The American Public Says No To Continuing Bush Tax Cuts For The Rich

(The cartoon above was by Jonathan Richards at Huffington Post.)

If Congress takes no action, the Bush tax cuts will expire at the end of this year. That would mean a rise in taxes for everyone, but the most substantial rise would be for the rich -- since they are the ones who benefitted the most from the Bush tax cuts. President Obama has proposed extending the tax cuts, but only for those workers making less than $250,000.

This has the Republican Party upset. They are the party of the rich, and they don't want their favorite constituents (the rich) to have to pay more in taxes in spite of the fact that the rich are making record amounts of money while paying less in taxes than at any time since World War II. They claim that raising the taxes on the rich would hurt the economy (ignoring the fact that both the rich and the corporations did very well during times when taxes were much higher than an elimination of the Bush tax cuts would establish).

But the American people are not buying the lame Republican argument. They know that the country needs more revenue for the government, and the easiest way to do that is to abolish the Bush tax cuts for the rich. This is verified by a new United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll. Here are the results of that poll (taken between June 14th and 17th of a national random sample of 1,002 voters, with a margin of error of 3.6 points):

18% -- The percentage who want the Bush tax cuts eliminated for everyone.

19% -- The percentage who would like to see the Bush tax cuts extended for one year for only families making less than $250,000 a year.

28% -- The percentage who would like to see the Bush tax cuts extended permanently for only families making less than $250,000 a year.

47% -- The percentage who would like to see the Bush tax cuts extended either for one year or permanently for only families making less than $250,000 a year.

65% -- The percentage who do not want to see the Bush tax cuts extended for the rich (the position supported by President Obama).

8% -- The percentage of those who would like to see the Bush tax cuts extended for everyone for one year.

18% -- The percentage of who would like to see the Bush tax cuts extended for everyone permanently (the position supported by Republican presidential nominee Willard Mitt Romney).

26% -- The percentage of those who would like to see the Bush tax cuts extended either for one year or permanently for everyone.

It boils down to this. Only a maximum of 26% of Americans support the Republican position that the Bush tax cuts should be extended for the rich for at least another year, while at least 65% of the population support the president's position that the rich should not have their tax cuts extended. The Republicans can try to campaign on this issue if they want (and I hope they do), but it's not going to get them any votes. Too many people disagree with them.