According to a survey released today by The Hill, “a full 95 percent of likely voters believe that lowering the debt is either very or somewhat important…with likely voters saying they prefer spending cuts to tax increases to shoulder the brunt of lowering the country’s debt.”  The results of The Hill survey echo several recent surveys showing that Americans don’t believe President Obama or Democrats in Congress are doing enough to cut spending, which economists say is needed to help create a better environment for job creation: 

• Last week, an NBC/WSJ survey found that “63% of Americans say Democrats in Congress have ‘not gone far enough’ in cutting programs and reducing federal spending to deal with the budget deficit.”

• A Quinnipiac survey also released last week found that over half of Americans (51 percent) believe that spending cuts supported by President Obama will cut “too little” to help reduce the budget deficit. 

• A recent Gallup survey “largely supports Republicans’ insistence on a plan that makes significant cuts in government spending,” with nearly half of Americans (48 percent) saying that budget proposals put forth by President Obama and Democrats in Congress “do not go far enough in cutting federal spending.”

• “In Resurgent Republic’s most recent survey, 61 percent of voters — including 69 percent of Independents — say it is a higher priority for the federal government to spend less to reduce the deficit rather than spending more to help the economy recover.”

Despite Americans’ clear support for larger spending cuts, Democrats – backed by an “army of lobbyists” – have drawn a “line in the sand,” refusing to support additional cuts to help create a better environment for jobs.  The Washington Times has more on Democrats’ steadfast opposition to the increased spending cuts Americans are demanding:

“A top Senate Democrat said Sunday that the $6 billion in additional spending cuts that his party offered is the limit Democrats can accept — drawing a line well short of Republicans’ goal with less than two weeks to go before a government shutdown if the two sides can’t agree.

“Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democrat in the chamber, said the $6 billion proposal, released Friday, has ‘pushed this to the limit’ on domestic spending. That comment stands in sharp opposition to a House Republican bill containing an additional $57 billion in cuts below 2010 spending. …

“[C]ompared with 2010 levels, Republicans said, Democrats support just $10 billion in cuts: the $4 billion plus the newly proposed $6 billion. That’s just one-sixth of what Republicans are willing to take.”

This week, Republicans will show, once again, that they are listening to the American people and keeping their pledge to “stop out of control spending and reduce the size of government” by beginning the process of shutting down the TARP bailout program and saving taxpayers more than $8 billion – with more cuts to come.

Republicans have already passed legislation (H.R. 1) that would enact the largest discretionary spending cut in recent history, and a short-term resolution that cuts $4 billion in spending over two weeks.  As House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has made clear, “there is no limit to the amount of spending” Republicans are willing to cut to begin getting our fiscal house in order and to help create a better environment for job growth.  The question that remains, however, is when will Washington Democrats get serious and offer a credible plan to cut spending?