congress and president are again considering raising the national debt ceiling to allow the government to continue to borrow record amounts of money to operate the government. This political fight, which includes charges from both sides that the other is trying to shut down the federal government, stems from a law that limits how much the federal government can borrow. If you had to choose, would you favor or oppose raising the debt ceiling at this time?

Question 11: Do you agree or disagree that the federal government debt ceiling should be permanently eliminated to allow continued, unlimited borrowing to pay government expenses?

Question 12: Do you agree or disagree that the federal government should be forced to live within its means and to operate with a balanced budget?

Question 13: It has been almost 20 years since the federal government last operated with a balanced budget. How likely to do you think it is that the federal government will again balance its budget in your lifetime?

Question 14: Do you agree or disagree with this statement: passing federal government debt to Americans not yet born is unconstitutional because it amounts to taxation without representation – in that minor children and yet-unborn Americans have no vote for the taxes they will eventually pay.

Question 15: Would you be more or less likely to vote for a presidential candidate who promised not to raise the debt limit and to stop borrowing to cover the government's spending?

Question 16: Would you be more or less likely to support a presidential candidate who pledged to shut down the government temporarily, if necessary, to stop borrowing and bring spending in line with tax revenues?

WND reported earlier this week that Dr. Ben Carson, the only close rival to Donald Trump in Republican presidential polls, says he would do something no president or Congress has done in a long time – freeze the debt, stop borrowing, force Washington to live within its means.

He called the situation "the No. 1 national security threat."

It was in a commentary headlined, "Righting the Ship of State," published exclusively on WND.com, that Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who originally stunned the nation with a rebuke to President Obama's Obamacare plans during a speech at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast – immediately prompting chatter that he would run for president, noted the debt now is "more than double what it was when Barack Obama took office in January 2009."

"While America faces several very real existential threats in the 21st century, our ballooning debt is one impending crisis that is worse than any other threat. If not addressed, this threat is certain to bring down our great country," he warned.

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He pointed out that no one – from either a Democrat White House or a Republican-led Congress, has "offered a plan to stop it, let alone reduce it. Borrowing and spending without limit is the new normal inside the beltway. Each year, Congress and the Executive joust over raising the debt limit, rationalizing that they are really just paying last year's bills. There's just one problem: This exercise is completely unsustainable and will eventually, without any doubt, result in catastrophe for the U.S. government and the U.S. economy," he said.

Congress actually is facing right now another demand to boost the debt limit – with a deadline scarcely two weeks out.

Carson's promise?

"I plan to address this on my first day in office – Jan. 20, 2017. Here's what I will do on Day One. I will tell the nation that, beginning immediately, we will no longer borrow money from future generations to sustain the growth of government or empower it over ordinary Americans."

He said cuts will be made, programs ended, departments and agencies streamlined and waste eradicated.

Read Dr. Ben Carson's exclusive WND commentary right now!