Something Americans Can Finally Agree On: Tax the Rich

Politico has posted an article on a recent Gallup poll asking Americans which of President Obama's proposals for increasing revenue they support and oppose. The President is looking for new revenue not only to reduce the deficit, but also to pay for his new jobs bill that endeavors to inject the American workforce with new employment opportunities in infrastructure rebuilding and teaching, while extending payroll tax cuts and incentivizing small businesses to hire the long-term unemployed. The bill has received a lot of attention, some positive and some negative.

But, it appears, the American electorate is firmly on the side of Obama when it comes to revenue increases. The Gallup poll shows that 70% of those asked support eliminating at least some corporate tax deductions, while 66% favor increasing income taxes on high-earning individuals and families ($200,000 and $250,000, respectively).

This is a big deal. These days, it's hard to get 70% of Americans to agree on what day of the week it is, let alone how to handle the deficit and job creation. Even when you break these numbers down along partisan lines, 53% of republican leaning respondents support the corporate tax hike and 41% support raising taxes on high-income earners. That's almost half of all republicans polled. Half. Wow.

So why is it, then, that the talking point we hear over and over from the GOP presidential hopefuls, from the pundits, from the Washington Insiders, is "Americans do not support raising taxes. Period." Rush Limbaugh calls Obama's speech on the Buffett tax "offensive (if you can make it through the whole transcript then you are a stronger person than I). You know what's really offensive? Rush Limbaugh telling his listeners, his "ditto heads," that the American people's opinion on taxing the rich is wrong, that we just don't understand this complicated tax system. Here, let uncle Rush explain it to you.

Overall this is promising news. If more than two-thirds of Americans agree that the deficit can be shrunk and that jobs can be created by taxing the rich and by taxing corporations, and subsequently putting that money towards education and infrastructure, then Obama can finally get the "mandate from the people" that he's been waiting on for three years. Now we just have to get Congress to support our interests. Good luck with that one.