The numbers are strong and relatively bipartisan. Whether Congress will finally enable the voters' will remains to be seen. JL
Tim Williams reports in Vox:
71 percent of voters support raising taxes on the wealthiest 2 percent
of Americans to pay for the bill. Eighty-six percent of Democrats and 50
percent of Republicans backed the idea. Other tax provisions focused on
the wealthy that could be included in the bill — such as tax increases
on corporations and capital gains — found 65 percent or more support
overall.
As debate over Democrats’Build Back Better Acthas intensified, the $3.5 trillion social spending bill has remained strikingly popular. That may be both a blessing and a curse for lawmakers because it’s now clear that thebill will need to shrink to pass. And like Congress, Americans don’t all agree on which of its big-ticket items are most important.
But at least one thing seems clear from public polling: People want to pay for the bill bytaxing the rich.
AVox and Data for Progress poll, conducted October 8-12, found that 71 percent of voters support raising taxes on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans to pay for the bill. Eighty-six percent of Democrats and 50 percent of Republicans backed the idea. Other tax provisions focused on the wealthy that could be included in the bill — such as tax increases on corporations and capital gains — found 65 percent or more support overall.
Sixty-three percent of voters in the poll said they supported the $3.5 trillion overall plan that includes spending on health care, long-term care, child care, and clean-energy jobs.
Ethan Winter/Data for Progress
It’s less clear which priorities voters most want to spend that money on. When asked to choose themost and least important parts of the Build Back Better Act’s many policies, taxing the rich was most frequently cited as a top priority, with 13 percent of respondents choosing the measure. (The poll surveyed 1,224 likely voters and had a sampling margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.)
Expanding Medicare benefits to cover dental, vision, and hearing also showed strong support, with 12 percent of respondents ranking it the highest priority, and another 12 percent picked policies to increase access to long-term care for older adults and people with disabilities.Republicans were especially supportive of the provisions for health care and long-term care for older adults, compared to Democrats, who most frequently cited the tax increases and clean-energy measures as top priorities.
This is Democrats’ first chance in years at crafting major legislation not directly tied to the pandemic — and given the electoral map’s skew toward Republicans, it could be their last for another decade.
The popularity of the Build Back Better Act may or may not make it easier for lawmakers to get the bill over the finish line. In the Vox/Data for Progress poll, voters were presented with arguments for and against removing a particular provision to reduce costs, such as Medicare benefits expansion or clean-energy policy. Only about a third of voters or fewer supported the cuts. And respondents showed a diversity of opinion on what’s most important in the bill.
That likely reflects the fact that Democrats’ big bill touches on important issues for people at various stages of life, said Ethan Winter, a senior analyst for Data for Progress.
Ethan Winter/Data for Progress
Winter noted that a policy like free prekindergarten would be especially favored by a young parent, while expanding Medicare benefits appeals more to older adults — who make up a larger swath of the electorate. The somewhat stronger support for tax increases on the wealthy and spending on care for older adults suggests those ideas are a core appeal of Democratic politics, for boththe party’s base and swing voters.
“People elect Democrats because they will raise taxes on the rich to do modest economic redistribution, and [policies] for seniors are always very popular,” Winter said.
The bill’s popularity could shift as Americans learn more about it and are exposed to partisan messaging; anOctober CBS News pollfound that few Americans say they know much about what’s in the bill, and only a third think it will affect them directly, despite many provisions focused on helping middle- and lower-income families.
On climate issues, 63 percent of voters in the Vox/Data for Progress poll expressed support for theclean electricity program that is a key componentof the bill’s climate crisis strategy. Fifty-seven percent said tax credits for electric cars in the Build Back Better plan would make them more likely to purchase one.
Democrats’ bill is popular. So why are they shrinking it?
The precariousness of the bill largely comes down to Democrats’ very thin majorities in the House and Senate. That gives Joe Manchin, a senator from a Trump-voting coal state, the power todictate demands on climate provisionsas well as the overall size of the bill.
It also means another centrist senator, Kyrsten Sinema, is a key figure in the negotiations, even though it’s not totally clear what she wants in the bill — and she left this week forEurope on a fundraising tour. (While Manchin’s approval in his home state of West Virginia has remained fairly steady overall, Sinema’s resistance to the legislation has caused her approval rating toplummet among Democratsand prompt stirrings of aprimary challengein Arizona, a state more evenly split between Republicans and Democrats.)
Manchin, Sinema, and other moderate Democrats have sometimes appeared at odds with each other onhow to pay for the bill, making things even more complicated.
At New York magazine,Eric Levitz chalkspushback by some House Democratsup to America’s skewed representation in Congress and the decline of labor as a lobbying force. Plus, perhaps, old-fashioned stubbornness: Many Democrats in Congress came of political age in the era of Bill Clinton, deficit reduction, and welfare reform. “I think that’s why we can’t have ($3.5 trillion worth of) nice things: Labor is weak, Congress is malapportioned, and some old rich Democrats have annoying beliefs,” Levitz wrote.
But if Democrats are just looking for legislation that most Americans want, taxing the rich to pay for policies that help families, seniors, and the planet seems like a safe bet.
I like your all post. You have done really good work. Thank you for the information you provide, it helped me a lot. I hope to have many more entries or so from you.
As a Partner and Co-Founder of Predictiv and PredictivAsia, Jon specializes in management performance and organizational effectiveness for both domestic and international clients. He is an editor and author whose works include Invisible Advantage: How Intangilbles are Driving Business Performance. Learn more...
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