Poll: Obama Has a Mandate to Raise Taxes on the Wealthy
Poll: Obama Has a Mandate to Raise Taxes
Almost two-thirds of Americans say that the November election results give President Obama a mandate to raise taxes on the wealthy, according to a new survey.
A new Bloomberg News national poll finds that 65 percent of those surveyed — including 45 percent of Republicans — say that Obama campaigned, ran and won on his pledge to hike taxes on income brackets over $250,000.
But almost the same number of Americans — 64 percent — say that Obama also has a mandate to protect popular entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare.
Those results give Obama a mandate on his tax proposal — but make it clear that the public is deeply opposed to any entitlement reforms that might be part of any “grand bargain” over taxes and spending between the House GOP and the Obama administration.
Both sides have been at odds over how to unwind the pending combination of tax increases for all Americans and automatic spending cuts. Republicans have largely refused to budge on the principle that tax rates should not go up for anyone.