Most Americans-- Outside Of The Rich Ones Who Dominate Congress-- Think Rich People Should Pay Their Fair Share

We are doomed

Let me try to tie two posts together-- yesterday's screed against the Gang of Six (and particularly Dick Durbin's embrace of über-conservative positions) and this morning's post on tax policy. The heavy lifting was done by Marist in a poll they did for McClatchy Media, a poll that shows most Americans think the best way to fight the deficit is by making the rich pay their fair share of taxes-- specifically, raising taxes on the rich. Very few people, other than in the extreme fringes of the GOP and in the U.S. Congress, think monkeying around with Medicare or Social Security is the way the deficit should be reduced. Wow! The American people are a lot smarter than the likes of Tom Coburn, Saxby Chambliss, Dick Durbin, Mark Warner, Kent Conrad or, obviously, Michael Crapo.

The Establishment has persuaded voters that the deficit is the boogie man but voters don't agree with the Establishment on what to do about it. "Alarmed by rising national debt and increasingly downbeat about their country's course, Americans are clear about how they want to attack the government's runway budget deficits: raise taxes on the wealthy and keep hands off of Medicare and Medicaid." And most people oppose raising the debt ceiling.

On tackling the deficit, voters by a margin of 2-to-1 support raising taxes on incomes above $250,000, with 64 percent in favor and 33 percent opposed.

Independents supported higher taxes on the wealthy by 63-34 percent; Democrats by 83-15 percent; and Republicans opposed by 43-54 percent.

Support for higher taxes rose by 5 percentage points after Obama called for that as one element of his deficit-reduction strategy last week. Opposition dropped by 6 points. The poll was conducted before and after the speech.

Americans clearly don't want the government to cut Medicare, the government health program for the elderly, or Medicaid, the program for the poor. Republicans in the House of Representatives voted last week to drastically restructure and reduce those programs, while Obama calls for trimming their costs but leaving them essentially intact.

Voters oppose cuts to those programs by 80-18 percent. Even among conservatives, only 29 percent supported cuts, and 68 percent opposed them.

Public views are more mixed on cutting defense spending, with 44 percent supporting cuts and 54 percent opposed.

One dividing line is education: College graduates want to cut defense spending by 63-36 percent. Non-college graduates oppose cutting the Pentagon by 61-36 percent.

No matter how the government tackles its deficits and debt, Americans don't want it to borrow any more. By 69-24 percent, voters oppose raising the legal ceiling for debt. That includes Democrats, who oppose it by 53-36 percent, independents, who oppose it by 74-22 percent, and Republicans, who oppose it by 79-16 percent.

Obama better get with the program or his approval ratings will continue to sink. The fact that the average CEO at an S&P company now makes over $11 million does not accrue to his benefit.