New AllSides and ActiVote Survey Reveals Americans are deeply Concerned About Federal Debt but Divided on Solutions

Partisan disagreement on how to solve the debt crisis

While Americans agree the debt is an issue: Democrats want to raise taxes on the wealthy, Republicans want to cut spending but do not agree on what to cut.

BOSTON, MA, UNITED STATES, December 11, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A new collaborative survey by AllSides and ActiVote finds that a strong majority of Americans are worried about the nation's growing federal debt—now exceeding $38 trillion—and believe it must be addressed. However, deep partisan divides on how to tackle the issue make bipartisan action unlikely, highlighting a classic left-right split: the left favors tax increases, while the right prioritizes spending cuts.

Conducted in November 2025, the survey included 14 questions on the federal debt, taxes, and spending, with an average of 497 respondents per question (ranging from 469 to 560) and a margin of error of approximately 4.4%. Responses were weighted to reflect the U.S. population, using ActiVote's standard polling methodology.

Key Findings:
- Broad Concern About the Debt: Half of Americans support a balanced budget constitutional amendment, with another 20% favoring strict limits on debt increases except in emergencies. Only 5% see a growing debt-to-GDP ratio as unproblematic. The right strongly backs aggressive measures like a balanced budget amendment (78%), while the left is more open to debt fluctuating with economic conditions (50%).

- Partisan Divide on Solutions: 87% of left-leaning respondents want to reduce deficits mostly or entirely through tax increases, compared to 93% of right-leaning respondents who favor spending cuts. Overall, 34% tilt toward tax increases, 42% toward spending cuts, and 24% prefer a balanced mix.

- Taxes: Clear ideological splits persist. Nearly all left-leaning Americans (99%) support raising top marginal income tax rates on the rich, increasing corporate taxes (91%), and implementing a wealth tax (98%). In contrast, the right overwhelmingly opposes these, favoring lower rates or maintaining the status quo.

- Spending: A slim majority (51%) supports a bipartisan panel for targeted cuts, though this is more popular on the left. The right prefers entitlement reforms or across-the-board agency cuts. Majorities favor eliminating waste in military spending and lifting the Social Security earnings cap (58% overall), but views diverge sharply on programs like Medicaid and Medicare.

The full survey results, including detailed breakdowns by political leaning and individual question data, are available on the ActiVote website.

Victor Allis
ActiVote
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