April 15, 2009 11:21AM 

# A Poll for Tax Day 

By [David Boaz](https://www.cato.org/people/david-boaz) 

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The [latest poll](http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/pt_survey_toplines/march_2009/toplines_benchmarks_march_18_19_2009) to ask the question “would you prefer a more active government with more services and higher taxes or a smaller government with fewer services and lower taxes?” found that 66 percent prefer smaller government and lower taxes, to only 25 percent who prefer a “more active government” with more services.

Note that the poll doesn’t even say “larger government”; Rasmussen has actually made the wording more favorable toward big government.

[As I’ve noted before](https://www.cato.org/2008/11/05/smaller-government-is-more-popular-than-obama/), the usual “smaller government” question, as asked by CBS and other pollsters, is incomplete. It offers respondents a benefit of larger government — “more services” — but it doesn’t mention that the cost of “larger government with more services” is higher taxes. The question ought to give both the cost and the benefit for each option.

That’s what the Rasmussen poll does. And it shows that people prefer lower taxes to more government services.

##### Related Tags 

[Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) 

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