GOP split over taxing the wealthy, poll funds
Republican voters are divided over the idea of increasing taxes on wealthy U.S. taxpayers, according to a new GBA Strategies poll first shared with The Hill.
When asked whether they support raising the tax rate on personal income above $1 million annually, 36 percent of Republicans supported the plan and 47 percent of Republicans were opposed. The rest were undecided.
{mosads}But when asked whether they supported raising the personal income tax on those earning $1 million a year to 50 percent, “the same rate taxed under President Reagan,” Republicans shifted their support, with 53 percent supporting and 33 opposing.
Overall, 54 percent of those polled support raising the tax rate on millionaires, 31 percent are opposed and 12 percent were neutral or undecided. Democrats supported the idea by a 72 percent to 16 percent margin, with the remainder undecided or neutral.
The poll comes as President Obama is pitching a tax plan that he will formally unveil during Tuesday’s State of the Union address. He is calling to raise taxes on the wealthy to fund $320 billion in government programs, while also calling for tax credits for lower-income U.S. citizens.
Adam Green and Stephanie Taylor, co-founders of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), are using the poll in their meetings with top Democrats over the next few weeks.
PCCC and its sister organization, the Progressive Change Institute, which commissioned the poll, are urging Democrats to move to the left, following Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
Pollsters phoned 1,500 likely 2016 voters nationwide between Jan. 9 and Jan. 15. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
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