Trio of polls: Support for raising taxes on wealthy
Washington (CNN) - A new poll indicates a majority of Americans are OK with raising taxes on incomes over $250,000 per year as part of a deal to prevent the country from falling off the fiscal cliff.
A Quinnipiac University national survey released Thursday is the second in two days and third over the past week and a half to indicate public support for raising taxes on households making more than $250,000 per year. A tax increase for high income Americans has been a major sticking point between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans in negotiations to avert the fiscal cliff.
Last year Congress and President Barack Obama agreed to a program to reduce the federal deficit that is referred to as the fiscal cliff. Unless Congress and the president reach an agreement by the end of the year, tax rates will automatically rise next year for nearly all Americans and major spending cuts will automatically begin to kick in for most government spending programs, including military programs.
At issue in the negotiations is a disagreement between the two major political parties over how to best raise the federal government's revenues. The president and most congressional Democrats argue for tax rate increases on the wealthiest Americans in order to raise revenue, while most congressional Republicans call for the closing of tax loopholes and deductions, overall tax code reform.. Both parties have indicated a willingness to implement spending cuts, some kind of reforming of entitlement programs, such as Social Security and Medicare, although specifics over how much and where have yet to be made.
According to the Quinnipiac poll, 65% of registered voters support higher taxes on incomes over $250,000 per year. Eighty-four percent of Democrats and two-thirds of independent voters questioned support such a move, but Republicans are opposed by a 53%-41% margin.
An Associated Press/GfK survey released Wednesday indicated that a plurality favor letting tax cuts expire for the country's top earners, and 60% of those questioned in an ABC News/Washington Post poll released last week said they supported such a move. The public opinion polls are in-line with the national exit polls from the November election, which indicated that 60% of voters said that taxes should be raised on incomes over $250,000.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/06/trio-of-polls-support-for-raising-taxes-on-wealthy/
