President Obama claims that tax increases will help close the deficit, but a majority of Americans believe he intends to use the money for increased spending, according to a new survey.

“You can’t reduce the deficit unless you take a balanced approach that says, ‘We’ve gotta make government leaner and more efficient,’” Obama told CBS last month. “But we’ve also got to ask people – like me or Gov. Romney, who have done better than anybody else over the course of the last decade, and whose taxes are just about lower than they’ve been in the last 50 years – to do a little bit more.

Fifty-seven percent of likely voters believe that tax increases will fund further spending, according to a new Public Notice survey conducted by a Republican-leaning pollster, The Tarrance Group. That number is even higher among independents, as 60 percent of that voting bloc think Obama wants tax hikes for to increase spending. Obama has convinced a majority (58 percent) of Democrats, though, that he will use taxes to lower the deficit.

“These poll results show that Washington’s reckless spending isn’t just hurting the economy, it’s also hurting their credibility,” said Public Notice executive director Gretchen Hamel. “Politicians make all sorts of promises on the campaign trail, but when it comes to reducing the deficit, voters aren’t buying it—and neither are we.”