Bush Tax Cuts: Less Than One-Third Support Extending Reduced Rates (POLL)

Fewer than one in three Americans favor extending tax cuts enacted into law by former President George W. Bush when they expire at the end of this year, according to a CNN/Opinion Research poll released Friday.

The survey finds that 31 percent say they support allowing the cuts to continue for all taxpayers, regardless of income level. By contrast, the poll finds 51 percent believe the reduced rates should be kept in place for families earning less than $250,000 each year, but not for households bringing in more than that cash amount.

Whether or not the tax cuts approved by Bush should be extended for the wealthy has emerged as a hot topic for debate among lawmakers and candidates running for office in the midterm election cycle.

The Obama administration, as well as many Democrats, have signaled an intent to leave the decreased rates in place, with the exception of for taxpayers earning an annual income that exceeds $250,000.

"There are many good reasons not to extend the high-end parts of the Bush tax cuts having to do with the fear that a temporary extension could be made permanent," explained chief economist to Vice President Joe Biden, Jared Bernstein, to the Huffington Post earlier this week. "What you are talking about -- a $30 to 40 billion range in terms of adding to the deficit by extending the high end -- could easily become $700 billion over a ten-year budget window."

Meanwhile, Republicans on a large scale have argued for an extension of all the tax cuts based on the justification that the lower rates would better enable economic growth and job creation.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office forecasted on Thursday that allowing the reduced rates to remain in place could give the economy a sizable jolt in the short term; however, by extending the measure in full for all Americans, the federal deficit could increase to the point that the debt accounts for 8% of GDP by 2020.

Comments

[BlueSkyPilot]

10:36 AM on 08/24/2010

Who are the “Small Bussiness Owners” they are fighting to protect? Doctors, Medical Equipment Providers, Lawyers, Lobbyists, Pro Atheletes, Movie Stars, TV and Radio Personalities, The list goes on. But you not see anyone who’s shop you visit on Main Street or the guy who cuts your grass, paints your house, cleans your carpets, fixes your computer.

[BlueSkyPilot]

09:37 AM on 08/24/2010

The Bush Tax Cuts have worked so well at producing jobs over the last 10 years that we had to ship the excess over seas.

(We should have saved a few Million for a rainy day)

[nothingchanges]

11:12 PM on 08/23/2010

Less than 2% control the means of financing the majority of the congressional re-election campaigns this November. That's the statistic that will most influence tax law.

[runfastandwin]

07:25 PM on 08/23/2010

Yeah maybe but most of that 2/3rds will vote for people who explicitly say they will not allow the cuts to expire so who cares about a stupid poll?

[lvdragonlady]

09:21 PM on 08/23/2010

obviously not someone like you.

[pup sydney]

12:04 AM on 08/23/2010

Trickle down economics: does it mean that if a rich is buying food at seven eleven he is "helping" society but if I buy food I am a parasite, so he deserves a tax break and me a slap on the wrist?
What is trickle down economics anyway, where does the trickle stop to what expense what investemnt 10000 1 million 1000$?
By the GOP reasoning the rich should get tax breaks simply because they breath and in so doing they -the elected ones- purify my air.

[dragonladywaltham]

07:49 PM on 08/22/2010

Which means.........2/3 of Americans will vote Democratic this fall?

[diddleydee]

06:43 PM on 08/22/2010

Trickle down economics is propaganda from extremely wealthy people who are greedy. The current effective tax rate of rich people is significantly lower than the current effective tax rates for lower and middle class people. The Bush Tax cut is welfare for the wealthy. Wealthy pigs are choking at the government trough.

[UNLVGOP]

12:00 PM on 08/23/2010

Can you please explain how people keeping their own money is receiving welfare?

And why does the gov't have more of a right to their money than them?

[StopMakingSense2]

12:27 PM on 08/23/2010

Go to any third world country and ask around if it still isn't obvious to you. Freedom isn't free. Prosperity doesn't spring out of a vacuum. I know, I'm wasting my time.. What you want once existed, and society couldn't wait to leave it behind, but you can find it in the third world. Bon Voyage..

