According to the latest CBS poll, only 26% of Americans support the Obama/Boehner tax plan, which will add $700 billion to the national debt. This is all the more remarkable given that this plan is also the official line of the GOP, the party which won 52% of votes in the last Congressional election.
Only 46% of Republicans support their own party's position on this issue. 41% of Republicans support the Democratic party's position.
11% of Republicans are to the left of the Democratic party's position. Overall, 52% of Republicans oppose Obama-Boehner.
Among independents, 64% oppose extending tax breaks for the rich. Only 25% support the Obama-Boehner consensus compromise.
Lack of support for the GOP position is stunning, given that the GOP just rode into office barely one month ago with the biggest House vote shift since 1948, and the largest Republican House majority since 1948. You would think a mandate of this size would translate into support for the first Republican policy push of the current House Leadership. You would be wrong.
Furthermore, this is stunning given that popular opinion tends to shift towards a position when they see their political leaders taking it up. Many Republicans undoubtedly support extending tax cuts for the wealthy simply because they see their own party's leadership taking that position strongly. The Republican party's leadership has been very emphatic about this issue. Not a single Republican Senator dissented from the party line supporting the $700 billion tax cut for the wealthy.
But the biggest question is that 70% of Democrats have taken the position that tax cuts should be extended for those making under $250k. No Democrats in the leadership -- not Obama for sure, but even in Congress -- have attempted to argue for a full return to Clinton era tax rates. The fear is that if we return to Clinton era tax rates, we might return to Clinton era rates of job growth, economic growth and budget woes, and even the Democrats are afraid of that. What would the level of support be if Obama and the Democrats had argued from the beginning for a full restoration of Clinton-era tax rates? Would more than 14% of Democrats support it?
You betcha. The CBS poll shows that 17% of independents support allowing all the tax cuts to expire-- more than Democrats. This is naturally the Democratic position, but many rank and file Democrats are taking a cue from their leaders.
Meanwhile, 55% think that the budget deficit will cause a "major economic crisis" for the country within the next decade. After adding another $700 billion to the national deficit, Republicans will then use the size of the deficit and projected shortfall in Medicare and Social Security spending to argue for radical cuts in social spending and changes in the tax structure, and campaign against Obama in 2012.