Poll: Tax The Rich!
MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) – Senate Republicans and a few Senate Democrats are expected to block President Barack Obama's jobs plan Tuesday which includes tax increases on the rich.
But, the latest Bloomberg/Washington Post poll's findings revealed that such a vote will run contrary to what the majority of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, want.
According to the poll, more than two-thirds of Americans say wealthier people should pay higher taxes to help bring down the debt. An even larger number said Medicare and Social Security benefits should not be touched.
Republicans were in the majority for ideas of taxing the wealthy more and keeping away from Social Security and Medicare. Fifty-three percent of "self-identified Republicans" said they would support higher taxes on households making more than $250,000 in annual income.
The findings run contrary to the messages coming from the GOP presidential field which is vehemently anti-tax and open to changing Social Security and Medicare, perhaps even radically changing them as was proposed by Congressman Paul Ryan.
But, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents couldn't come to a unanimous agreement on whether the Defense Department should endure a round of cuts.
The poll found that 60 percent of Democrats and 58 percent of independents support cutting the military's budget, while 60 percent of Republicans opposed any defense cuts.
When it comes to the overall view of both parties in Washington, more than half of those polled said the economic situation would be the same if a Republican was in the White House instead of President Barack Obama.
But, a majority of the nation told pollsters that a financial crisis "is likely within the next several years," pushing the economy even more to the forefront of the 2012 eelctions.
