Natalie Gonnella
As liberal Democrats challenge the tax cut agreement and President Obama calls GOP members “hostage takers,” Gallup finds that the majority of Americans favor the bipartisan deal's all-encompassing extension of tax cuts.
Many liberal Democrats will likely be disappointed to learn that two-thirds of Americans support the provision extending the Bush-era cuts (for two years) to everyone, across every tax bracket. This figure includes 85% of Republicans, 67% of Independents and 52% of all Democrats.
When broken down more specifically by political ideology, 87% of conservative Republicans, 78% of moderate/liberal Republicans and 64% of conservative/moderate Democrats support the tax cut extension for all Americans. Only 39% of liberal Democrats support the provision, though 4 in 10 is not an insignificant number.
Gallup's figures provide a fairly strong rebuke to Obama's characterization of Americans as hostages, and although the results of the compromise may not be everyone's ideal, nevertheless, most Americans would support the passage of the current provision on tax cut extensions.
The lesson Republicans should take from this is not that "we won," but that the American people are ready to deal head-on with taxes as an issue. This should give hope to anyone in the GOP who is planning to get serious about enacting more fundamental tax reforms starting next year. Americans are more ready than they have been for a long time about a serious public discussion about how tax reform fosters growth - something we all want more than class warfare or silly politics.
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