[OBroadhurst]

02:54 PM on 09/13/2010

As you fully well know, federal corporate welfare policies and Reverse Robin Hood redistribution of wealth tax policies have shifted wealth in vast quantities from the least affluent to the most. Therefore, the wealthiest would not be "keeping their own money"

It's OUR money, and they never had the moral right to have it in the first place.

[Fabini]

04:25 PM on 08/22/2010

Tax the rich? Appropriate their wealth and distribute it to the workers in this country. The rich can have a single-wide and a minimum wage labor job .

[UNLVGOP]

01:28 PM on 08/23/2010

But then wouldn't the workers then be the rich...and the rich be the poor...and a whole cycle would begin would it not?

[Fabini]

03:08 PM on 08/23/2010

No. The wealth would be taken from 3.1 million and distributed to 306 million.

[bryanzth]

11:34 AM on 08/22/2010

That would be the 2%ers and the 29% rich wannabees who think they can gain admittance to the country clubs. Nope.

BZ.

[moose and squirrel]

09:20 AM on 08/22/2010

havent heard mitch mcconnell or john boehnor talk about letting the 'will of the people' prevail on this one....

[G FORCE]

09:37 PM on 08/21/2010

"...Destroy the Wealthy..."
Hmmm....sounds like a good idea. Where do I sign up?

[Kenz300]

09:14 PM on 08/21/2010

Trickle down is a scam that tries to get people working pay check to paycheck
to support policies that only benefit the very wealthy. Be careful that you do not
get trickled on........

The tax cuts benefited the top 2% of wage earners and most of us do not know any
of them personally.

Hint -- they might be donors to the republican party though.

What we need is a national sales tax -- That would tax all the unreported and under reported
income for legal and illegal transactions.

[Roy Heath]

11:43 AM on 08/21/2010

Great poll number, but my question is will this poll have any influence on the decision making in Washington? I know this to be a rhetorical question.

[davcrock]

04:58 AM on 08/21/2010

We need tax reform to make taxation fair for everybody, not tax breaks for the people that don't need them. That would be a populist cause of wide appeal, except to the extremists of both parties. But we don't have any politicians with the necessary cajones to do it. That's because these two parties are really on the fringes of the political spectrum and most of us are smack dab in the middle.

[wmnorton]

01:21 PM on 08/22/2010

You need to be careful with tax reform. That was how Reagan decreased the taxes on the rich by 22% while raising it on everyone else. Obama had the largest middle class tax cut in history while Reagan had the largest middle class tax increase.

[davcrock]

07:58 PM on 08/22/2010

Sure, Congress isn't trustworthy and lobbyists usually end up writing legislation. Even so, tax reform is needed. Disregarding Bush's tax breaks, the tax code is stuffed full of double taxations, regressive provisions, exemptions, credits, and a list of unfair advantages to certain folks (often ones who need it the least), that it violates equal protection and due process provisions of the Constitution. To leave it as is, even if Bush's tax breaks expire, still sticks us with an unconstitutional system of taxation. Earned income is subject to heavier taxation than investment income regardless of the Bush tax breaks. Both the payroll taxes and the income tax apply to earned income but only the income tax applies to investment income. The solution isn't to apply payroll taxes to both but to unify tax rates and make them uniform so that every person is treated the same. That's not an argument for a flat tax. We can have progressive taxes but it must be uniform and unitary, not distinguishing between earned and unearned income.

Next are corporate and business taxes. Corporations and businesses don't actually pay taxes because they pass their tax burden on to their customers in the price of goods and services, which means that when you buy something, you're paying the business's taxes, another form of double taxation. Unfair, highy regressive, and inflationary.

We can't go on shifting the tax burden to the middle class and expect they will either prosper or tolerate it forever. They won't do either.

[Dem4us]

12:40 AM on 08/21/2010

if the tax cuts expire all taxes will rise.....thats the GOP spin on it, but here is the truth. Only the top 2% will be effected and their rate will go up by 4.6 to 5%.........lets not forget last year President Obama cut taxes to 95% of America or is that a washed up debunked lie...........(sarcasm)