Americans Say Raising Taxes on the Rich is Good for the Economy
July 18, 2012 7:26 am
The Pew Research Center released a report yesterday that shows Americans two-to-one say raising taxes on incomes greater than $250,000 would help, rather than hurt, the economy. Forty-four percent said they felt tax hikes on the rich would help the economy, while 22% claimed it would hurt the economy and 24% said it would not make a difference. Not surprisingly, approximately identical percentages said doing so would make the tax system more fair (44%) and less fair (21%).
According to the Pew report, “most Democrats say raising taxes on incomes over $250,000 would help the economy (64%) and make the tax system more fair (65%). Republicans are more divided: 41% say this would hurt the economy, while 27% say it would help and 24% it would make no difference. And while 36% of Republicans say raising taxes on incomes over $250,000 would make the tax system less fair, 30% say this would make no difference and 25% say it would make the tax system more fair.”
There were few surprises in the findings of the latest national survey, but one striking discovery was that fewer registered Independents (as opposed to Republicans or Democrats) were able to identify which presidential candidate favors raising taxes for incomes over $250,000. (The correct answer, of course, is Barack Obama.) Additionally, “those unaware of Obama’s support of the proposal are more likely to say it would have no effect on the economy and tax fairness than . . . those who know Obama favors it.” Twenty-six percent of respondents said that they have heard nothing at all about the debate over raising taxes for the rich.
The survey was conducted from July 12-15 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, and included 1,015 adults.
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