California poll: Most say Bush tax cuts hurt economy, didn't help them

[Kadie]

California poll: Most say Bush tax cuts hurt economy, didn't help them


A new poll shows California voters strongly support proposals to allow the Bush tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans to expire -- and overwhelmingly favor policies that allow the middle class to keep more of their earnings instead.

The statewide poll was taken by the Democratic polling firm of Greenberg Quinlan and Rosner for the SEIU. Hardly non-partisan, but Greenberg is well-respected; and the poll has good news for Democratic U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer -- in the middle of a tough re-election battle with Republican Carly Fiorina -- as she backs an end the tax cuts to the rich.

The poll also provides Democrats with a broad blueprint of how to most effectively shape their message heading toward November on the issue. The conclusion from Greenberg, according to a memo obtained by the Chronicle: the party's strongest possible message this fall is that "middle class families and small businesses are the backbone of the economy,'' and the Obama Administration proposal will cut taxes for them and "give them more money to spend" while it "helps the economy, creates jobs, and lowers the deficit."

snip...
*Most voters support letting the tax cuts expire for the wealthy expire, with more than half saying they support allowing tax cuts to expire for the wealthiest filers -- those making over $1 million annually. Some 41 percent think that the tax cuts should be allowed to expire for the top earners making $250,000 and up. Another 10 percent who say that all tax cuts should be allowed to expire.

*More than a quarter of voters think the Bush tax cuts either made no difference on the economy (26 percent) and another quarter actually think they hurt the economy (27 percent). Only 36 percent think that they have helped the economy -- that segment is strongly Republican voters (58 percent). Nearly half also say the Bush tax cuts had "no impact on their personal financial situation, with 37 percent saying the tax cuts were "personally good for their families," the majority of them Republicans.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/nov05election/detail?entry_id=72872&tsp=1#ixzz10HI9Fs5Y

[joeybee12]

1. Well...... DUH!

Yeah, you can trace the economy tanking to the tax cuts...why aren't Dems hammering this home???????