Americans Support More Taxes For The Super-Rich

Posted on the 07 February 2019 by Jobsanger



Americans weren't thrilled with the Trump/GOP tax cut. They didn't like that most of the benefits went to the richest people and corporations, and they didn't like that it ballooned the deficit to about a trillion dollars a year. And they are ready to tax the super-rich more.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) has proposed a new 70% tax rate for any income exceeding $10 a year.
Sen. Warren (D-Massachusetts) has proposed a new kind of tax -- a 2% tax on wealth between $50 million and $1 billion, and a 3% tax on wealth exceeding $1 billion.
Democrats have also proposed raising the estate tax to 77% for any inheritance exceeding $1 billion.
Republicans have been apoplectic at the idea of taxing the super-rich (even though those people can clearly afford to pay more taxes without being hurt). But the American public disagrees with them.
Americans favor the 70% tax on income over $10 million by a 15 point margin. They favor taxing wealth over $50 million by a 29 point margin. And they favor raising the estate tax for more than a billion by a 13 point margin.
None of these new taxes will be able to become law in the 116th Congress, because the Republicans control the Senate and they are sure to kill the bills if they get that far. But these ideas could play a part in the 2020 election, and help Democrats.
These charts show information contained in the new Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between February 2nd and 5th of a national sample of 1,500 adults (including 1,294 registered voters). The margin of error for adults is 3 points, and for registered voters is 2.8 points.