Pew Poll: Liberals are as supportive of the tax agreement as are conservative and moderate Democrats

[bigtree]

December 13, 2010

Tax Cuts Win Broad Bipartisan Support
Liberal Democrats Are on Board



The agreement between President Obama and congressional Republicans to extend tax cuts and unemployment benefits is getting strong bipartisan support. Overall, 60% approve of the agreement while just 22% disapprove.

There are virtually no partisan differences in opinions about the agreement – 63% of Democrats approve of it, as do 62% of Republicans and 60% of independents. Among Democrats, liberals are as supportive of the agreement as are conservative and moderate Democrats.

Nearly half (48%) say the agreement will help the economy, while just 29% think it will hurt the economy. Opinions are similar about the personal impact of the deal: Nearly twice as many say the agreement will help (47%) rather than hurt (25%) people like themselves.

Roughly half of Republicans, Democrats and independents say the agreement will both be good for the economy and for people like themselves. Pluralities across all three groups see the agreement will be bad for the federal budget deficit; Republicans (51%) are slightly more likely than Democrats (43%) to say that the agreement will have a negative impact on the deficit.




read more: http://people-press.org/report/684/

[Lucky 13]

1. Numerous does not equal just.

As has been the case in our country on many many many many issues. I'm proud to be on the opposite side of this argument. Count me in the minority.

[bigtree]

3. the poll contradicts the narrative here

. . . that there's been substantial collateral damage done to the President's support among Democrats (esp. liberals).

I agree that the numbers say little about the prudence or wisdom of the deal.

[Occam Bandage]

4. I don't think it contradicts the narrative.

Only 65% of liberals, who are generally supportive of the President, support this action. That number is lower than his general support among liberals. Assuming that general support is to some extent a function of support on individual issues, it's not a stretch to believe that this deal is going to result in a lower approval rating among liberals.

It's also not a stretch to believe that this deal is going to increase his support among moderates and conservatives.

[bigtree]

5. well, that's pretty pessimistic

. . . and, you are stretching. I think there will be more support registered when a bill is successfully passed. It does contradict the narrative here that assumes that the sky has fallen on the President just because of all the noise made inside of this internet bubble.

[mdmc]

2. good ol PEW

[NorthCarolina]

8. Why do you think they call it PEW?

[Scurrilous]

6. K & R

:thumbsup:

[rucky]

7. OF COURSE everybody's happy. Nobody has to sacrifice!

It's a win-win...until next year's budget comes up, Boehner sets the agenda, and we have zero leverage to protect social programs. But hooray for now.

[quaker bill]

9. we will still have the Whitehouse and Senate

hardly "zero leverage".

[bigtree]

10. .

[Ramulux]

11. I would like to meet a liberal democrat who supports this

So I can explain to them that they are fucking retarded and dont understand what the word liberal means.

[bigtree]

23. you'll tell them what a liberal is

. . . after you tell them they're retarded?

Wow. That's appealing.

[Better Believe It]

12. Tell them about the poison pill attack on Social Security in the bill. Most don't know about that.,

The mass media and most Democrats have been totally silent on it.

[scarletwoman]

13. Yeah, a poll of the wildly misinformed and uninformed America electorate really proves something.

It's a damn safe bet that these self-described "liberals" have no fucking idea about what's really going on with the economic repercussions of this thing, and have TOTALLY no idea about how this SS payroll tax cut holiday is a long-time CATO Institute wet dream as a first step toward destroying Social Security.

Polling results like this are akin to asking monkeys if they wouldn't prefer to get all the bananas they can eat, without mentioning the fact that those bananas are all inside a cage. Most of the monkeys are going to think, "Yay! More bananas!"

[bigtree]

15. it doesn't 'prove' anything. It's a view outside

. . . to see that the (political) sky isn't really falling around the President over this tax deal.

[scarletwoman]

16. Why would I give a tinker's damn whether the "political sky" is falling on Obama?

The American people -- whether they understand it or not -- are getting massively screwed, and Obama is enabling it.

I couldn't care less what happens to Obama's political fortunes. His survival is in no way connected to mine or any other working class person's. The whole of the DC political class is in fact antithetical to our survival.

[bigtree]

21. why do you assume I posted this poll just for your approval?

I don't believe President Obama is 'enabling' any 'screwing' of America.

I further don't believe critics of the President are in any position at all to offer anything more that he'll provide through his next term. You have no viable candidate representing your views that will replace him; no independent means to accomplish what you say you want; and no prospect for either for the foreseeable future.

[walldude]

28. Well finally something I agree with you on.

There is no one representing me, I have no viable candidate to represent me, I have no means to accomplish what is right and I have no prospect for the forseeable future.

Damn shame instead of being angry about this that you are propping it up as a "HAHA FUCK YOU".

