Mmm. Some simple economic rules may be in order...
Income tax. Cut it every year if possible. This will be popular, and the loss of money will be made up by higher economic growth. (In a few years, anyway)
Corperate Tax. Leave alone if you need popularity. Cutting it will be unpopular, but raising it will hurt the economy.
Sales Tax. Remove immediatly. The amount it raises=unpoplarity caused ratio is higher than income tax. Again, this will help your economy.
At least keep your social spending level. Increases in military spending helps very slightly. More aid is massivly unpopular.
Unless there is unforseen events ie. nuke wars, etc, you can cut income tax by 0.5- 1.0c every year and due to a booming economy (growth can shoot upto 9%) you will be able to in a few years afford guns AND butter. Obviously, this will make you popular.
This is a tried and tested method.. for me , the year is 2016 , the GNP per capita is 33,259, my military budget has doubled, my aid budget has quadrupled, I am running a surplus of 100-200 billion p/y, and my income tax stands at a tiny 3c per $. My massive aid has managed to co-opt nearly all of the poorest countries to me, and even France in my alliance! And only 3 nuke scares!
And my popularity? 86%
And thats after five Vietnam's (Iraq '90-'91, Lybia '94, N. Korea '97, Iran-Syria-Pakistan '99-'01 and Brazil '11-'12)
Of course, all this tax-cutting will not save your behind if you are as popular as GW. Bush , but it may if you are hovering around 50-52 to get you in the clear.
