Gallup: Americans Support The ‘Buffet Rule’ By 23 Points

[ProSense]

Gallup: Americans Support The ‘Buffet Rule’ By 23 Points

A new Gallup poll shows President Obama’s proposed “Buffett Rule,” which raises the marginal tax rate on those Americans making over a million dollars a year, is widely supported by Americans. A 60 percent majority of Americans polled support the idea, while 37 percent don’t. Independents support the measure 63 - 33, Democrats at an even higher rate, while Republicans are the only voting bloc to oppose the idea 43 - 54. From Gallup:

Republican politicians oppose the Buffett Rule, and there is little possibility that it will become law this year. President Obama’s intense focus on the policy and his emphasis on bringing it to a vote in Congress is thus mostly a symbolic gesture – underscoring his general presidential campaign themes this year. An emphasis on millionaires paying higher taxes also helps position the Obama presidential campaign against his very rich GOP opponent, Mitt Romney.

Perhaps more importantly than the fate of this one policy proposal, the expiration of the Bush tax cuts at the end of this year means that unless something is done, taxes will in fact go up for many American taxpayers. Obama is on record as saying that he would let the tax cuts expire for those households making $250,000 a year and up, but would keep them in place for all others.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/gallup-americans-support-buffet-rule-by-23-points

[Zax2me]

1. Only 43% rep favor.

Color me shocked.

[ProSense]

2. Yeah, but

I'm surprised it's that high.

[Vehl]

3. This

I believe a lot of not-too-fundy/right republicans are slowly realizing how their own party is screwing them big time.

[JDPriestly]

4. I would like to point out the trap in talking about "they" should pay "their"

fair share. We should not be talking about taxes in terms of individuals paying taxes on their earnings.

Taxes are simply a way of dedicating a portion of the overall wealth gained in the country in the past year for purposes that benefit the entire nation.

Therefore, even though we tax "personal income," we should be talking about taxing income and wealth, not about taxing individual people.


When we say we want the extremely wealthy to pay their fair share, it isn't that we necessarily think that they are bad people not paying their fair share. We aren't claiming that we pay as many dollars in taxes as their percentage of the population does. We are saying that since they should pay a proportion of the national tax revenue equal to the portion of the national wealth that they earn each year.

It is absurd to say, as some Republicans do that the poor should pay an "equal" share of their income as the rich. It is absurd to complain that people with low incomes "don't pay any taxes." Of course, they don't. They don't earn enough of the wealth to permit them to pay taxes. Besides, they do pay taxes -- on their phone bills, on their gasoline purchases -- all kinds of taxes.

Tax policy shouldn't be about taxing people. It should be about taxing income -- about taxing the wealth that we as a nation accumulate over the course of the year.

The term "personal income tax" causes misunderstanding. Paying taxes may feel personal. It may even hurt, but there is really nothing personal about it.

Taxes are simply a way of dedicating a portion of the overall wealth gained in the country in the past year for purposes that benefit the entire nation.

So let's stop talking about who pays what share and talk about what earnings or gains pays what share.

And yes, in my opinion, we should pay higher taxes on capital gains than we do, and we should pay taxes when we inherit money. Because that is a movement of wealth and a share of that wealth should go to fund public things -- like parks and schools and health care and clean air and water and all the things we need and want that we can only get and do if we work together as a society through our government.