[bigtree]

33. no, not fu

. . .I just want something concrete in place before I discard and disrupt what we have now. Just because the facts hurt, doesn't mean someone is trying to make your feel bad. And, just because I don't wear all of that on my sleeve or on my shoulder doesn't mean that I'm not 'angry'.

[BlueCheese]

14. Sigh.

With commanding majorities in both houses of Congress and the public on our side, we manage to come up with a compromise that is as popular among Republicans as Democrats. Did Bush ever have a policy that Republicans didn't like more than Democrats?

I suppose that's a feature, not a bug.

[Recursion]

20. Yes, he did

Did Bush ever have a policy that Republicans didn't like more than Democrats?

Immigration reform

[hulka38]

17. How many thought Iraq was going to get us with WMD in 2003?

[TransitJohn]

18. What is the point of the incessant posting of these poll numbers?

Are you trying to tell me that I'm not liberal or something? Keep catapulting the propaganda.

[bigtree]

22. I'll bet if they agreed with a position of yours, you'd be fine with them

MY point in posting this poll is to demonstrate support registered outside of this board. The assertion from many folks here is that there is some dire political consequence to the President because of his tax deal. That's certainly not the totality of their argument, but, it hasn't yet been proven.

If you don't care about any of that, then ignore is your friend.

[scarletwoman]

25. I've not seen anyone assert that this tax deal will have "some dire political consequence" for Obama

What those of us who are vehemntly opposed to this tax deal have been pointing out repeatedly is that it will have dire consequences for the people of the U.S.

Ordinary people have NO IDEA what's really going on, thanks to our Owner Class-controlled media and our Big Business-bought-and-paid-for government.

This isn't about Obama, fer gawdsakes, it's about the assassin's gate being opened for the long-sought for destruction of Social Security. The media never mentions this part. The politicians -- save for Bernie Sanders -- never mention this part.

Your poll certainly doesn't mention this part.

A poll of people who have been treated like mushrooms for decades -- kept in the dark and fed bullshit -- means absolutely nothing. Of course they support the tax deal, they have no idea what it really means in the long run because they're completely unaware of the cogent arguments against it.

I'm sure Obama's own political prospects are just fine. That's the beauty of our system -- a massively ill-informed electorate plus a limitless flow of money from the Owner Class to ensure that they remain so. Add in the American Idol bent of our collective societal mindset, and hero-worship trumps critical thinking every time.

DU is the home of many NON-mushrooms. When you post a poll taken by mushrooms, don't expect the non-mushroom people to be impressed by the results.

sw

[bigtree]

26. this is just one poll posted for political context

. . . in response to what I described above. The rest may well be true, but I'm not making the representation that this poll affirms or discounts any of that, so you're painting a stripe down the wrong side of the road.

[scarletwoman]

27. "this is just one poll posted for political context" - What does that mean?

What's the "political context" you had in mind?

I get that self-described liberals in the world outside of DU -- our particular enclave of obsessive political junkies -- voted approvingly in the poll you cited.

As near as I can tell, your purpose in posting it was to say, "See? These liberals are okay with the tax deal."

[Forkboy]

30. It's called an appeal to the majority.

There was lots of it under Bush, as in, "See, most Americans think there is WMD in Iraq" and "Most Americans think Saddam was behind 9/11."

If the majority thinks something it HAS to be right.

[bigtree]

31. I explained my reasoning above

You can't make up that reasoning for me.

[walldude]

32. It means if I find a poll that says exactly the opposite

he'll call it a bullshit poll.

See like this one from... wow PEW... that says less than half of Americans even know that the Republicans took control of the house and that less than 40% know Boehner is going to be speaker of the house. Yeah so a totally uninformed populace thinks the tax deal is good. Wow wish I could be that ignorant.

http://people-press.org/report/677/

[bigtree]

34. you don't have a poll

. . . so you've resorted to bashing this one (through denigrating me and the respondents). Pathetic.

Poll: Tax cut deal support grows among those closely watching
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/14/poll-tax-cut-deal-support-grows-among-those-closely-watching/

[yourout]

19. I suspect NAFTA, CAFTA, and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act had similar numbers...

And they have all been disasters.

People are easily swayed by slogans and the corporate media.

[Better Believe It]

24. Pew! The poll stinks!

[Jefferson23]

29. Obama should be pleased but the support will not change the reality

of this horrendous bill.

Yea for the oligarchs..all is secure.

[Still a Democrat]

35. All part of the Grand Poll / Senate / House / Corporate / Obama / Media Conspiracy

Don't believe it!

[Bluenorthwest]

36. Did those polled offer to lend the government the money for this?

Moody's hates the deal. They think in the long term we are fucking it up. They don't care how many from each Party support paying less taxes.